“Rent prices for student accommodations set to go up in September”

As the cost-of-living increases, university students hoped that rent prices will decrease to help them finance money on rent, food, and utilities whilst staying focused on their studies. However, most accommodation prices are set to increase during the start of the academic year.

The annual rate of inflation in the UK has reached 11.1%, which affects the affordability of goods and services for households. The Government has put in place financial assistance to help households tackle energy prices and additional payments made to households receiving benefits. Despite the Government working to help the general public during the cost-of-living crisis, they have yet to mention how they plan on helping students.

The Government have said: “You may have to find other ways to fund the rest of your living costs like parttime work, local authority assistance, bursaries, scholarships, or family contributions.”

The lack of support from the Government has resulted in concerns from University leaders that students are at risk of being “the forgotten group in the cost of living crisis.”

Data from Universities Uk has revealed that 91% of students are worried about the cost-of-living crisis and 77% are concerned that it may impact their studies.

The areas of inflation that students are most likely to be impacted by is rent and cost of food and nonalcoholic beverages. Rent accounts for 45% of students monthly living costs even with the help of maintenance loans, rent takes 72% of it.

Research by Unipol shows that student rents have risen by 16% since 2018/19 and in the past year it has increased by 4.4%. One-Third of students live in private accommodations meaning that their rent payment covers accommodation, household costs which includes bills and utilities. For this reason, the price of private accommodation is higher.

Several accommodations in Birmingham such as Onyx, Belgrave House and all the UniteStudent accommodations have said that rent prices will go up at the start of September. An advisor at UniteStudents said: “Our prices automatically go up during September just because demand for rooms becomes high.

“It's a part of the system so we have no way of bringing those prices down.”

Unlike most of the accommodations who plan on raising their prices, Bristol Street Accommodation have said that their prices will not be increasing to help students. Accommodation manager Sophie Peerce explained how the landlord’s bills are set to go up as students won't be paying more to close the gap between the utility usages.

“Private accommodations are flexible enough to help students out during this cost of living crisis. Although the landlord won't be making any profit next year, it's good to ensure students living with us aren't suffering to the extent that they can’t focus on their studies.”

The cost of food and beverage prices have risen by 16.4% in the last 12 months which means what students are struggling with buying food. Research from the Student Cost of Living Insights Study showed that in a survey of 4,201 students, 62% said they were spending less on food shopping and essentials in response to rising costs.

Due to this fact, Bristol Street Accommodation will be setting up a food bank section for those struggling to buy food to help students further. “Anything we can do to help out will be beneficial to those who need the extra support.

“Even if it's just canned food, pasta and sauces we know it will be of great help.” Said the property manager.

As the cost-of-living crisis creates uncertainty for the future of university students, organisations like The Association for Modern Universities are calling out for the Government to act like creating a better inclusion of students in the wider cost of living assistance programs.