Size matters for UK students
“It all comes down to the bedroom. At least, that is the view from students in the UK, who rated having a big bedroom and a double bed the ‘must haves’ when it comes to finding the perfect student pad. That’s according to research released today from Uniplaces, following a poll conducted by Opinium throughout the UK, France, Spain and Italy on attitudes towards student accommodation.
Aside from having palatial bedroom, today’s students also demand mod cons and technology. Having furniture included tops the list of what makes the perfect student accommodation, (93%), followed by Wifi (83%), and being close to the university (81%). Students also want a garden (73%), to live with an equal number of girls and boys (52%), and to have a dishwasher (13%).
The demand for bedroom space is not as high on the continent with only a quarter (25%) of students in France bothered about having large bedrooms. In Spain, the people you are close to was the most important aspect of accommodation with almost half (48%) citing being part of the of student community as being the most important factor in choosing their accommodation.
Not wanting to let their new luxurious digs go unnoticed, today’s student is eager to be at the heart of the action with almost double the number of UK students (29%) to those in Europe (15%) citing being near pubs, clubs and nightlife an important factor when it comes to choosing a place to live. In fact, almost half of students (48%) on the continent are much more likely to live at home with family members, compared to just 18% in the UK.
The main bugbear for students, especially those in France and the Spain was being based too far from the lecture theatre. Almost three quarters (69%) said that being close to lecture theatres is the most important factor when it comes to looking for somewhere to live. The biggest issue for UK students was having noisy neighbours.
Commenting on the research, Ben Grech, co-founder, Uniplaces said, “It’s easy to read through the checklist and think you are looking at an advert for a boutique hotel. The fact is, the quality of accommodation available for today’s students is better than it has ever been with more options in terms of location, price, size and spec than ever before. This has created a generation of discerning students that are determined to get the best they can.”
Student accommodation has been given a smart facelift in recent years. Mould-infested walls and draughty windows have been replaced by slick city centre apartment blocks. In fact, a recent report from property investment firm, Jones Lang Lasalle, found that the UK student housing market has surged over the past two years, rising from under £500 million in 2010 to £3.8 billion over the first half of 2015. Non-European Union students have been the fastest growing segment, with numbers increasing by 50% over 10 years.
In spite of the advances made in student accommodation, common issues remain when it comes to both cost and competition for the best places. In the Uniplaces/ Opinium poll, over half of students (55%) claimed that finding their desirable property was not within their budget while over a third (36%) said there was a shortage of accommodation.
Despite over half of students sourcing their accommodation online, it remains a time-consuming process. Nearly half of all UK students said they spent over a third of their semester looking for private accommodation. In France it took a 33% of students over a month to find accommodation, although Spanish students found their accommodation the quickest, with only 20% still looking after a month …