Over the last 20 years, AFS has been the home of student accommodation. Throughout this period we have always offered the full range of student accommodation and featured over 200,000 student houses on the site in every University City in the UK.
As a result, AFS has always offered a variety of places for students to live, with a wide range of rental prices. Over almost 20 years, the average rent for a room in a student house has been £79 per week.
There are big variances in the national picture. If we remove London from the national data, the average room price over the last two decades is a slightly more modest £77.
In 2019 the average rent was £86. The relatively small difference between 2019 and the all-time averages reflects the competitive nature of the student housing market, with the growth and proliferation of the PBSA sector checking rental increases across the board. While weekly rentals in London remain buoyant at an average of £187, it is interesting to note that without London the average price of a room in 2019 was £79. This is very close to the all-time average and reflects the growth of the PBSA sector outside of the capital.
Overall, this data shows a functioning student housing market, with good value accommodation in the majority of cities. Places like Wolverhampton have a 19 year average of £62 and Bolton £63, which are at the opposite end of the scale from more expensive locations like Brighton £106, London £115 and Kingston £117.
While this might be anticipated, with such locations generally high cost, cities with strong Universities and hence consistently attractive to students, such as Birmingham (£70), Newcastle (£74) and Sheffield (£75) have all offered great value over the last 20 years.
Furthermore, it shows a vibrant market, where at one end of the spectrum there are properties on the market in London for £645 per week, the majority of students can secure much more reasonably priced accommodation. Our research indicates that these trends will continue and to support our partners in this competitive environment we have continued to invest heavily into www.accommodationforstudents.com and continue to do so.
If you would like a copy of the infographic which summarises our rental data, please email [email protected]
