Rents up by almost 20% as students feel credit crunch

Published on Sunday 10 August 2008 22:29

STUDENT rents have risen by almost 20 per cent in four years, research suggests.

An undergraduate can now expect to pay 61.64 a week, up almost 10 from 52.44 in 2004.

The figures, based on 46,000 properties in 73 UK cities, were published by the website accommodationforstudents.com.

The highest in Scotland was St Andrews, where rents topped 82 a week, followed by Edinburgh and Glasgow with average prices of 71.06 and 69.34 respectively.

London was still the most expensive place to study, with an average weekly rent of 102.65, the research showed.

The best value towns were Middlesbrough, Stoke, Wolverhampton, Crewe and Bradford where rents are between 40 and 45 a week.

The findings showed some "hot spots" where rents have risen well above the national average – renting in Exeter now costs around 78 a week, 35 per cent higher than the average of 58 five years ago.

Traditional universities such as Liverpool, Birmingham and Manchester are still good value, with rents between 52 and 57 – below the national average.

But others are increasing fast – in Leeds increasing student popularity has seen rents rise by 7 per cent in the past year to around 62 a week.

Simon Thompson, co-founder and director of Accommodation for Students, said: "The student accommodation situation has been worsened by the current credit crunch."