Accommodation crisis looms for Oxford
Oxford University is facing a potential student accommodation crisis, exacerbated by the increasing numbers of students being accepted by the University, and the Government's national target to raise the proportion of 18 to 30 year olds in Higher Education to 50 per cent.
Colleges are being forced to consider building on sports grounds as well as buying up private housing in order to accommodate the increased number of students.
Students renting accommodation in Oxford are already paying the third highest rates in the country; 47 per cent above the national average. This financial burden seems set to increase, as a result of proposed University expansion.
A recent survey by Accommodation for Students of 14,000 properties nationwide has revealed that the average weekly rent for Oxford is £77, third behind Cambridge (£80) and London (£120). The national average stands at £52.
Simon Bayliss, of estate agents E. Gordon Hudson & Co., told The OxStu that this is the result of a "high demand for temporary accommodation, concentrated in the same areas."
This research fuels general fears that the cost of Oxford will deter applicants. The University has acknowledged that rents are unusually high, but assures that this is why "colleges provide more ...accommodation at favourable rents than any other university in the country", besides Cambridge. However, proposals to increase student numbers threaten their ability to do this.
The University has confirmed that the total undergraduate student body will increase by one per cent next year, and a consultative document, passed by The OxStu to the Times Higher Education Supplement last term, suggested that Oxford will see a 25 per cent rise in student numbers by the year 2020, as a means of bridging the funding gap between Oxford and its wealthy US competitors.
These increases, in addition to the Government's plans to raise the numbers of students pursuing Higher Education, threaten to place Oxford's already inflated housing market under even greater pressure.
David Palfreyman, Bursar of New College, said the University could certainly "boost [numbers], but not necessarily provide them with bedrooms". He believes the expansion proposals are "fanciful" and would "create a whole set of new problems".
Colleges are already being forced to develop their green spaces to meet the expected demand. New College has recently built on its sports ground, adjusting the Government-imposed Green Belt "as it was deemed more important to provide student accommodation", while Keble is seriously considering a similar project.
Across the University, Colleges are looking at the prospects of either buying up private housing for students, or developing land that is currently untouched.
Roger Boden, Bursar of Keble College, says that these development opportunities are fast running out: "The City planners are not keen to see colleges buying up more and more private housing, while the curtilages are for the most part fully built." He concludes: "The options are pretty limited."
In the absence of increased college accommodation, more students will face Oxford's high rents. Bayliss suggests two eventualities: further expansion into the Green Belt and, as demand soars above supply, rising prices. He says that the provision for housing students in Oxford "will expand, it has got to expand."
Whilst the University hopes increased numbers will make it of "the highest rank globally", the limits to the available housing for students could ensure that this is not the only table they will top. When it comes to accommodation prices, Oxford may not remain in third place for long.
29th Apr 2004