University students in the UK are experiencing homelessness, rent struggles and housing issues, a report has found.
Around two in five (40%) undergraduates have considered dropping out due to the cost of rent – and 7% have experienced homelessness, according to a poll by the website Save the Student.
Students reported needing to sofa-surf while housing problems were repaired and when they were between tenancy contracts.
Other students who experienced homelessness referred to familial relationship breakdowns.
Nearly two in three (64%) students who pay rent have struggled to keep up with the cost, according to the survey.
More than a third (37%) of students said they had issues with damp in their housing, while 29% have been affected by a lack of water/heating, the poll from the money advice website found.
Save the Student surveyed 1,007 university undergraduate students in the UK online between November and January.
One student – who reported experiencing homelessness in the survey – said: “I couldn’t pay my rent on time so I had to evacuate the hall.”
Another said: “I was (living) in a YMCA and I was later evicted because I was unable to pay rent whilst at uni. I had just (become) estranged from family and was not eligible for student finance.”
Tom Allingham, communications director at Save the Student, said: “The results of this year’s survey are deeply concerning, and highlight how life in a cost-of-living crisis is at risk of becoming the new normal for students.
