Question 1

How can I access Occupancy Survey data?

Accepted Answer

When you become a StuRents Occupancy Survey member, you’ll have access to our interactive dashboard. This lets you filter data by location, lettings period or submission month. The helpful graphs and charts will allow you to access insights at a glance. You can compare occupancy by room-type (across studios and clusters) and assess year-on-year differences. If you need to, you can then download these occupancy insights from the dashboard.

Question 2

How frequently does StuRents report on Occupancy levels?

Accepted Answer

Members of the StuRents Occupancy Survey will receive monthly updates on occupancy in their relevant cities. Each month, the team aggregates and anonymously reports on data from industry-leading operators already participating, with a combined portfolio of more than 150,000 beds.

Question 3

What makes StuRents' occupancy data unique?

Accepted Answer

Our independent occupancy insights are informed by collated, anonymised data from our participating operators. This data is exclusively available to Occupancy Survey members. The result is market-leading insights into student housing trends that customers won't find anywhere else.

Question 4

How many students are there in the UK?

Accepted Answer

As of 2020-21, there were more than 2.1m full-time students in the UK, whilst a further 550,000 students were classified as part-time. Of those full-time students, 74% were from the UK, whereas 6% were from the EU and 20% were from the rest of the world. StuRents estimates that approximately 1.2m students were living in private accommodation for the 2020-21 academic year, with the balance living either in university halls or choosing to live at home.

Question 5

What percentage of UK student housing is above the average maintenance loan?

Accepted Answer

Due to real-term inflation increasing at a greater rate than predicted, students' finances are being stretched more than ever. For the 2022-23 academic year, the average maintenance loan is estimated to be the equivalent of £137.39 per week. Approximately 30% of student beds available in England (excluding London) are priced at £140 per person per week or higher, making them unaffordable by this comparison. By accommodation type, approximately 14% of HMO beds are priced above the average maintenance loan, versus 34% of PBSA beds.

Question 6

Which UK towns and cities do you cover?

Accepted Answer

The Occupancy Survey currently operates in more than 20 locations in the UK. StuRents also provides a range of data insights in ~100 UK towns and cities with a higher education presence and produce in-depth quarterly research reports in 46 UK & Ireland locations, such as Sheffield, Coventry, Glasgow, London and Dublin.

Question 7

What is the average cost of UK student accommodation?

Accepted Answer

For the 2024-25 lettings cycle, the average cost of purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) was £185 per person per week (pppw). Meanwhile, the average cost of Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) was £132pppw. However, with the demand for student accommodation increasing, the cost of student accommodation will continue to rise at a national level.

Question 8

Is the UK market undersupplied?

Accepted Answer

At a national-level, there is an increasing trend towards undersupply of HMO and purpose built student accommodation in the UK, driven by a range of demand and supply factors. Critically however, every city or town with a higher education establishment has different fundamentals. Our leading data and insights help our clients understand and navigate these to make informed investment and operating decisions.

Question 9

What is the current pipeline for purpose built student accommodation?

Accepted Answer

The pipeline for PBSA stands at more than 130,000 beds, with the majority of these developments put forward by private operators. Outside of London, Bristol, Leeds and Nottingham have the largest pipelines, albeit numbers constantly change as new applications are submitted and approved.

Question 10

Who in the market uses StuRents' student accommodation occupancy data?

Accepted Answer

StuRents is in its 16th year and over this period we have been fortunate to work with the majority of HMO and PBSA operators across the UK. Prominent operators, investors, and lenders rely on our occupancy data to inform their decision-making. Our current members have a combined portfolio of over 150,000 beds. You can see some of our participants’ logos at the top of this page.

StuRents Occupancy Survey

Benchmark
your performance.

Inform
your strategies.

Maximise
your occupancy.

What is the StuRents Occupancy Survey?

Cluster Occupancy

Studio Occupancy

Why participate?

Benchmark your performance

Inform your pricing strategies

Optimise your marketing

Maximise your occupancy

See how your performance compares.

What will you receive?

Monthly city-level occupancy insights

Studio and cluster granularity

Year-on-year market comparisons

Our FREE National Occupancy Report is now available.

FAQs about StuRents Occupancy Survey