LATEST: Student sector faces shortfall of 450,000 beds by 2025

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Rising student numbers and a slowing supply of new student housing will create a shortfall of 450,000 beds in the UK by 2025.

According to data from StuRents, 248,000 beds are set to be delivered between 2017 and 2025, however, an additional 700,000 students will need accommodation and there is already a shortage of 207,000 beds.

The student accommodation portal reports that the supply shortage is partly due to the fact that planning applications have slowed dramatically following a high in 2016. Head of research Richard Ward says availability of sites, oversupply in some markets and construction costs are all affecting planning applications for new purpose-built student accommodation, while the growing use of Article 4 directions has also made an impact.

“This could be because councils don’t want to be seen to be allowing landlords to reduce the number of properties available for families,” he says.

Harder

“Although an Article 4 doesn’t make it impossible for landlords to turn properties into student lets, it does make it harder and creates further barriers to supply growth of student properties. The recently announced Renters Reform Bill, which impacts HMOs could also have a detrimental impact – although the outcome is unclear at this stage.”

Other factors that could further squeeze supply are the rising 18-year-old population and the UK’s policy of increasing the number of international students.

Earlier this year, Octane Capital reported that HMO numbers in England dropped by 3% to 497,884 in the last year as many landlords offloaded their buy-to-let stock instead of negotiating more legislative hurdles.

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