Coastal universities with most affordable student rental accommodation

Research by student accommodation platform UniHomes has found the coastal university cities with the most affordable rent prices.

The platform’s analysis of student rental costs within reach of each coastal university in the UK found that students pay an average of £157 per week.

Coastal university rental costs by region

Yorkshire and the Humber the North East are the most affordable regions, at £90 per week, followed by the North West, at £132 per week. However, each of these regions is home to only one coastal university ranked within Britain’s top 100.

Wales is the next most affordable area at £156 per week, with five coastal universities ranking within Britain’s top 100.

Scotland is home to the most choice with nine coastal universities and an average rental cost of £157 per week, while the South East (£167 per week) and the South West (£174 per week) are home to the highest rental costs of all regions.

Most affordable coastal universities for renting

Teeside University in the North East and Yorkshire’s University of Hull rank top for most affordable at just £90 per week.

The University of Plymouth in the South West is the next most affordable for a coastal student rental at £95 per week, while Scotland’s Robert Gordon University (£100 per week) and the University of Aberdeen (£104 per week) complete the top five.

Phil Greaves, Co-Founder of UniHomes, comments: “We have some outstanding coastal cities and towns in Britain and a number of these are also home to some excellent universities. This means many students can combine their higher education endeavours with a year-long trip to the seaside.

“Of course, with the unpredictable nature of the British weather there’s no guarantee of sun, but a scenic university can provide many students with a completely different pace of life to that of their hometown.

“Generally, the cost of renting around these universities is no different to their non-coastal counterparts although this is, of course, dependent on which university you opt for. 

“Some of the more traditional seaside tourism towns will set you back a fair bit more but there are options across all areas of coastal Britain that can provide you with a fairly affordable university rental.”

The below data is based on the UK’s top 100 Universities but excluding Northern Ireland due to a lack of student rental data.

Rental data is based on the weekly cost of renting a student property within the same postcode as each university’s main campus. Source: Save the Student.

The difference in the average weekly student rental cost by university geography (coastal vs other), excluding bills

The average weekly student rental cost of all coastal universities in each region

The average weekly student rental cost surrounding each university