Finding a place to live as a university student shouldn’t be a problem. However, in the past months St. Andrews students have discovered that things can get quite complicated when it comes to finding the right place to live. How did accommodation become such a complex matter?

Ever since the beginning of this academic year accommodation has been an issue much talked about. It all started out with the university admitting too many new students for the 2003/2004 session. The result was several students being left homeless and residence halls turning common rooms into triple or quadruple bedrooms. Next were the sudden rent increases which gave students little time to adjust their living arrangements for the coming year. Indeed, there are still many who do not know where they’ll be sleeping next term. As a student, finding the right place to live is of great concern. Your surroundings and the people you are around will affect many aspects of your life, and you want to make sure that when you choose a place to stay, you choose wisely. A study conducted by the National Students’ Union (NSU) showed that the average student now spends 83 per cent of his/her loan on rent, which makes accommodation a big financial issue as well. But what are the options available and what is there to consider when it seems it’s too late to find the housing of your preference?

Living in Halls had always been considered as an easy way to avoid the painstaking task of looking for a flat, dealing with landlords, and paying your own bills. However, with the rent rises students have found themselves having second thoughts. The prospect of paying more than £100 for a room in some residences such as New Hall and the new David Russell Apartments, made the option of living in a private apartment on South Street for about the same price, or maybe even cheaper, seem much more attractive. For others that had been planning to apply for cheap residences like Albany Park or Fife Park, the risk of not getting a place because of the higher demand for these residences became an alarming concern.

The university claimed that the rent rises were necessary because it had been balancing an annual deficit of over £550,000. When rents had last been adjusted in 2001 they were supposed to be maintained at that level for the following five years. This sudden change of mind suggested that the university had been managing their funds inefficiently. During the discussion over the rent rises the idea of the privatisation of the residence system was raised. This has been a common practice over the past years in UK universities. The accommodation system has been completely or partly privatised in universities such as Manchester, Oxford, Plymouth or Glasgow to name just a few. According to the NSU, however, privatisation would bring serious disadvantages. There is the risk that the private sector would be more concerned with profit margins than the actual needs of the students. As a result, rents would be likely to increase even further and the university would be unable to exercise any control. Students at Manchester University and the Southampton Institute have complained about rent rises of over 20% after privatisation without any real improvement in quality. The social atmosphere of the halls of residences would be in great danger as well, mainly because it would mean the end of the Warden-System, one of the main reasons for St Andrews’ unusually low drop-out rate. Experience has also shown a decrease in common space and frequent low construction-standards of newly built halls. Students have complained about confusion over who to talk to if there are any problems. The university would also be unable to decide where new residences would be built, and since the ground is cheaper farther away from the centre, students might find themselves living somewhere in the periphery. One of the positive outcomes of the compromise with the University Court was the assurance that the residence system would not be privatised and that all profits would be reinvested and not used for other purposes. While having University managed residences means being able to speak up and express any concerns regarding halls, many students have questioned if the university is really listening. This is especially noticeable when seeing the trend towards building residences with en-suite bedrooms. While the private sector argues this is being done because of students’ demands, it has been suspected that they are more interested in renting out these rooms to private conferences during holiday time.

There has also been talk of Fife Park being knocked down in the coming years and perhaps Albany Park as well. If these were replaced with complexes similar to New DRA this would mean the loss of low-price accommodation. Over the past years there has never been an issue of not having enough students apply for Albany Park or even Fife Park. So why knock them down? The problem might be that these student villages were built for a limited period only, which has clearly passed. Residents will testify that some of the houses are literally falling apart and it is costing the university a lot of money every year to maintain them in a habitable state. The university has also promised to keep a fixed section of the residences on a low-price level. Many students would simply not be able to afford rent prices of up to £100 per week, restricting their budget significantly. As a result, many would not be able to enjoy the real pleasures of student-life, like going out with friends or even joining some societies. Chris Cozens, a first-year history student said: ‘I reapplied for Albany Park next year, because I don’t really see the point in spending so much money on rent. I prefer spending that money on other things, like food or going out’.

Apart from university residences, there is also the option of finding private accommodation. A large number of students choose private flats over halls for they find the idea of living with friends and having more independence very appealing. However, finding a flat in St. Andrews may prove to be as difficult as finding one in an expensive city. Due to the high demand and limited housing, prices are constantly rising, especially for flats that are conveniently located in the centre of town. The combination of all of these factors leads to a February Flat Frenzy where students dedicate a huge part of their time looking for a suitable place to live. Some are said to start as early as January in order to secure a place.

Many have also complained that since there is such a high demand landlords may tend to discriminate when choosing their tenants. It is common knowledge that groups of girls are more likely to get a flat than groups of only boys simply because of the latter having a reputation of being messier. Although there are flats in very poor conditions, students do not hold the entire responsibility for this. Many have complained of flats not meeting basic requirements such as heating.

An NSU Housing and Health survey in 2000 said that 47% of landlords had not complied to help with health and safety regulations, more than 50% of students sharing in groups reported problems with damp, four out of ten reported problems with mould, and one fifth of the houses did not count with smoke detectors. It also reported that 14% of students believed that their health had suffered as a result of living in those properties. All of these problems should be avoided if the property possesses a Multiple House Occupation (HMO) license, for this is supposed to guarantee healthy and safe conditions in which to live. The licenses are needed for letting out lodgings to multiple residents, but the Community Council has set a limit on the number that will be given out. It has also stressed several times the importance of a balance between the need for accommodation and appropriate use of property. In past meetings some have expressed the feeling that multiple occupation is ‘ruining the centre of town’. Nevertheless, with the increasing student population the provision of more HMO licenses might prove to be a way to create more housing places for a lower price. The grant of these licenses shouldn’t represent a problem for the town centre if they were given to housing in the surroundings. As students we complain of everything being ‘too far’ even though it is possible to go through the whole town in half an hour or less, and we seem to forget the fact that many students in other universities have to take the bus or the tube to get to class everyday. The whole accommodation system has become an intricate business, where students are being left with fewer choices. The number of students who will be left without residence is troubling. A better managing system for university residences is required in order to be able to provide proper accommodation for students. Dealing with this issue should certainly keep being a priority for the University since housing is such an essential part of student life.