UK Students Consider Quitting University Due to High Rental Costs, Survey Finds

A recent survey reveals that two in five students in the United Kingdom have thought of quitting university because of the high rental costs, with 7 percent admitting they faced homelessness during their studies.

The National Student Accommodation Survey 2024 released by Save the Student, the student money website, also found that 3 percent of university students have already dropped out of university for this reason.

Findings show that students pay an average of £550 or €643 for monthly rent. Those who study in London pay a monthly average of £778, Erudera.com reports.

“The results of this year’s survey are deeply concerning, and highlight how life in a cost of living crisis is at risk of becoming the new normal for students,” Save the Student’s Communications Director, Tom Allingham, said.

Among the 1,000 respondents, 64 percent said they struggle with costs at some point, including 20 percent of students who describe their rent payments as a continuous challenge and 44 percent who said they faced occasional challenges.

Due to high rent costs, 72 percent of students said their health was affected, 53 percent said it was somehow affected, and 19 percent said it had been greatly affected.

According to results, 52 percent of students said the rental costs have somewhat affected their mental health, and 18 percent said it has greatly affected them. Besides health, 45 percent of respondents said rent expenses have impacted their studies too.

A significant number of students also reported struggles with accommodation, with 37 percent mentioning dampness as the main issue, followed by 29 percent reporting lack of water and heating and 18 percent mentioning disruptions caused by construction work.

“The house we pay so much for has damp walls and gaps under doors and no insulation meaning in order to live healthy we would need to pay even more for heating than we could afford. My room is so damp I can’t stay in it,” a student responding to the survey said.

When asked about their plans to buy a house in the future, 14 percent of respondents at a median age of 30 said they don’t plan to ever buy a house, while 7 percent said they don’t plan to do so until age 40 or older.

“Some reasons students gave for not feeling confident about buying a house included high property prices and the challenge of saving up for a deposit after graduating with debt,” the report states.

The UK government provides students with Maintenance Loans, a type of funding paid directly to students, to help them with daily costs, such as rent and food.

According to the UK government, Maintenance Loans in England are expected to witness a 2.5 percent increase for the 2024/25 academic year, reflecting the 2.8 percent rise in 2023/24.

Last year, a study from higher education software provider TechnologyOne found that 70 percent of UK students considered leaving university amid rising living costs. The same revealed that half of students had to reduce spending on eating out.