If you’ve been in the loop of university news for the past few months, you might have heard that several universities are experiencing a housing crisis. Scenes of students waiting overnight outside estate agent’s offices, commuting long distances every day, and even taking up residence in hotels, have been circulating on the internet. Some estimates place the numbers at three students for every bed in some parts of the UK. But what is causing the student housing crisis, and why is it happening this year?
A shortage in rental housing is nothing new. The University of Bristol housed 25 first years in Newport back in 2019. Now, amidst the cost-of-living crisis, rent prices have been soaring. During the pandemic, several universities increased their admissions as much as 15%, despite the lack of available housing for these additional students, adding onto an overall increase of 65% since 2000. This is related to an increase in high A-level marks. The pairing of these two factors has resulted in the current student housing crisis across many parts of the UK including Durham, Manchester, Bristol, Glasgow and York.
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How Are Universities Dealing With The Housing Crisis?
Universities have addressed the crisis in a number of different ways. Some have offered rewards to students willing to defer their studies for a year, creating a backlog of applicants.
Students at Glasgow who found themselves struggling to find accommodation have been told it might be best to ‘not travel to Glasgow’ and asked to consider whether to ‘suspend or withdraw from studies’. Other universities have offered to pay for transit for students commuting from outside their city. Some Manchester students are living in accommodation in Liverpool, making a 40-minute commute into the city. Similarly, many freshers at Bristol are living in Newport.
As for the students, many have been left with little to no options as far as housing. Some have had to resort to couch surfing, sleeping in common areas, or living in hotels. Students at Durham staged a protest on 28 October, with organisers stating the University had ‘failed to address’ the cost-of-living crisis.
A representative of the university stated, ‘We have seen some deplorable behaviour by letting agents and landlords in Durham, putting up prices above inflation and releasing properties much earlier than usual,’ the BBC reported.
‘Like many other UK universities we were obliged by the late change in A-level grade boundaries to take in a larger than usual student cohort in 2021. We reduced our intake this academic year.’
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