Students across the UK will start the new term in hotels or bunk beds as universities fail to guarantee accommodation or offer rooms in different cities.
Bristol University is offering accommodation in Wales, and Exeter University has five applicants for every place at its most popular location. Glasgow University has said that in years of exceptional demand it cannot promise to house anyone by the start of term whose family home is less than an hour away.
Edinburgh University said on its website that students who had not made it their first choice were guaranteed only “shared accommodation, often with bunk beds”.
A study of student rental accommodation conducted by PwC and StudentCrowd showed that fewer beds were available in purpose-built student accommodation in May than the same time last year in several cities, including Manchester, Southampton and Glasgow.
