Students face stress in search for accommodation post-Clearing

The Times reports that as student numbers are now outpacing the supply of student housing, many are forced to pay high rental prices for accommodation or commute long distances to lectures.

While universities try to offer a place in halls to all first-year students, sometimes they can only guarantee rooms to students who made them their firm choice. Therefore, students who secured their place later through Clearing may be forced to consider other options, such as renting privately or commuting to university from home. 

According to Save the Student’s annual National Student Accommodation Survey, 15% of students lived at home while at university last academic year, compared to 12% before the pandemic. 39% of students had to rent privately in this period, which is typically a more expensive option than living in university-owned halls.

According to data from StuRents, the number of students in the UK is now outpacing the supply

of purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA). However, there are significant variations between cities. For instance, 85% of PBSA in Manchester was filled by May 2024, while only 35% of PBSA was filled in Coventry. Manchester had filled 85% of PBSA 

Rental prices in these university cities can also be too high for the typical domestic student. London, Bristol, and Glasgow are the cities with the highest weekly rents. The average cost of student housing in London is £289 per person, per week (pppw), while the average cost in Bristol is £220pppw.

“One of the issues, particularly for domestic students, is you have rents that have been going up that have not been matched by a growth in maintenance loans,” Richard Ward, Head of Research at StuRents says.

“It is not going to help your average domestic student who may have a budget of £130 a week, for example. That’s the big challenge and that doesn’t look like it’s going to change any

time soon.”

Read more about the challenges of the imbalance between supply and demand in the student accommodation market in The Times.