Student rental accommodation across the UK has been slammed in a new report.
The National Student Accommodation Survey 2019 says nine in ten students have some kind of housing issue.
The research, from advice site Save the Student, surveyed 2,196 students in January.
It says that what it found was a ‘scandal of over-priced and unsafe student housing”.
It claims that one in three student tenants goes without heating, and that almost one in five complains of pest infestations. The report describes some living conditions as “squalor”, with damp a problem for 35%. “Inappropriate landlord visits” were cited by 16%.
Repairs are another issue, with one in ten waiting more than a month for problems to be fixed after they have been reported, with some problems never fixed at all.
Half of all students struggle to pay rent, with one in five parents subsidising their offspring to the tune of £5,200 a year.
The findings are not confined to traditional private rental accommodation – bedsits and shared homes – in the student market.
Almost as many students in the survey reported problems with university accommodation and commercial halls of residence.
The survey also found that the pressure to find somewhere to live is so high that one-third of students begin looking for accommodation for the following year in or before November.
The report observes that this is “brutal” on finances, with students having to pay an average of £970 upfront in deposit (£311), admin fees (£119) and a month’s rent in advance (£541).
The average student rent swallows 100% of the typical maintenance loan payment.
Most troublingly, the report says there is a clear link between students’ mental health and their accommodation. Two-thirds of students say housing costs have affected their mental health, while 37% say that housing costs have affected their studies.
Jake Butler, of Save the Student, said: “Too many people, including students, seem to believe that poor living conditions are just a part of student life.
“Our investigation confirms how students are being treated unfairly as if second-class citizens, expected to put up with dire conditions throughout their studies.
“There needs to be a much easier way for students to report and resolve problems with their accommodation.”
The full report, with regional information, is at:
https://www.savethestudent.org/accommodation/national-student-accommodation-survey-2019.html
Dare I speculate that some of of the condition issues are caused by the students themselves? There is clearly no excuse for lack of heating and damp etc, but students are not exactly renowned for being the cleanest.
On the flip side, most of the trendy new student buildings up in Newcastle are like posh hotels.
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Most troublingly, the report says there is a clear link between students’ mental health and their accommodation. Two-thirds of students say housing costs have affected their mental health, while 37% say that housing costs have affected their studies.
Missed out the bit about living with other students anti-social behaviour, grime and raiding the fridge.
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The average student rent swallows 100% of the typical maintenance loan payment, I don’t doubt that for a second…… Hic!
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