Rising housing costs force students to skip classes to work

Rising housing costs in Bournemouth are forcing university students to miss classes so they can work to pay the rent.

For students, university is presumed to be about education, partying and new experiences. However, the rising cost of student housing is making this extremely difficult for students to enjoy university life.

Student accommodation rents in Bournemouth have increased by 11.2 per cent since the 2021/2022 academic year.

Student accommodations such as Bailey Point and Dorchester House, cost on average £207 a week.

With accommodation taking up such a significant proportion of student budgets, concerns remain over how much money is left for everyday essentials and whether studying in Bournemouth is becoming increasingly unaffordable.

“With cost of living going up, I can’t afford it”

Student Gabriella Langford, 19, from Southampton, who studies forensics with psychology, worries that rising costs are making it difficult for her to study in Bournemouth much longer.

She said: “I have to skip my lectures most of the time to work in order to afford living here.

“I definitely considered dropping out over summer because student living is so expensive.

“You have to work alongside uni to live and you’re then missing the education you’re paying all that money for.”

Justina King, junior advice caseworker at SUBU, said: “”It is definitely a big issue.”

She added: “Students are struggling to afford housing deposits and are skipping lectures to work which are the requirements of cost of living.

“I think we are all in this climate of high costs and financial difficulty and it has gotten harder for everyone over the last few years.”

Victoria Lietchi, lettings agent at Lettings BU, said: “We encourage landlords to bring their prices down or keep them the same as last year.

“We try and make it that they’re paying no more than 600 per month.

“Most students, even the ones looking in central Winton, were hoping the total cost of rent would be cheap but it’s not always the case.”

Lettings BU has made a campaign to help students find affordable property.

“This is why we have made our own approach to help students and make prices lower,” Victoria added.

However, with the cost of living rising, are students going to have to decide between degrees or dinner?