ACCOMMODATION

We can look at complaints about student accommodation that is owned or managed by higher education providers. Complaints about student accommodation make up a relatively small proportion of our overall caseload, but the number of these complaints has risen significantly since 2024.

The wider context is important. Students continue to face financial pressures and difficulties finding accommodation that is both affordable and of an adequate standard. The availability of student accommodation is not consistent across England and Wales, with shortfalls in some cities and surplus in others. Many students look to provider-owned accommodation as a safer choice than entering the private rental market, and have high expectations about what will be provided.

Our complaints show that students are not always clear about what they have signed up to, or about how to formally raise issues when they have concerns. It is important that providers’ information for students is as clear and easily accessible as possible, keeping in mind that for some students it is the first time they have lived independently away from home, or lived in a different country.

We are often able to resolve complaints about accommodation by agreeing a settlement between the student and the provider. Often providers have already accepted that something has gone wrong with the accommodation and made an offer to put things right, before a student complains to us. Students will reject these offers when they think that the provider has not done enough to recognise the impact that the initial issue had on their wellbeing.

We have set out some more information in our casework note and our case summaries.