Brighton has one of the worst shortages of student housing in the country, a new report says.
Martin Blakey, chief executive of student housing charity Unipol, says the city had one of the worst shortages of student housing in the country.
This year, just 60 new student rooms have come onto the market – although he says the problem may be lessened by a smaller intake this year.
He said many university students will struggle to find affordable housing this year – and in some cases, “supply will simply dry up”.
A similar picture is expected in 2024 and the charity is predicting a “virtual standstill” in new provision in 2025 and 2026.
In a blog for the Higher Education Policy Institute (Hepi) think tank, Mr Blakey said: “Unless there is currently a ‘spade in the ground’, actual building is unlikely to happen: developers are struggling to maintain viability because of volatile build and funding costs.”
The blog adds that the main driver for rising accommodation demand is international students – both undergraduates and postgraduates, but mostly postgraduates on one-year taught courses.
It suggests that significant numbers of international postgraduate students have found it hard to find somewhere appropriate to live, and many are in temporary accommodation which “adversely affects their studies”.
Mr Blakey said: “For many students – particularly those last in the queue – this will be a difficult year to find affordable housing. In some cases, supply will simply dry up.
“Having learned lessons from last year’s problems, a lot of institutions are better equipped to assist their students through this difficult experience. However, student services are not magicians.”
Nick Hillman, director of Hepi, said: “It is important to understand that neither students nor accommodation providers are to blame for the current shortages.
“The problems stem from high interest rates, which make building new accommodation less affordable, excessive regulation, seen most clearly in Scotland in recent years, and deflation in students’ real incomes, which makes it harder for them to cover rent.”
The warnings come as the latest figures show 44,060 UK-based 18-year-olds were recorded as “free to be placed in clearing” on Tuesday – nearly a fortnight after A-level results day.
This means they missed the conditions of their higher education offer and are now eligible to find places through clearing.
But Ucas said the figure includes all applicants – including those who may not be actively seeking a place on a higher education course.
Among those UK 18-year-olds who only found out their decision on results day, 18,030 are currently eligible for clearing, up on 2022 (15,950) and 2019 (12,760), the higher education admissions service said.
Earlier this month, Clare Marchant, the chief executive of Ucas, admitted that there is a “difficulty” with university accommodation.
Ms Marchant said: “I’m sitting here in Cheltenham and Gloucester, there is plenty of accommodation. If you go to a bigger, more urban area, they might have more issues.”
She told the PA news agency: “There are hotspots with accommodation and students are aware of that and just need to research the options as they do their course research.”
Universities UK (UUK) said there is usually a “first-year accommodation guarantee” for eligible students.
But it advised any concerned students to get in touch with their university’s accommodation team before the start of term to see what their options are on housing.
A UUK spokeswoman said: “While only around a quarter of students are in purpose-built accommodation, we recognise that it is a key part of a student’s experience, and housing issues can cause students significant worry.”
She added: “Different universities will take different approaches to managing increased demand in their cities or areas, but to support them in this UUK recently published good practice in managing accommodation challenges.
“While recognising universities are not directly responsible for all elements of their local housing market, it outlines the important role they have to play in partnership with other local higher education institutions, the local authority, and private accommodation providers, to find solutions.”
or……..too many students.
Exactly!
I knew making the former Brighton Polytechnic an university was a big mistake!
And boy, was I right!
Do leave off far to many flats here for students you only have to go along lewes rd. and when they rent houses in the Brighton area what a mess they live in no wonder Brighton is a shit hole
Agree
Not enough homes for students???
You have got to be kidding!
Thanks to students, there are not enough homes for people like cleaners and janitors that keep their universities clean and supermarket workers to feed them!
Total agree with you. With the developments along Lewes road, it totals around 2100! How many more do they need. We need low cost housing for local people
Someone here mentioned 50k students, even if they slept 5 to a house, you’d need 10,000 homes to fully cater. A 500% increase.
And yes, we do need more social housing, and Brighton has one of the greatest increases in social housing portfolios most recently, but there is still more to do.
100% student accommodation is all that is advertised, London road, lewes road all surrounding areas 1000’s of properties for students no affordable accomadation for those that are born in Brighton
Fake news.
Yeah I agree with the article, no where near enough student flats. If you go along Lewes road there are a few blocks, maybe 1500 flats at a push. There are 50k students… So yes more flats need to be built. The stretch of 1950s low rises from moulscoombe station to the railway bridge should be demolished, not least because it’s unsightly but that area should all be high rise accommodation. It would do wonders for the area, not least in the fact it will free up family homes in bevingdean. Lewes road bus garage also could be built on (with a bus depot still under it) would really improve the area. People moaning about student flats… The reason we have not enough houses is precisely because there isn’t enough student flats
Bizarre logic! 20% of the Brighton & Hove population is STUDENT. They are council tax exempt but require more servicing that properly adult householders – for starters! They are learner adults and not contributing to the services they AND THE CITY PER SE require. They are a cost burden. They are part of why working adults and families are unhouseable.
Family homes have been lost in huge numbers to conversion into flats and student HMO’s. The downward drift in the social mix is partly due to the two universities OVERTRADING.
The economy of the city needs to attract employers – not more students or more student housing because the council needs council tax income to keep the city functional. And students pay none.
The city will die from its intractable low income base unless the inexorable rise in student numbers is not curtailed and higher income employers continue to be deterred from coming to the area for lack of family and working adult housing.
Firstly, the council receive a grant from the government to cover the council tax of students. Secondly, students are very low users of council services. They are young and healthy, those in purpose built accommodation use private bin collections. Most of the council budget is spent on social care so based on your logic we should discourage elderly people from living here.
Simon,
Where exactly would the thousands of ordinary council taxpaying citizens who live in the Bates Estate go once you’ve knocked their homes down?
I’ve often thought about this, though never in terms of the Bates estate specifically. You’d have to build one new estate worth of homes on currently unused land. Then move everyone from Area A into those new homes, knock down Area A and rebuild approximately doubling the number of homes in the space. Then move everyone from Area B into the new Area A, knock down Area B, etc etc.
There’s a lot of crap low-density housing in B&H which could definitely be replaced with better new stuff. While new builds have a reputation for being too small and cheaply built I can refer you to some of the Brighton flats I’ve lived in which were too small, cheaply built, and pre-dated the steam engine. At least new ones would have double glazing!
Of course, none of this will ever happen so we all get to sit in our damp subdivided old flats waiting for misfortune.
I think you make an interesting point here about housing strategy. I think there needs to be a stronger push in terms of having a good strategy in place that ensures good quality homes of a reasonable size, and a comprehensive methodology that is realistically feasible, and potentially quite bold in its application.
Ever thought about writing up a basic concept and sending it over to your local councillor?
Love that 🤘🤘🤘
Obviously not from brighton
Just waiting for the wave of NIMBY boomers to turn up, oh wait, they are already here. And boy, they are sprouting nonsensical hysteria as usual.
Two main campus universities in close proximity is always going to cause a shortage on student lets. It also makes the demand high which landlords will be eager to fulfill.
There’s also this random thought that students contribute less financially to an area, and this has been academically proven untrue. Multiple times. Council tax is a truly minimalistic view to hold.
Students should go litter picking in there spare time because it’s their crap floating around the streets dirty little scum bags don’t pay council tax
Objectively untrue statement, Tristan. Someone who feels the need to call a demographic “dirty little scumbags” reflects more upon their own tendencies, compared to anyone else. And I have to say, it’s not a pleasant image. Do better, Tristan.
As a pure BRIGHTONIAN for 54 years, I feel that far too much off this once great town, (will always be a town to most of us) has had enough of its heart and soul ripped out, we have lost so much history and gorgeous architecture plus green space
Leave this home of ours alone
As someone who’s close to 40 years, I disagree with you completely. Brighton has flourished and has a uniqueness that is not found anywhere else. That is it’s heart and soul. It’s recovered plenty of brownfield sites, and green development throughout the city has been achieving a difficult balance. There’s always more to do, but when you look at everything, it is all progressive.
A charity for student accommodation? Ha ha ha now that’s what I call a gravy train. Laughable.
You’d be surprised how underrepresented students tend to be despite being one of the most politically engaged demographics.
What…leave it out.. the place has been wrecked with student accommodation. The town has the ugliest array of buildings for the tens of thousands that wreck poor Brighton.
The town is a mess the residents have no say because they are outnumbered by non Brightonians. Cant get a room go elsewhere.