Over half of UK university students pay more than £100 per week on rent
More than half of university students have to pay over £100 per week for accommodation, as prices have increased in the past years.
In 2014, 36.6% of students paid over £100 per week, according to accommodation search engine University Cribs. The figure grew to 51.8% last year. The most expensive areas for university accommodation are London and the South East, as the Independent reports.
Less than one in five students in London paid less than £100 a week in 2016.
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Scotland was not far behind, with over a quarter paying under that amount, while Wales and the North-East had the cheapest rent.
In order to keep up with the rent prices, 57% of students work, though 19% only have a job during the holidays. Those who worked during the term time, said they worked between 6 and 10 hours a week. Furthermore, first-year students were not as likely as second and third-year students to have a job.
The National Union of Students expressed its “full support” to students striking in protest over high rents and “extortionate fees” in February, being the third consecutive year that the NUS is backing rent strikes.
A victory for students came July 2016, when University College London backed down after some residents refused to pay rent for five months. UCL made available £350,000 for 2016/17 to fund accommodation bursaries for those students who needed financial support the most, froze rent for 2016/17 and reduced rent for some rooms. The institution said the new bursary is an addition to its existing scheme and hardship funds. It added that, in 2017/18, UCL will expand funding for the bursary scheme to £500,000.
The Intergeneration Foundation released a report in January, which read that the average graduate will owe around £60,000 in tuition fees alone even 30 years after graduating.
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