Elena Dirik is studying politics and sociology in Bristol, the UK’s most expensive city in which to study after London, and has so far stayed afloat thanks to care-leaver bursaries and working in two jobs. But with housing costs soaring, she is considering a move to south Wales next year.
Dirik, 21, wants to be able to focus on her studies for her final year instead of working, after already retaking her first year, but even living in nearby towns such as Newport will be a stretch, with prices increasing as more students move there.
“I feel like I get burned out, even having to think about all these things, it does take away a lot of quality time from studying or doing things that are good for you,” she says.
She worries that moving away would make life harder. “I’d feel really disconnected and discouraged to carry on because student life is such a massive part of university, being on campus and being able to access services.”
On campuses and in towns and cities across the UK, student rents are soaring, while the maintenance loan has barely increased. New research from Unipol suggests that university students in England are left with the equivalent of 50p a week to live on from their loans after paying for accommodation, with costs rising by 15% over the past two years – and more in some areas.
Dirik believes she would need the maintenance loan to be about £3,000 higher than the £10,000 she currently receives, which is the maximum amount students can get to cover housing costs and living expenses.
Her flatshare costs £800 – the same as a friend is paying in London – and she thinks it is £160 higher than last year’s tenants paid. She had to work for all summer to afford the deposit.
Costs were not “something I thought about because I thought, I get the full maintenance loan so it’s not a problem”, she said. “When I first started at Bristol it wasn’t so bad, but now it’s got so bad it’s something I wish I’d considered and something I’d consider now,” she adds.
Dante Kornieva, 19, struggled to find accommodation to start her economics and finance degree at the University of Surrey, and eventually resorted to a room that is “much more expensive than I would have liked to pay, especially since it’s outside of London”.
The room, for £650 a month, is in a four-bedroom home which she shares with five others, and is located half an hour from her university. Her maintenance loan does not cover the cost of accommodation, but she is lucky that her parents are able to help her with the difference.
She knew that Surrey was “infamous for having too little housing”, but “I just wasn’t aware how bad it was”. If she had not enjoyed other aspects of her university experience so much, “I would definitely have regretted [choosing] it based on the housing”.
Katie Truman, 21, a master’s student in public policy at the University of Exeter, commutes two and a half hours from her family home in St Austell, Cornwall because she “literally can’t afford to live in Exeter”. Her boyfriend, who does, pays £693 a month in a four-person flatshare.
She studied at Exeter for her undergraduate degree and lived in the city, but has noticed rents soar, from £135 a week in halls to £170, while student loans have barely increased. “I’d be able to socialise in the evenings, which I loved, and I can’t do that any more which is a bit rubbish. Travelling up and down is tiring, it does take a mental toll, and it does make you feel you’re missing out on the university experience you’re paying for.”
She does not think she would have embarked on a degree if rents had been this high when she started. “There’s a lot of other ways to get into [politics] now without having a degree. I found it really interesting and don’t regret doing it, but I’m not sure I would pay the same amount again.”
Sammy Walton, who is studying for a master’s in international development at the University of Birmingham, said that when he started at Birmingham four years ago, a typical houseshare might cost £90 a week, bills included – he’s now paying £120, without bills. He, too, thinks he would have looked at cheaper alternatives had costs been so high when he was applying.
Similar to most of his friends, he has worked throughout his education, and does four shifts a week, totalling 25 hours. He said he was not in a position to join a sports team and that it was “tough to manage a social life alongside your studies. It’s such an added stress making sure you have enough money for the bills or food that week.”