Shortage of student housing sees rents rise
By |Published On: 16th September 2016|

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Shortage of student housing sees rents rise

By |Published On: 16th September 2016|

This article is an external press release originally published on the Landlord News website, which has now been migrated to the Just Landlords blog.

Interesting new research has revealed that student rents have increased by up to 10% over the last year, as the housing shortage across Britain countries.

Spiralling student demand is driving rents higher in some of the UK’s largest towns and cities. These include Cambridge, Surrey, Oxford and Edinburgh. In these regions, there are five students competing for each available room.

Southern squeeze

The shortage of housing for students is particularly concerning in the South of England and London, where more universities naturally means more demand.

Data from the report by Spareroom.com also reveals that nearly one-third of rooms for rent in top university towns and cities are not available to students.

Matt Hutchinson, director of SpareRoom.co.uk, noted: ‘students aren’t just battling rising rents, they’re also affected by a private rental market struggling to cope with demand.’[1]

Regional differences

Continuing, Mr Hutchinson observed that there are regional disparities in rental values, meaning that where students choose to go to university could have a massive impact of their post-degree debt.

‘The difference between rents for students at Imperial College in London, compared to those studying at St Andrews in Scotland, is a massive £792 a month. Over a three-year course the difference is eye watering. Even choosing Durham over Oxford could save you more than £7,000 in rent over three years.’[1]

Shortage of student housing housing sees rents rise

Shortage of student housing housing sees rents rise

Information shown below shows the average room rents in 30 of the UK’s top university towns and cities. Data is taken from Q2 rental data from SpareRoom.co.uk.

Rank University  Location Ave monthly room rent Q2 2016 (£) Ave monthly room rent Q2 2015 (£) Annual % difference No. of people looking per room available Q2 2016 Current % of rooms available to students
1 Cambridge Cambridge £541 £509 6% 3.5 60
2 Oxford Oxford £557 £507 10% 3.2 64
3 St Andrews Kirkcaldy £339 £329 3% 1.8 67
4 Surrey Guildford £574 £526 9% 3.8 62
5 Loughborough Loughborough £350 £339 3% 1.2 77
6 Durham Durham £362 £367 -1% 0.9 92
7 Imperial College London SW7 £1,131 £1,086 4% 3.9 85
8 Lancaster Lancaster £371 £353 5% 0.9 82
9 Warwick Coventry £388 £369 5% 1.7 80
10 Bath Bath £448 £438 2% 3.2 62
11 Exeter Exeter £434 £417 4% 1.9 59
12 London School of Economics London WC2 £1,034 £1,094 -5% 5.2 86
13 Birmingham Birmingham £405 £413 -2% 3.1 63
14 UCL London WC1 £870 £833 4% 4.6 85
15 Coventry Coventry £388 £369 5% 1.7 80
16 Leeds Leeds £374 £353 6% 2.8 64
17 Southampton Southampton £436 £417 4% 2.5 54
18 City London EC1 £920 £904 2% 3.2 71
19 York York £400 £379 6% 2.4 63
20 Sussex Brighton £511 £492 4% 3.7 63
21 Edinburgh Edinburgh £469 £438 7% 5 70
22 Kent Canterbury £418 £422 -1% 1.9 81
22 UEA Norwich £401 £374 7% 2.4 62
24 Nottingham Nottingham £374 £358 4% 1.8 69
25 Glasgow Glasgow £390 £376 4% 3.9 75
26 Heriot-Watt Edinburgh £469 £438 7% 5 70
27 Dundee Dundee £323 £311 4% 1.6 93
28 Aston Birmingham £405 £413 -2% 3.1 63
29 SOAS London WC1 £870 £833 4% 4.6 85
30 Manchester Manchester £414 £385 7% 3.7 74

{1)

[1] https://www.landlordtoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2016/9/student-housing-shortage-sees-rents-soar

 

 

 

About the Author: Em Morley (she/they)

Em is the Content Marketing Manager for Just Landlords, with over five years of experience writing for insurance and property websites. Together with the knowledge and expertise of the Just Landlords underwriting team, Em aims to provide those in the property industry with helpful resources. When she’s not at her computer researching and writing property and insurance guides, you’ll find her exploring the British countryside, searching for geocaches.

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