Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the rents levied by developers of student accommodation.

Higher education providers are autonomous bodies, independent from the government. The department plays no direct role in the provision of student residential accommodation.

The department assesses student accommodation rent levels through the Student Income and Expenditure Surveys that have been undertaken at regular intervals since the mid-1980s. Information on student rents is also reported in the Accommodation Costs Surveys published jointly by the National Union of Students and the student housing charity, Unipol.

The report published by the independent panel supporting the Post-18 Review of Education and Funding recommends that the Office for Students:

examines the costs of student accommodation; and

works with students and providers to improve data about costs, rents, profits and quality.

The department has not yet taken decisions on these recommendations but will consider the panel’s proposals in due course.