ONCE again, it’s that time of year when the housing market prepares for a flurry of Swansea students looking for private accommodation.
With a recent National Union of Students survey showing that student accommodation prices have doubled in the last ten years, more students are
considering private housing.

The NUS/Unipol Accommodation Costs Survey shows that the average weekly rent for a room in university-owned accommodation in the UK increased by 97% in ten years.

At Swansea University, the Hendrefoelan Student Village rose from £41.90 to £77 per week, working out as a 41% increase above inflation.

NUS vice president, Pete Mercer, is concerned that increases in rents on university-owned rooms are forcing more students to go private.
He said: “University heads should urgently be looking at properly planning accommodation supply and capping rent increases to ensure students are not priced out of living in halls.”

Students are already under great financial pressure: according to a report released today by the National Union of Students (NUS), the gap between the potential government support students can receive and the actual cost of being a university student has grown to £8,566 per year.

After the first year, it is a common choice for many students to share a private house with friends.

There are two ways to go about this: 1. With a private letting agency or landlord or 2. With Student Accommodation Services (SAS), the university and students’ union joint-owned letting agency.

Swansea University Students’ Union Welfare Officer, Charlotte Britton, is concerned that too many students are listening to the myth that there are not enough good houses in Swansea.

“SAS doesn’t release its list of housing until January because we made the conscious decision that SAS would be better than those landlords and agents that will rush you or pressure you into signing early just to make some money as soon as possible.

“The SU Advice Centre often deal with students who’ve rented early and now have problems with their house. That said, last year over 93% of students waited until January to rent, so relax!”

The Rate Your Landlord Survey 2011-12, set up by Charlotte, found that 71% of students last year had at least one problem in their accommodation and 52.2% of students who went through a private letting agent felt rushed or pressured into signing their contract.

Manager of SAS, Steve Daniels, shares the students’ union’s concern and hopes that the Housing Advice Week on the 3 – 7 December, will show students that there is no need to panic:

“Landlords have been known to post flyers through doors at the student village saying there is not enough private housing, so call this number.

“This is certainly not the case as there is an abundance of properties for students.

“There are numerous advantages of renting through SAS. We negotiate a fair and reasonable price with landlords, there is no deposit – just a £200 reservation fee that comes off the first month of rent.

“There are no agency fees and every contract in the house is individual.

“This way, if one of the tenants is to drop out, there is a six weeks notice period in which they are released from their rent, just like university-owned accommodation. It also means the other tenants do not have to cover the cost of an extra person’s rent.”

During housing advice week, there will be talk from SAS in Glyndwr D at 2pm. There will also be stalls and online information throughout the week.

•To complete the Rate Your Landlord Survey and to be in with a chance to win £100 worth of prizes visit www.swansea-union.co.uk/advice.