[Closed] Student Accommodation

It used to be the case that you'd be liable for the fees if they couldn't find someone to take over your lease. However, I haven't worked in the HE sector for 5 years now, so things have probably changed.

The whole thing is a complete mess: universities avoided capital expenditure on halls by making deals with private organisations, but these organisations are now acting in exploitative ways. We've also got some of the highest tuition fees for public universities in the world, so students are getting royally screwed.

JP

6 grand?

>6 grand?

9k fees plus 5 to 7k for accommodation.

Yes the 6 grand was just for the accommodation. Whers the daughter is looking its extra if you want to leave your possessions in the room over christmas/easter etc which I think is harsh!

6 grand?

Nope, 8 grand!

crash2 is currently in private halls in that London run by Optivo. It seems decent enough and has students from a mix of London universities. It's expensive for Zone 3, but on the Picadilly line for a direct commute, she was paying similar last year to be in Uni halls in Notting Hill, but the exclusively 2nd year hall the Uni runs is ten grand, all these uncatered.

We're doing the open day rounds with crash3 at the minute, and it seems quite a few places have gone the third part route, but outside the south east prices are more reasonable, we've seen as low as £3700 for some places, but it seems £5-6k isn't unusual. It's a hassle getting gear home or to storage for holidays, but getting a shorter contract with holiday breaks is what get's the price down while the hall fills up with conference attendees or tourists. We're going to have an overlap next year at least with two away at once so we're encouraging the boy to have a good look at the halls so he can get his choices in quickly to get a cheapie if he can.

If we hadn't been saving for this since they were born, and being fairly well off, things would be different. I don't think you could do most standard unis these days on the maintenance loans and grants, there needs a sizeable parental top-up for most.

CharlieMungus

Member

There seems to be lots of private Uni halls with companies like Vita and Liberty Living. Looks like they have taken over from private landlords and uni owned accomodation.
However, it appears that once you sign up, they charge for the full year regardless of your success or not in that year. Seems a bit much to have to carry on paying if you find uni is not for you and you leave after the first term. Anyone have experience of this?

TBH that's quite often the case with university-owned halls too. It's really hard to fill halls rooms after term is rolling and especially later on, and can be quite disruptive for the other students around that room. Partly because most of the candidates to fill the gaps will be later year students, while generally most of the original residents will be first years.

(with my lot, you officially rent for a year... But don't tell anyone, it's a secret, that most reasonable requests for a refund are agreed, especially if you're very early in term- the classic "OMG I hate it here" week 2 disaster. It's really pretty uncommon for a student to get kicked out before the end of their first year, it'd be a total nonattendance or a big disciplinary matter, or sometimes a visa issue... So we're mostly talking about people choosing to leave)

In most cities it's not really true that they've taken over from uni accomodation. The old halls are mostly still there, after all. There's a lot of cases where a uni might otherwise have commissioned a new hall, or where uni owned flats (ie smaller buildings not halls) have been sold into the private market, but while that's a real thing the sheer volume of student lets means it's not had the impact you'd expect. It's a drop in the bucket- a big drop but still.

So, frinstance here in Edinburgh what the private halls are mostly doing is competing with private landlords who frankly have had it their own way for a long time, and offering a new alternative for people who'd normally choose halls. So it's been mostly positive, but not entirely.

My uni's approach has always been "enough halls for first years, and after that most people will move off campus" and so for our kids, private halls can be a great option if they prefer halls life to the idea of finding a shared flat or whatever.

Our biggest losers, and the only really lost opportunity for students, has been that we used to have a load of trusted 3rd party accomodation providers, mostly single flat or small-scale providers, who filled the same gap of "wants to leave halls, doesn't really want to go totally free market" which private halls have eaten up- we've cut that entirely as it was a bollocks to run, which has hurt quite a few owners, and has removed what used to be a fairly popular option for students. But I'd definitely say for us the pluses outweigh the minuses.

In England it's a bit different since the lifting of the cap and the higher fee regime has driven uni numbers up very fast and that's where the private providers are raking it in- but tbh most universities would have struggled to meet that fast and rather unexpected increase in demand, especially in city campuses. We've opened 4 new halls over the last few years, and demolished some old ones, but that was literally a ten year expenditure plan- there's no way we could have done it in a hurry, or in much bigger volume. Universities are not fast on their feet, and even the richest ones tend to have their finances tied in knots.

Nationally, the other big change has been the decline of the classic shit student flat. Regulations, high property values, and a more demanding student body is really hammering the Young Ones market. And actually, that is a shame, because the cheapest options available are now often not all that cheap. The private halls companies are mostly going for high value luxy options because that's where they make the biggest return, and more often than not so are new university builds- we demolished a block of 40 year old basic accomodation, small rooms with shared facilities and no frills, and built a block of big lovely rooms with ensuites and nice kitchens and such. And that's great, because the old ones were ****ed frankly and the new ones are lovely and some students can pay the bills and will benefit, and it's a really good capital investment- but it's pushed our minimum price up.

And I don't think anyone's really filling that gap, in a lot of cases, or is interested in doing so. If I had a few million quid spare, I'd love to buy the land next door and build a no frills block of halls, and rent it out cheap... But it'd be a bad investment.

Holy shit that's a long post. I should claim overtime for it

, there needs a sizeable parental top-up for most

Holiday jobs can still be a thing to close the gap.

Yes to Holiday jobs, crash2 has done 2 summers of paralegal work now, which will be handy on the CV, but there isn't really enough free time for a part time job in term time on her course, it's a very full timetable.

I don't think the rules for students are any different from normal residential tenancy law (which I have a passing knowledge of). So the law as I understand it today is that if you can find someone take over your tenancy contract, who is acceptable to all parties, then that will ameliorate your liabilities.
However, whilst people may leave Uni midway through the academic year, not many people start mid may through the year, so I wonder if finding a replacement may be tough.

Nationally, the other big change has been the decline of the classic shit student flat. Regulations, high property values, and a more demanding student body is really hammering the Young Ones market. And actually, that is a shame, because the cheapest options available are now often not all that cheap.

Tell me about it, young Miss mogrim1 has just started her second year in London and my hopes of cheaper shared accommodation didn't last very long 🙁

On the other hand as you point out the quality of the housing has gone up, and her new shared flat is nothing like the flea-ridden slum I remember living in 30 years ago. And her privately run halls last year in Stratford were excellent. But of course you have to pay for all that...

5plusn8

Member

However, whilst people may leave Uni midway through the academic year, not many people start mid may through the year, so I wonder if finding a replacement may be tough.

Yup- though, some do, mostly overseas students. If it's really early then you can catch late arrivals- again, lots of overseas students who've been dicked around by the UKVI, sometimes some clearing people, and of course sometimes you find another "aaargh I've chosen the wrong university" mover. But if the halls are sold out there's sometimes people who will take the place, who aren't already committed to another contract. So yeah, it's pretty hard. And finding that person yourself is pretty unlikely.

Course, if it was easy to do, then the operators wouldn't have such strict contracts- they could be confident in preserving revenue.

We have a significant amount of our own accommodation, and it's to a very high standard in my Uni. I'm not sure on the rules but it won't be like the private landlords. It's flipping expensive, on top of fees though, but we seem to fill all the rooms. Either the student's parent's are loaded, or no-one gives a fark about massive student loans, as it's unlikely many will ever get re-paid.

We went private every year for four years. Never more than £360 pcm plus bills, and only over the summer for one year. So I think we got off lightly. Not getting a university room in the first year was a blessing in disguise, as social media now allows rapid connections and the first year sharing was organised whilst we were away on holiday. Son1 lives with three of them every year thereafter.

To be fair, Southampton Uni did eventually make an offer of a one bedroom flat for £9K per year when they realised their mistake. We declined.

+1 on Northwind and Mogrim's comments on the end of the shite flat end of the market having disappeared. The trouble is the universities are compounding that by constantly driving up the quality, and cost, of their (and the private provider) halls. My eldest went to Manchester 4 years ago and was in Oak House in Fallowfield - it was pretty basic but she loved it and it was relatively cheap. They're now redeveloping it to a higher standard and there'll be no cheapo halls at all. My youngest has just started at Exeter and the newer accommodation is all top quality and £££. The cheapest she could get into is £600/month.

NB, if you decide against university in Edinburgh in the first week you avoid financial repercussions. Don't ask me how I know that.

Thanks for these, very helpful. Follow up question. How much top-up are you giving after course fees and rent?

Ours only qualify for the minimum maintenance loan, so we pay the rent, they live off the loan. It cuts into my shoe budget a little, but needs must.

We pay most of the rent but youngest has weekend job and pays £100 (IIRC).