Which unis to think twice about due to housing shortages or cost in Y2 and 3?

[Windingriver]

DC is using this as one of their filters when shortlisting unis. Durham has expanded so much and student housing not kept pace - we saw the queues outside estate agents in the news last November! Manchester has issues too apparently? Perhaps it would be more helpful if I listed where DC considering and you could flag up if any issues with getting housing in years 2 and 3 of degree?

Warwick
Bristol
Exeter
newcastle
liverpool
exeter
birmingham
sheffield
surrey
reading
nottingham

Thank you in advance!

Omitted Leicester

I know there have been problems with student accommodation at Bristol and Glasgow, and anecdotally, that in Manchester it's hard to find anywhere to buy or rent irrespective of whether you are a student .Can't help with the others you have listed.

DD was at Leicester and AFAIK it was easy to find a student house. Lots of small Victorian properties close to the uni.

Nottingham has a popular studenty area in Beeston; I also know students in Sheffield and Brum and they have not had an issue.

Warwick is problematic as the uni campus is not near a big city; a lot of students commute from leamington Spa which is a bus ride away and not exactly a busy city.

Friend's lad is at Newcastle and I have not heard that he has had a problem with accomm. But that's just one example tbf.

DC visited cousin at Leicester who got there in clearing for Modern Languages (missed Birmingham offer) but loving it and wouldn’t want to be anywhere else! did your DD enjoy her time there? @clary

Missed Brum and got cold feet about insurance of Surrey - so now Leicester

Thanks @DelphiniumBlue for tip about Manchester. I vaguely recall reading now you mention

Bristol is extremely expensive for housing (has been for a long time) and I believe it was also one of the Universities that had shortages in recent years and was even bussing students over the Severn Bridge, student housing was so short.

I'm not sure whether it is still the case but Bristol was also housing students in student accommodation over in Bath (TBF a decent place to live as a student, but quite an annoying commute if you want your student life to be centred in Bristol). I think about 300 students were affected. UWE was sending students to Newport and Cheltenham too.

No issues at Birmingham.

Have direct experience of a fair bit of that list - two very recently:

Bristol - total nightmare and very expensive. (Have recently given up on it). People are bidding against each other to rent. The uni is in the most expensive part of the city and the public transport is next to non existent.

Surrey - eye wateringly expensive (not sure whether it’s Egham or Guildford you’re looking at but the same applies to either).

Manchester - not heard about issues with availability but prices have definitely gone up. Public transport is great though if they’re ok to look a bit further out of the Victoria Park/Fallowfield areas.

Liverpool - definitely a cheaper option. Lots of purpose built in the centre and the traditional Smithdown Road corridor. Not heard any issues with availability.

Durham - an absolute nightmare. A lot of substandard property at premium prices too. Has been terrible for years.

Newcastle - same as with Manchester and again good public transport with the Metro etc.

The rest I can’t speak to. They’ll likely have more choice in the universities within decent sized cities as opposed to e.g. Warwick as others have said. When you do the open days, set aside time to have a look at the accommodation and the main student areas (not just the pristine stuff the uni will try to show you).

Liverpool is fine on both availability and price - as always just takes research. Again upward drift on price for renovated houses with more bathrooms and kitchen/diner/living space option but much cheaper than DC friends in Bristol, Edinburgh, Nottingham and Durham

There will be other posters who will come along and say that your DD should not let accommodation concerns sway uni choice but I think she is being wise to factor it in.

She and you might find this article (guest blog on website of HEPI, an education think tank) interesting:
https://www.hepi.ac.uk/2022/11/11/why-there-should-be-no-surprises-about-the-growing-student-housing-shortage/

My take is that housing shortages/high housing costs are typically occuring in three situations:

Smaller uni towns, where the number of students is high relative to the total local housing stock eg St Andrews, Durham, Exeter, Bath

Uni cities (large and smaller) in areas doing well economically, meaning there is more non-student competition for housing eg London, Guildford (U of Surrey), Bristol, Edinburgh

Where the uni/s in the city in question have not kept expansion in synch with accommodation stock eg Bristol, Durham, Edinburgh (in contrast to, say, Southampton or Lancaster)

Bear in mind that 'shortage' manifests itself in lack of property and lack of cheaper property, so someone with, say, an Exeter uni DC may tell you there is not a problem but it may be their financial situation allows their DC to access high rent housing.

Interesting. My ds looking at firming and insuring Bath and Surrey...

DD at Bath and no issues at all with accommodation this year. The year before last was tough because of the CAG disaster. Some Unis have issues with halls ie UWE, Bristol and Manchester but private rentals plentiful (EG Manchester now on Rightmove has over 650 student houses for rent). Others have issues with private rentals eg Durham. DS had applied to Bristol but withdrew because of the cost of private rent (I cannot afford 2 dc in that area) and is looking to go to Manchester instead. I think some of the issues were around those with late offers and clearing as all accommodation was booked but Unis like UWE have new blocks opening this year so should ease pressure.

My DD is first year in Bristol. They guarantee to provide accommodation in halls for first year (may not get your top preference, and think it might have been for those putting Bristol as first choice).

The hunt for accommodation for second year started early, and she found it stressful. Her group hadn't got anything sorted before the Christmas break despite being quite on it and viewing quite a few places. They did find something in January, which has eased the stress - not cheap though....

I know there were horror stories a couple of years ago about shortage of student accommodation in Bristol, e.g. as other have said, putting people up in Bath. There are a number of new purpose built student blocks, presumably as a result - DD didn't really put in for those as she wanted part catered (which seemed mostly to be in the older blocks) but some looked a bit over the top with facilities (one has a cinema room) and correspondingly priced.

Nottingham is cheap as chips for housing. And loads of it. Students live in Lenton and Dunkirk.
Bristol is expensive if want to live near to Uni, but can get cheaper places if don't mind a half hour walk.

I have heard Glasgow was really difficult, and Durham is.

I've got a child at Warwick. There's a good selection. They can apply to live on campus again as they are well off for halls on campus. They can live in private halls near campus which is popular with some. Lots of new ones. They can private rent in Canley which is near the uni. They can get very reasonably priced private rented in the Earlsdon area of Coventry and get the bus in. They can get private rental in Leamington Spa which is a popular town for Warwick students to live and socialise in. So something to suit everyone really.

No practical advice but Durham was terrible for living out accommodation when I was there 15+ years ago and there were about 12,000 students. According to tinterweb, the student body now numbers 20,000 they’ve added two new colleges, increased numbers in the existing ones and it’s the students who are suffering because the city & surrounding areas have so little potential for housing expansion.

I should have written I have a daughter. Child sounds wrong

My ds was at Leicester, absolutely loved it there. He's been out for two years now but didn't have any problem with accommodation, they were building more halls of residence when he left.

No problems in Birmingham at all with availability or proximity (they basically all live in Selly Oak next to the campus). Relatively expensive (compared wit where DS1 went anyway) but not in eg Bristol , Bath or Surry league and watch out for absolutely all the landlords doing 12month rents for private houses which pushes prices up.

In the news yesterday was a student strike at halls in Manchester - they were on a rent strike and were being carried out by security.

No issues in Sheffield or Nottingham.

Yes my dd enjoyed Leicester. She was there in clearing but ultimately relieved not to be at her first choice which would have been high pressure.

Leicester uni is very diverse which she loved. Lots of opportunities in her dept (Eng lit) to study a range of texts. Super pastoral support. I think bc it’s not RG it is often overlooked but that’s a mistake. Halls are a long way from uni tho.

York is a good bet. So much student accommodation and more being built all the time.

These are the usual shared student houses but so many privately owned/managed'Halls' type rooms. All in good locations in the city.

My DC had no issues for campus Halls in their first year.

Private rent in their second year with lots of options available.

They have just secured their accommodation for year 3, again they had lots of options to choose from.

Ds2 is at Sheffield. No problems at all finding a house for 2nd year & rent is reasonable.

Friend’s son went to Surrey & stayed in halls every year, I think they have lots of availability not just for first years, not sure what the private rental market is like.