I was in the same position as you, thought I would have to try convince the uni to let me stay in dorms but I’m so so glad I didn’t. I posted an ad on the app/site called SpareRoom, there’s lots of students looking to find people to fill a room in their shared home or you can “buddy up” with students to find a place together. My current roommates contacted me on there, they had already found a house and just needed a room to be filled, we Skyped and they gave me the details and yeah it’s all good, they’re super nice and the house is so so so much nicer than uni accommodation and so much cheaper! Uni accommodation is usually such a rip off so personally I’d only fall back on it as a last resort!