Purpose-built student accommodation rents outside London increased by 10.1% year-on-year in the 2023-24 academic year.
StuRents said that, on a like-for-like basis, the average per person per week cost of PBSA grew by 10.1% year-on-year to £184. The HMO student market saw rents grow by 10.3% to £122pppw.
This represents a significant uplift in comparison to previous years and the historical average growth of 2-3%. In 2022-23, year-on-year rental growth was 3.1%.
The student accommodation search platform also noted vast discrepancies in local markets, Glasgow, a market with well-reported accommodation shortages, has seen PBSA rents jump by more than 20%.
Coventry, by comparison, has seen below-average rental growth of 1.4% in the academic year.
Supply shortfalls across the sector
The UK faces a shortage of some 350,000 beds across the 30 largest university towns and cities, according to CBRE.
Planning remains one of the biggest hurdles in meeting this unmet supply. StuRents reported that in the first eight months of 2023, applications totalling 27,000 beds have been put forward, but fewer than 13,000 have been granted planning permission.
During the same period of 2018, a total of 37,000 units were lodged, with 33,000 given the green light.
This has resulted in a slowdown in the number of new schemes coming online, with around 12,000 new beds added in time for the 2023-24 academic year.
StuRents found that with construction costs still high and the cost of debt elevated compared to recent levels, developers have been focusing on providing studios to make schemes viable.
Most of the developments outside of London are focused on key cities, such as Bristol, Leeds and Nottingham.
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