Availability in the private student halls sector is at a three-year high, according to new data from StudentCrowd, a student marketing and insights platform. On average, 99 more buildings have at least one room available to book in April for 24/25 compared to the same period last year. This increase in accommodation availability follows a significant decline last year, which was 5% down on 2021 during January to March, resulting in many media stories reporting students struggling to find term-time housing.

The latest data comes from a new StudentCrowd report - Supply & Demand Dynamics - where higher education lead Roxanne Muller identifies key trends including application data by market, housing prices and their impact on letting velocity. The report also shows that, despite an increase in accommodation availability, prices are continuing to increase. There has been an average increase of £2.86ppw month-on-month since the start of the current booking cycle.

Head of insight at StudentCrowd, Tuely Robins, said: “Despite a plateau in student numbers this cycle, the prices of student halls have continued to rise. This is largely due to wider market pressures: hall providers have sought to build more rooms to meet pre-existing over-demand but, simultaneously, new regulation and the imminent Renters Reform Act encouraged many private-house landlords to leave the market, perpetuating an under-supply of student homes.”