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NAVIRAALIVINGNaviraa Living home
Common lounge with upholstered seating, television and a games console.
north-campusstudent-housingguide

How to choose a PG near DU North Campus: a checklist for students and parents

By Naviraa Living · 4 min read

Most families choose a PG in a single afternoon, under time pressure, days before the session starts. You look at three or four places, they all have beds and Wi-Fi, and the decision comes down to whichever one felt least worrying.

That is an expensive way to pick somewhere you will live for eleven months. Here is what actually separates places once you have moved in.

Start with what the rent does not include

Ask for the number, then ask what sits on top of it. The common extras are electricity, food, laundry, and a maintenance charge that appears in month two. A lower headline rent with three add-ons is usually more expensive than a higher one with none.

Ask specifically:

  • Is electricity metered per room, and how is the reading shared?
  • Are meals included, and how many?
  • Is laundry included, or per item?
  • Is there a maintenance or "society" charge?

At Naviraa Living, rent covers four meals a day, housekeeping, laundry and ironing, and Wi-Fi. Electricity is metered and billed on actual usage. That is the whole list — worth asking every place you visit for the same list.

Get the deposit terms in writing

A refundable deposit is normal. What varies is when you get it back and what can be deducted.

  • How much, and is it refundable in full?
  • When is it returned after you leave — same day, or thirty days later?
  • What can be deducted, and who decides?

Ours is ₹10,000, refundable, interest-free, returned at the end of the stay after any outstanding rent, electricity or damages. Whatever the answer is where you are looking, get it in writing before you pay.

Understand the exit before you enter

This is the clause people skip and later regret. Standard agreements in this area run eleven months with a lock-in for the term. That means leaving early is possible but not free.

Ask: how much notice, and does the notice period apply during the lock-in or only after it? We ask for thirty days' written notice before you leave, and that applies throughout the stay.

Eat there before you sign

Food is the thing most PGs get wrong, because most of them outsource it to a contractor paid per plate. The incentive works against you.

Ask to see this week's menu, not a laminated sample. Ask what happens if you get back after the meal window. Ask whether the kitchen is on site — you can usually tell by walking past it.

Look at the room at the wrong time of day

Every room shows well at noon. Visit in the evening if you can. Check:

  • Natural light, and how many lights actually work
  • Whether the desk is a real desk or a shelf
  • Plug points near the bed and near the desk
  • Whether there is an AC, and whether it is charged separately
  • Hot water, and whether it is available in the morning rush

Ask about the things that go wrong at 11pm

A tap fails, the Wi-Fi drops, someone loses a key. What you want to know is not whether it happens — it will — but who you contact and how fast it gets fixed. Ask a current resident if you can find one.

The security questions that matter

CCTV is table stakes. The better questions are: is there a person on duty at night, how are guests handled, and is there a curfew? A gate that locks at 10pm is fine if you know about it and a problem if you find out in October. We do not have a curfew and there is a guard on site, but the point is to ask rather than assume either way.

The parent question

If your family visits from another city, where do they stay? Some places charge a guest rate, some do not allow it at all. Parents stay free with us, subject to availability. Ask before the first visit, not during it.

A short version you can screenshot

  1. What is the rent, and what is on top of it?
  2. How is electricity billed?
  3. How many meals, and cooked where?
  4. What is the deposit and when is it returned?
  5. How long is the agreement, and is there a lock-in?
  6. How much notice to leave?
  7. Is there a late fee on rent, and how much?
  8. AC? Hot water? Study desk?
  9. Who fixes things, and how fast?
  10. Guard at night? CCTV? Curfew?
  11. Guest and parent policy?
  12. Laundry — included or extra?
  13. How far to your college, on foot, at 8:45am?
  14. Can you speak to someone who already lives there?

If a place answers all fourteen without hesitating, that tells you more than the photographs do.

Naviraa Living is a twin-sharing boys' PG in Malkaganj, minutes from Hansraj. We are open to visits any time — come and ask us all fourteen.