Accommodating Students

Abstract

This paper focuses on one aspect of student life, namely housing circumstances. It explores the housing careers and strategies developed by students over the course of their university career, in relation to levels and sources of financial support and aspects of the transition towards independence. It argues that students develop important new skills or adult competencies as they negotiate their way through the housing market, so improving the quality of their accommodation. However, the quality and condition of some student housing was an issue of concern; this was most acutely observed for vulnerable students including those making the first move from the parental home into the private rented sector, and those on limited budgets. There is found to be differential exposure to risk within the student housing market, which is structured by parental affluence and support as well as by the particular labour and housing market contexts of the university locality.