Students facing rent rises of up to 8% as demand for property grows

Published on Sunday 14 August 2011 15:22

STUDENTS in Scotland are facing a rent rise of up to 8 per cent as the cost of accommodation continues to increase.

Research shows the price of renting a property in cities across Scotland has grown significantly due to a high demand for rental accommodation across the country.

Latest figures for student accommodation have discovered that properties for under-graduates in St Andrews are the seventh most expensive in the whole of the UK with an average student rent of 84.05 a week.

The highest rent is charged in London with an average of 108.03. In Edinburgh that amount has risen from 72.81 last year to 78.64.

The study, conducted by accommodationforstudents.com, is based on the rents of almost 86,000 properties in 78 UK cities and towns. Thirteenth from the bottom came Dundee where students paying an average of 56.79.

Those hoping to keep housing costs down should head to Middlesbrough, where weekly rent will set them back 43.68.

Some cities have seen massive increases in the cost of renting: Leamington Spa, close to Warwick University, has seen a 16 per cent rise to 70.47 from 60.24 last year.

Newcastle-under-Lyme, which is near to Keele University, and Sunderland, have both seen 13 per cent rises to 64.65 and 61.05 respectively. Others have seen an increase in weekly rent at double the national average of 3 per cent.

Simon Thompson, co-founder and director of accommodationforstudents.com, said: "The rent increases for some cities reflect two key factors. One is the changing nature of accommodation coming on the market.

"The trend is for high-spec, better quality student accommodation, and some locations are leading the way in this area.

"The other key factor is the popularity/desirability of attending some universities that puts pressure on the accommodation available and hence, the charging of higher rents.

"Universities like Exeter, Warwick (Leamington Spa], Edinburgh and, more recently, Manchester, would come into this category, as have in the past, Newcastle, Bristol and Durham."

Responding to the recent figures, Robin Parker, NUS Scotland president, said: "With Scotland's levels of grants and loans the lowest in the UK, these figures for average rent are incredibly worrying. We've seen huge increases in accommodation costs over the past few years and, despite the recession, last year seems to have been no exception. Only students with families that can help can afford to pay the kinds of rents you can sometimes see in our university towns and cities."Diarmid Mackenzie Smith, director of letting and management at Rettie & Co said: "We manage between 50 and 60 student properties and there is still a very strong demand, especially in the Marchmont and Newington areas of the city."

He added: "Since 2007 there has been a steady demand for rental properties - it's basic economics - when sales are down rentals increase. There has been an annual increase in rental properties."