The 2020/21 results of the National Student Accommodation Survey, published last week, and carried out by ‘Save the Student’ reveal the financial toll of the pandemic related to students’ living situations. Based on its calculations, ‘Save the Student’ estimates a total of nearly £1 billion (£933,270,890) has been spent by students on unused accommodation in the UK in the 2020/21 academic year so far. The UK-wide survey polled over 1,300 university students between 20 January 2021 and 8 February 2021, to explore the realities of how student living has been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Findings from the survey showed a 10% drop in students who view their accommodation as good value for money, with 1 in 2 students feeling their accommodation is poor value for money. With the uncertainties of the last few months resulting in the non-occupation of student accommodation, the survey found that 32% of students questioned had been offered a refund on their rent, of which 9% were offered a full discount, and 23% offered a partial one. There was also a notable difference in the number of students’ approaching their halls for rent rebates and those asking for rent rebates from private landlords. In university accommodation, as many as two-thirds have asked for a refund, compared to just under one in five students with private landlords. The figures show that overall very few students are currently living in university accommodation or private halls. 52% of students are still in the same living situations as originally planned, but a third of students in the survey had moved back home to live with their parents or guardians. The national survey shows that since the start of the 2020/21 academic year, around 43% of students have spent three months or less in their properties and revealed that if students had known what would happen this year, over 2 in 5 would have chosen their accommodation differently. Save the Student’s report calculated the cost of unused accommodation finding that on average students spent £1,621 on empty rooms to which they haven’t had full access to this academic year.

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