Accommodation plays an important role in student decisions
Student preferences are evolving. Accommodation providers need to move with that change to support the future student cohort. Our research outlines the views and expectations of incoming and current students.
3 minutes to read
Investors continue to view the student accommodation sector favourably, driven by changing student demographics and a heightened focus on quality living experiences. A 2.6% year-on-year increase in total acceptances, coupled with a growing population of 18-year-olds projected to 2030, provides a good foundation for accommodation demand.
The UK higher education system also remains attractive, despite widely acknowledged challenges for institutions surrounding the twin pressures of reduced income in real terms and increasing costs. More specifically, the accommodation sector continues to be defined by an imbalance between supply and demand, with the delivery of new beds not keeping pace with student numbers.
Fewer than 17,500 new purpose-built student beds will be added to supply in the 2024/25 academic year. Longer term, just 258,000 new purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) beds have been added across the UK since 2012. Over that same period, almost 470,000 full-time students have joined the student population.
Different markets are seeing varying levels of new supply, and of student number growth. But at a headline level such disparity points to ongoing pressure on an already undersupplied market. It also puts the quality and value of existing accommodation under the spotlight.
In this context, understanding and identifying the changing needs of students is important if the sector is to deliver the very best living experience, and to maintain occupancy and drive lease up.
Our Student Accommodation Survey conducted in partnership with UCAS and now in its fifth year, provides unique insights into the opinions and preferences of students about where they live and what they want from their accommodation.
The results highlight both the importance students place on where they will be living while at university, as well as the role accommodation plays in where they choose to study.
We know, for example, that when it comes to choosing what and where to study, the quality of education and post-study employment opportunities are critical, but students also think about practicalities. Where will they live? How much will it cost?
Reflecting this, some 65% of those applying to university for the first time said that the availability of accommodation had influenced their decision on where to apply. Nearly a third of applicants thought there were not enough accommodation options in their chosen city.
This year’s survey once again points to affordability being the number one issue facing students when it comes to accommodation. For investors and operators this means delivering the highest quality accommodation possible within the constraints of viability. Operators must be quick to identify and prioritise the elements in accommodation that are most important to students.
The PBSA sector scores well in this regard relative to the other options available, but there is room for improvement.
Our survey also confirms that student accommodation is so much more than bricks and mortar. Over the last decade we have seen an evolution of student demand and of the expectation placed on the role accommodation plays in the overall university experience.
PBSA has had to evolve and innovate to support this shift and to provide the base from which students can succeed academically, whilst also creating an environment that promotes safety, community and wellbeing, all of which are explored further in the report.
It is for this reason that we continue to work in partnership with UCAS to bring the highest quality insight to the sector. The views and opinions of the students shared in this report give a unique perspective into their changing needs and will help investors, developers and universities better plan for the future.