Students face three years of hard lessons in room rents 

New research shows that students face extraordinary differences in private room accommodation fees in different cities.

Flatshare website SpareRoom says Sheffield to be the cheapest top-20-ranked university city for rent. Students will pay, on average, £520 per month to rent a room including bills, or £6,240 per year. This is £228 per month lower than the average UK room rent, currently £748 per month.

London is, of course, the most expensive city to live in and students planning to attend one of the capital’s top universities, including SOAS, Birkbeck, LSE, King’s College and UCL, will also need to factor commute costs into their budgets. The average London room rent is now £980 per month, according to SpareRoom’s rental index with the cheapest rents to be found in the E postcode area (£944).

The price difference between renting in the most and least expensive top-20 ranked university cities for rent outside of London – Edinburgh and Sheffield – is £3,636 per year or £10,908 over the course of a three-year degree.

The maximum maintenance loan available to full-time students living away from home and studying outside London in 2025-26 is £10,544. Renting in Edinburgh costs, on average, £9,876 per year, leaving just £668 per year or £56 per month towards other living expenses.

The cheapest top-20-ranked universities for rent after Sheffield (£520 per month) are Liverpool (£532), Leeds (£581), Nottingham (£587) and Newcastle (£604). The cheapest rents in the top-45 ranked university cities and towns can be found in Bangor and Hull, at £500 per month.

Outside of London, Edinburgh (£823) tops both Oxford (£813) and Cambridge (£795), as well as York (£751) and Bristol (£732) as the most expensive top 20 university cities for rent.

League table rank	University	City / Town / Postcode	Average monthly room rent	Average annual room rent	Average room rent over 3 years
=45	Bangor University	Bangor*	£500	£6,000	£18,000
=45	University of Hull	Hull	£500	£6,000	£18,000
=26	University of Aberdeen	Aberdeen	£507	£6,084	£18,252
12	University of Sheffield	Sheffield	£520	£6,240	£18,720
20	University of Liverpool	Liverpool	£532	£6,384	£19,152
=34	Swansea University	Swansea	£552	£6,624	£19,872
21	Lancaster University	Lancaster	£561	£6,732	£20,196
=34	Loughborough University	Loughborough	£563	£6,756	£20,268
=34	University of Dundee	Dundee	£569	£6,828	£20,484
25	University of Leicester	Leicester	£572	£6,864	£20,592
=26	Queen’s University Belfast	Belfast	£579	£6,948	£20,844
15	University of Leeds	Leeds	£581	£6,972	£20,916
16	University of Nottingham	Nottingham	£587	£7,044	£21,132
=22	Durham University	Durham	£589	£7,068	£21,204
=32	University of East Anglia	Norwich	£590	£7,080	£21,240
=39	University of Kent	Canterbury	£592	£7,104	£21,312
19	Newcastle University	Newcastle	£604	£7,248	£21,744
=45	Northumbria University	Newcastle	£604	£7,248	£21,744
11	University of Birmingham	Birmingham	£613	£7,356	£22,068
=39	Aston University	Birmingham	£613	£7,356	£22,068
=39	University of Essex	Colchester	£621	£7,452	£22,356
=45	University of Stirling	Stirling (based on FK9)*	£625	£7,500	£22,500
=22	University of Exeter	Exeter	£641	£7,692	£23,076
=26	Cardiff University	Cardiff	£651	£7,812	£23,436
14	University of Southampton	Southampton	£659	£7,908	£23,724
=45	Bournemouth University	Bournemouth	£663	£7,956	£23,868
=45	University of Portsmouth	Portsmouth	£664	£7,968	£23,904
10	University of Glasgow	Glasgow	£687	£8,244	£24,732
=39	University of Strathclyde	Glasgow	£687	£8,244	£24,732
8	University of Manchester	Manchester	£689	£8,268	£24,804
13	University of Warwick	Warwick (based on CV34)	£691	£8,292	£24,876
=26	University of Reading	Reading	£716	£8,592	£25,776
9	University of Bristol	Bristol	£732	£8,784	£26,352
=26	University of Sussex	Brighton	£743	£8,916	£26,748
18	University of York	York	£751	£9,012	£27,036
=45	Royal Holloway, University of London	Egham (based on TW20)	£769	£9,228	£27,684
24	University of St Andrews	St Andrews (based on KY16)	£783	£9,396	£28,188
=26	University of Surrey	Guildford	£786	£9,432	£28,296
=39	Brunel University of London	Uxbridge (based on UB8)*	£792	£9,504	£28,512
2	University of Cambridge	Cambridge	£795	£9,540	£28,620
=32	University of Bath	Bath	£799	£9,588	£28,764
1	University of Oxford	Oxford	£813	£9,756	£29,268
5	University of Edinburgh	Edinburgh	£823	£9,876	£29,628
=45	Heriot-Watt University	Edinburgh	£823	£9,876	£29,628
17	Queen Mary University of London	London	£980	£11,760	£35,280
3	Imperial College London	London	£980	£11,760	£35,280
=34	St George’s, University of London	London	£980	£11,760	£35,280
=39	City, University of London	London	£980	£11,760	£35,280
4	UCL	London	£980	£11,760	£35,280
6	King’s College London	London	£980	£11,760	£35,280
7	London School of Economics and Political Science	London	£980	£11,760	£35,280
=34	Birkbeck, University of London	London	£980	£11,760	£35,280
=45	SOAS University of London	London	£980	£11,760	£35,280

SpareRoom director Matt Hutchinson says: “A combination of high demand and short supply in the rental market means there’s no such thing as cheap rents. But there are university towns and cities where living costs are considerably more affordable and, across a three-year degree, can offer a substantial discount on the total cost of attending university which students going through clearing should be aware of.

“Students should expect rents to increase during their course and budgeting is important as maintenance loans may cover rent and bills, but there might not be much left for other living expenses, such as food or going out with friends. Those planning to live further away from campus to save money should also factor in travel costs, as these can be significant.”

This article is taken from Landlord Today