Interesting article in Estates Gazette on student accommodation. Student numbers are up to record highs for the third year in a row, and there appears to be a buzz in the industry about building student accommodation again. However, it’s important to look more closely at these figures to extrapolate what should be built.

Brexit meant new EU students have faced higher fees since 2021. The number of EU students starting full-time undergraduate courses fell by 65% between 2020 and 2022 to its lowest level since 1994. It appears that students now increasingly fall into two camps; the wealthy international student, and the domestic student.

It is becoming clear that developers have been focusing on the former, and domestic students are not able to afford the swankier student accommodation provided in recent years. They don’t want a concierge and a cinema, they want cheap rooms. Estate agents are reporting queues for the cheapest rooms on their books, while the expensive stuff sits empty.