Student accommodation

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Student accommodation in the United Kingdom is a term used in debating the impact of student housing, particularly with the recent expansion of numbers in higher education. With more and more young people attending University, their own student halls became unable to cope with housing each student. Now in most UK University towns and city’s students usually only stay in halls of residence for their first year and then move out into private student accommodation.

This means that these areas have been "taken over" by the student population much to the displeasure of local residents. Student areas tend to be situated near to city centres and often have plenty of leisure facilities within walking distance. This includes pubs, cinemas, shops, bowling alleys etc.

At first glance you might think this would devalue the property market in these areas because some are not the cleanest! But the competition for good housing has meant rise in prices as student landlords and letting agents fight over the rental revenues in these areas.

Some cities have begun to offer serviced student accommodation^[1] in a bid to raise the quality of student housing and steal market share. These facilities are often quite luxurious with flat screen TV's and Playstations thrown into the offering.

The student market really has become big business in the UK and organisations have sprung up to cater to this market ranging from student advice sites through to dedicated student letting agents. The competition in this sector is fierce because student loans and grants means this sector have a high level of disposable income at the start of the year or semester.