Students across the UK have seen rocketing rents over the past year, one study reveals.
The findings from NatWest Bank reveal that the average rent has increased by 18% over the past 12 months, which is an average of £518 per year.
The largest rise, according to the Bank's Student Living Index, was for students in Leicester who saw their average monthly rental bill increase by £188.
Most expensive UK city for students
The most expensive UK city for students remains London, though rents have fallen by £100 since a year ago.
The average rent for a student in London is nearly £620 per month.
Also, NatWest Bank says that London is the only city in the UK where the costs being paid by students are more than their income.
The survey questioned more than 2,300 students on a range of issues and found that the largest part of students' income is their student loan.
Students say that contributions from their parents, as well as dipping into personal savings, are growing in importance to finance their student life.
Students relying on their student loan
The survey highlights that one in seven students are now relying on their student loan for meeting their rent - last year it was one in five students.
When questioned about their finances, one in five students say they cannot save money with their outgoings, and one in four students say they run out of cash every month.
The head of NatWest student accounts, Andy Nicholson, said: "Rising student rents puts more pressure on student finances.
"And the cost of being a student is rising, which makes it more important that students manage their finances properly."
The managing director of Accommodation for Students, Simon Thompson, said: "Student landlords have been striving during the pandemic to help their student tenants and will only be increasing rents if necessary.
"Student landlords are providing quality homes for students and some will have incurred other costs or lost rent during the last 12 months, which may lead to some increasing rents."
NatWest Student Living Index
The NatWest Student Living Index also found that 11% of students are either in arrears, or behind on their rent.
The survey also looked at the most affordable city in the UK for students and found that the cheapest place for them to live in is Sheffield.
The survey found that for students in Sheffield, it is the best place for a cheap night out, higher term-time incomes and below average student rent prices.
NatWest says that the average monthly income for a student in Sheffield is £1,304, and with a lower bill for groceries and rent, they have a monthly disposable income of £714.
Sheffield is followed by Cambridge, then Glasgow and Oxford and Birmingham is in fifth place.
The cheapest student city to live in
In joint sixth place as the cheapest student city to live in are Exeter and Durham, followed by Nottingham, Leicester and Manchester.
London is the most expensive.
That should come as no surprise to students and student landlords and NatWest says that a student in the capital has a term-time income of £965.
After deducting their living expenses and costs for class materials and activities, the average student in London is left with £80.20 per month.
To compare, NatWest reveals that Sheffield students are paying just £3.20 for a pint of beer, whereas students in London are paying £9.10.
For students in Durham, Oxford and Edinburgh, they are most likely to be relying on their family or parents for term-time income.
Most expensive city for students to live in
After London in the table of the most expensive city for students to live in is Leeds, followed by Bristol and York in equal place and then Liverpool.
The hardest working students are in Glasgow who earn the most from their term-time work, while students at Oxford are the least likely to work during term.
There has also been a 5% rise in students' year-on-year spending with most of this rise going towards their supermarket food shopping bill.
Students are also spending more on shoes and clothes than they have done in previous years, and spending on clubs, theatres and gigs has fallen by a third.
Student landlords also feature in the survey, along with University accommodation providers, with one in three students being offered a reduction in rent or a rent break if they returned home in their first semester last year.
Students in Cambridge accounted for the highest proportion with 62%, and this is in a city where students are paying the highest rent in the UK at £578 per month.
Students offered a rent holiday
The city where students were least likely to be offered a rent holiday is Glasgow, though it also ranks as having the lowest average student rent at £447.
Mr Nicholson told Accommodation for Students: "The pandemic has affected the way most of us work, and for students this means remaining at home for their lectures over Zoom and our Student Living Index reveals how much this has impacted students."
