Ben Jordan, Head of Policy at UCAS, discussed the state of the student housing market in England in a webinar for the Westminster Higher Education Forum on 20 October. One notable statistic he shared related to the significant spike in university applicants on the horizon in 2030.
There are currently around 750,000 university applicants every year. By 2030, it is estimated that there will be up to 1 million applicants in a single cycle. The reason: greater numbers of 18-year-olds in 2030 compared to now. But given that this spike is expected to be short-lived, with a rapid decline back to current applicant levels by 2035, how will the student accommodation sector rise to the challenge in an already tough environment?
Suggestions may include:
- Investment and funding support to enable more homes of every type, tenure and price point to be developed
- Designing accommodation to appeal to global students with more affordability challenges, such as those from India, Malaysia and Ghana
- Altering students’ perceptions of acceptable distances to live away from university by building PBSA further away from campus and having different campuses on the university bus route
- Developing more basic accommodation in less centrally located areas at a lower cost
- Improving transport systems to enable students to live in less central locations- transport is a more significant barrier than housing when students consider living further away from campus.
The bottom line? Demand for student accommodation is high and on the rise. There is room for all housing variations, so long as it is safe, secure and in a good location.
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