Student housing is reaching a “crisis point” not seen since the 1970s when students slept in sports halls and their cars and are set to worsen in the New Year, a charity has warned. Since the start of the academic year, students at universities across the UK have complained of fierce competition for rooms in flat shares for the 2022 and 2023 academic years.
Experts say there are growing numbers of students experiencing periods of hidden homelessness or accepting unsuitable housing out of desperation. Students say they have been forced to couch-surf with friends, live with parents some distance away or accept unsuitable rooms such as those without windows. “
Planning regulations had made it more difficult for private houses to be subdivided, and Scotland now required landlords to apply for a house in multiple occupation (HMO) licenses, he added.
Data compiled by the StuRents accommodation portal, which says it represents 70% of student beds in the UK, suggests there is a shortfall of 207,000 student beds and 19 towns and cities where there is more than a 10% undersupply of beds, ranging from 28% in Preston and 25% in Bristol to 10% in Birmingham and Swansea.
Strong competition for homes had pushed up prices, averaging at about a 10% increase and as much as 20% in some towns, compared with last year. Students are also struggling with affordability – the NUS estimates that one-third of all accommodation costs more than the average maintenance loan.
Last year, a report by the Higher Education Policy Institute warned that student homelessness would increase due to the cost-of-living crisis, while a survey of 3,000 students by Student Beans in October suggested that one in 10 had faced moving back in with parents or examples of homelessness such as couch-surfing, or living in Airbnbs, hotels or in their cars.
Portsmouth and east London universities confirmed there had been higher numbers of homeless students this year. Universities are being urged to collect and publish more data on where their students live and to provide better information to prospective students.
