Rent has increased 60% in the last ten years rising to £7,347 per annum, according to a new survey. This figure eclipses a normal maintenance loan (£6,900) indicating the worrying direction that student living costs are going.
Students up and down the country have been beleaguered by financial hardship given increasing rent prices, the growing cost of living and the unavoidable issue of high tuition fees.
The National Union of Students and housing charity Unipol found that for the 500,000 students surveyed living in university halls, rent had increased 4% since last year and 16% from pre-pandemic levels.
The report also showed that 70% of the beds were from profit-seeking private providers, on which the sector has a growing reliance. The profitability of private operators out-performs alternative opportunities for accommodation and charge 24% more than university-run housing.
Alongside a lack of affordable housing, the authors of the report note that rent is rising more rapidly than inflation and poorer students have less choice in private hall providers given the desire to build more luxury accommodation to meet demand from international students.
Affordable housing is in decline but cheaper rooms are desperately needed on a wider scale to support a larger proportion of the UK student population.
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