Student property enquiries in the run-up to the letting season for the 2023/24 academic year are significantly up on a year ago. 

The latest figures from student lettings platform UniHomes show a 79 per cent rise compared to the same period last year.

Cities in the north of England proving the most competitive, with some coastal locations also improving their rankings. 

Phil Greaves, director at UniHomes, says there are two dominant drivers underpinning student accommodation trends this year – a surge in demand by students wanting the full university experience post-Covid, but at the same time wanting the best value. 

“With the letting season for the next academic year now fully underway, we expect to see more students ‘shopping around’ for the most affordable homes. While many students prefer to stay on in their uni flats each year, the cost of living is making it much more likely people will move around to find more affordable rents” he says.

The top 10 location by number of enquiries in October were – Newcastle, Leeds, Sheffield, Swansea, Southampton, Hull, Bath, Nottingham, Derby and Norwich. 

Anthony Hart, a partner at Allsop, adds: “While some local authorities have allowed too many schemes to be built in their areas too quickly and some not being suitable for the student demand, others have let stringent and outdated policies hold back development, creating real undersupply issues. Meanwhile, councils across the board are preventing new houses in multiple occupation – the classic student set-up – which is further making it difficult for students to find a home.

“We need a balanced approach to create a more sustainable student accommodation environment that works for everyone. Local authorities understandably prefer protecting houses for owner-occupiers, so the burden of tackling the student housing crisis will largely fall on delivering new purpose-built student accommodation. This development needs to consider the location and the community, as well as meeting demands of student growth without saturating the market. Ultimately planning policy needs to offer a degree of flexibility.”