The Studentification of our Cities

Studentification: The  growth of large numbers of Students living in concentrated areas, close to Universities

With huge numbers of Students either starting or returning to Universities, in towns and cities up and down the country, one of the big questions is where should they all be housed. Is it the Universities responsibility to re-invest in accommodation or should it be left to private enterprise or even the state. The effects of large numbers of students on a community can be devastating . The following is a conclusion from a topic paper I produced on Student Housing  analysing possible solutions in aiming to prevent the further Studentification of large areas of our major cities and open up these areas back to local communities. 

In one sense it could be argued there lay an ironic paradox between on one hand New Labours vision of sustainable communities and on the other there desire for mass participation in higher education and the geographical effects this is having on neighbourhoods and housing supply. While the Housing in Multiple Occupation Lobby also state that they fully recognise Higher educational institutes and their students can be an asset to their town. There is great concern where the in migration of students has resulted in a demographic imbalance, which is far too common. 

It is vital that local authorities, community groups, Universities and the Student Unions work together to develop effective management schemes, perhaps localism is very much key here with different areas of the country experiencing slightly different problems, which a single piece of national legislation may not be able to tackle effectively.

It is important that communities recognise the benefits that students can bring, most notably the public transport improvements and the fact the majority will spend locally. And that too stringent regulation can shift the balance too far as to force students out completely again going against the governments wish for balanced and sustainable communities.

There is also a need to plan for the effects that the displacement of students may have on other areas and ensure there remains a constant supply of housing for low income earners.

Opal Court (Fallowfield Manchester) Opal are one of the largest providers of managed student accommodation, 
Photo is my own 

The role of purpose built managed accommodation looks set to increase especially as it becomes more difficult for private landlords to develop Houses in Multiple Occupation in established student areas. Although with schemes of new purpose built accommodation there lays a need for good design and improved interaction with the community in which they are situated as well as local infrastructure improvements if they are needed.  The recent Recession may also have a short term impact in reducing the number of new landlords and investment in HMOs, as credit becomes harder to find.

A high number of students can distort local markets to the extent where the indigenous population is forced to lie elsewhere. There therefore is now more need than ever before to tackle this issue as if not we run the risk of turning our University towns and cities into the UKs equivalent of the Spanish tourist resort; characterised by a seasonal and constantly changing population.