Average weekly rents for student properties up 2.4% since a year ago
18-08-2012
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Students are likely to pay an average of £68.70 a week compared with £67.11 a week in 2011, according to Accommodation for Students (AFS) whose research is based rents on over 100,000 properties in 77 cities.
London has the most expensive rents for students with an average weekly rent of £107.29. However, Guildford moves up to second place with an average weekly rent of £93.46, just overtaking Exeter in third at £93.42.
This year there are some significant movers up the table. Winchester student rents have shot up 20% from last year’s £71.80 to £86.40 in 2012, sixth highest in the UK, and one spot higher than Oxford, which itself went up 7% from last year to £85.57. Durham, too, has gone up 20% from £66.75 to £80.21 this year, just outside the top ten.
Further down the table Lancaster has gone up a significant 24% from £57.46 to £71.36 and Newcastle-upon-Lyme, home to Keele University, has risen 9% to £70.49 from £64.65 in 2011, which was already 13% ahead of £57.31 in 2010. Hull rents have risen 25% to £56.90 this year from £47.72 in 2011, which was in the bottom five.
Other risers include Middlesbrough, up 13%, Preston, up 11%, Sunderland and Coventry, both up 8% and Lincoln, up 7%. Of the larger university towns, rents in Bristol and Newcastle rose 6% and Leeds 5%.
Best value in terms of the lowest average weekly student rent is represented by Pontypridd at only £45.94, followed by Stockton at £47.45, Stoke-on-Trent, £49.20 and Middlesbrough at £49.21, despite its 13% rise over last year.
‘A key factor in determining student rents is the desirability of attending some universities. That puts pressure on the accommodation available and, hence, the charging of higher rents. Winchester, Durham, Lancaster, Exeter and Newcastle come into this category,’ said Simon Thompson, co-founder and director of Accommodation for Students.
