The UK government’s announcement on 17 December that it will rejoin the Erasmus+ programme represents a significant shift in the international mobility landscape, with clear implications for accommodation providers’ medium-term planning. From 2027, UK institutions will once again participate fully in the EU’s flagship mobility scheme, restoring structured pathways for study and work placements across Europe.
The government will contribute approximately £570 million in the first year, with over 100,000 participants – including university students, apprentices, and staff – expected to benefit annually. While the return of Erasmus+ will not reverse all post-Brexit changes to international recruitment, it does reintroduce a sizeable cohort of short-term, exchange-based students whose accommodation needs differ materially from those of full-degree international entrants.
Understanding the scale of change
Before Brexit, Erasmus facilitated a significant amount of two-way student mobility between the UK and Europe. In 2019–20, more than 16,000 EU students came to UK institutions through the programme, with France, Germany, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands among the largest sending countries. During the same period, around 9,900 UK students undertook Erasmus placements in Europe, most commonly in Spain, France and Germany. For European providers, this also signals the return of UK outbound cohorts to familiar Erasmus destinations, with implications for short-term and semester-based demand in key cities.
Following Brexit, broader EU student enrolments in the UK fell sharply, halving from 152,930 in 2020–21 to 74,490 in 2023–24. However, it is important to distinguish between these trends. The decline in EU student numbers reflects a combination of factors, including changes to fee status, visa requirements, cost-of-living pressures and shifting perceptions of the UK as a study destination, rather than the loss of Erasmus alone. The programme’s return is therefore best understood as reinstating a dedicated exchange route for short-term mobility, rather than signalling a full recovery in degree-seeking EU enrolments.
Operational considerations for 2027
Erasmus placements are predominantly short-term and semester-based, creating a distinct accommodation demand profile. Erasmus Student Network data shows that the most common duration is around five months, selected by over a third of participants, with four and six-month stays also popular. By contrast, longer placements are far less common – fewer than one in ten students undertake exchanges of around ten months, and only a small minority opt for a full academic year. For accommodation providers, this means demand linked to Erasmus+ will be concentrated in short-to-medium stay bookings, and that there is likely to be increased interest in flexible, semester-length contracts rather than traditional full-year lets.
Because Erasmus mobility is designed as an exchange route, rather than full fee-paying enrolment, it reduces the up-front cost barrier for many EU students. While accommodation and living costs remain a major consideration, this may expand the pool of students able to consider the UK for short-term study who have been priced out of longer postgraduate programmes since Brexit.
Placements will follow academic calendars, with most typically aligning to September/January intakes, though some work placements and traineeships may start off-cycle. Universities will prepare students throughout 2026, giving accommodation providers advance demand indicators.
Outbound mobility also resumes under Erasmus+, with UK students departing for EU destinations for semesters or a full academic year abroad. This is likely to reshape demand patterns and may increase interest in semester-length contracts and more flexible booking models from home students.
Market intelligence and planning
There is no consistently published, institution-level dataset ranking UK universities by Erasmus+ inbound student numbers. However, overall Erasmus mobility volumes and partnership intensity serve as useful proxies. Universities with large, established Erasmus networks and high outbound participation have typically also hosted significant numbers of inbound exchange students.
On this basis, institutions such as the Universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow, alongside providers like the University of Bristol, were among the largest pre-Brexit participants in Erasmus mobility and may see stronger early demand. That said, inbound volumes will also depend on subject-level partnerships, city affordability and the availability of suitable short-term accommodation, meaning new localised hotspots could emerge beyond historically high-mobility institutions.
Booking patterns are therefore likely to shift, with increased demand for three-to-twelve-month stays alongside evolving demand from other international cohorts. Although Erasmus+ students typically receive a grant to offset travel and daily living costs, financial considerations are frequently cited as a barrier to participation in Erasmus mobility, with students across Europe reporting cost as one of the top constraints on taking part. This suggests that Erasmus cohorts tend to be cost-conscious, even though there is no direct comparison in the literature between their spending behaviour and that of full-fee-paying international students. Accordingly, accommodation demand may skew toward more budget-sensitive options, although this will vary by sending country and individual circumstances.
Looking ahead
The UK’s return to Erasmus+ signals a renewed commitment to European academic collaboration, but its accommodation impact is likely to be uneven and institution-specific. The scale of demand growth will depend on how quickly universities rebuild partnerships, how many placements are activated, and how student preferences intersect with affordability and location.
For accommodation providers, the opportunity lies in anticipating structural shifts in mobility – shorter stays, tighter budgets, earlier planning cycles and more variable demand by institution. Providers that engage early with universities, adapt their product mix and monitor emerging patterns closely will be best placed to respond as Erasmus+ reshapes student mobility for the first time since Brexit.
