York has been inundated with high demands for student homes

A Leading property organisation reports York has one of the worst shortages of student accommodation in the country, after three quarters of purpose-built student flats (PBSA) have already been snapped up.

The Stripe Property Group, an organisation which provides properties across England, analysed the rental markets of the top 50 UK universities and discovered York had the highest demand.

Last week, the group announced 75% of all PBSA rental stock across the YO10 postcode, had been taken.

James Forrester, Managing Director for Stripe Property Group, said this was reflected nationally and policy makers must do more to bridge the gap between the demand from students and the supply available.

Student housing charity, Unipol, announced in December 2022 that the current student housing shortage is the worst it’s been since the 1970s and claims some students have resorted to sleeping in cars and sports halls.

Data complied by the StuRents accommodation portal, which says it represents 70% of student beds in the UK, suggests there is a shortfall of 207,000 student beds, and 19 towns and cities where there is more than a 10% undersupply of beds, ranging from 28% in Preston, Lancashire, 25% in Bristol to 10% in Birmingham and Swansea.

However, to address the shortage of accommodation in York, today, the council’s planning committee is recommended to approve a 210-bed scheme at Peppermill Court following it approving hundreds of beds in other schemes.

York St John University is developing Peppermill as part of a £20m programme by 2025, by which it will put other schemes forward on its land. This comes as student numbers are set to rise from 7,500 in 2021-22 to 9,000 by 2026.

Director of Estates Management & Development at York St John, Nick Coackley, says sourcing affordable student accommodation is a university priority – the university is working with York City Council on the Local Plan, aiming to develop policies to address scarcity and cost pressures.

Mr Coackley said: ‘We’re one of York’s largest and growing employers, generating many millions of pounds annually to the local economy. Our students are a vital part of the city and benefit hundreds of businesses and other organisations.

‘Too often, planning policies across the country have treated students and universities as a problem to be managed rather than a fantastic opportunity to be encouraged.’

The University of York, which also has growing student numbers, confirms a demand for purpose built flats, with it recently providing an extra 1,400 rooms for its students.

In addition to university students in York struggling to find a place to live, last year, students in Manchester were also facing a similar issue. According to a StuRents survey, there were 4,000 more students than places to live in the Northern City and the University of Manchester had to resort to paying people £2K to give up their rooms in halls of residence.

Photo by Mark Stuckey