Student accommodation is one of many oncoming problems UK universities are dealing with right now, and these efforts are hampered by how little control providers have over where students live. Bubbles are easy to consider when students all live in a single building on campus, and when you can choose who has which bedroom. But more than two-thirds of the students likely to be returning in September in the UK’s largest annual internal migration event are not first years - they will not be in neat bubbles with their course mates.
They will live in crowded shared houses on busy streets in some of the least advantaged neighbourhoods in the UK’s towns and cities.
Student accommodation has long been an under-discussed problem and a recent report by highlighted the need to address affordability and regulate this hyper-inflated sector appropriately. It is no longer enough to trust the market to provide. The UK government and universities collective response to the pandemic has highlighted just how far they have let their understanding slip, and for the next academic year, this lack of knowledge could directly impact on public health.
At Student Safety UK we help families and students with their accommodation issues including:
If you wish to know more about our services and would like to speak to one of our representatives in your home country, please email us at office@studentsafetyuk.co.uk.