With students coming together to campaign against rising accommodation costs, Accommodationforstudents.com has looked at the figures - and disputes the students' claims.
The past few weeks have seen Scottish students rally outside the Scottish parliament and threaten rent strikes if rents continue to rise.
At University College London students are calling for a cut in rents. They claim prices have gone up by an average of 5% each year in accommodation that is majority owned by UCL.
Simon Thompson, director of Accommodationforstudents.com, agrees that landlords are charging high prices to students in some areas - blaming supply and demand - but says that overall rents have fallen.
Our most recent research actually found that the average rental value (ARV) in this sector has in fact fallen by 37 pence as a result of increased competition, with supply meeting or even surpassing demand in many cities. As the popularity and investment potential of private halls is becoming clear, new developments are cropping up in 66% of cities, with more being planned throughout 2015, he says.
Our experience says that students are not inclined to negotiate enough when it comes to accommodation, whereas there is often some leeway. For organised students that think ahead, early-bird discounts are often available as landlords want the security of knowing they have the property rented for the next academic year. Similarly, if students are forced into clearing, this is also a good time to negotiate on accommodation as landlords that have not already found tenants will be keen to avoid a void period.
Ultimately, students have the power to collectively decide what they are going to pay. I am in support of rent controls in areas where the cost of accommodation has reached such a level that it would prevent a large percentage of bright students from applying for a particular university, but would question the cost of maintaining and controlling this in a market which can change so quickly.
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