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For the majority of students, accommodation is one of the largest outgoings while you are studying at university.
If you’re currently applying for university or are planning for the future, you might be wondering how students pay for accommodation.
There are numerous methods of paying for student accommodation. While it might feel like a daunting prospect before you start university, luckily there is a lot of financial support available for students that helps them to pay for their accommodation.
Financial support for paying for student accommodation includes, but is not limited to:
For full-time students, your maintenance loan provided by the UK government is one of the main types of financial support that you’ll receive.
A maintenance loan is a repayable loan which generally covers your accommodation and living expenses, and will be paid back once you’ve finished or left your course.
That said, it’s worth noting that how much student finance you can get depends on a few factors, and part of your maintenance loan depends on your household income.
Calculating how much maintenance loan you are eligible for will help you to gain a wider understanding of how much of your rent will be covered.
Another type of financial support students can receive for student accommodation is bursaries.
A bursary is a monetary award that is given to an eligible student to help fund their education.
In short, ‘bursaries are non-competitive, automatic, and based on financial need’, and as such, are not repayable.
For instance, someone from a low-income family might be eligible to receive a bursary, but eligibility depends on a wide range of factors.
You can apply for a bursary directly from your specific university website, and every university has its own details and process on how to apply.
If you’re not eligible to receive a bursary, there are also scholarships available for certain students.
Generally speaking, scholarships are awarded to students who are talented in a specific subject, or sport, and can even be awarded if you’re musically talented.
This can be a huge financial support, particularly if you’ve been given a lower maintenance loan due to your household income.
That said, scholarships tend to be highly competitive, so bear this in mind when applying for one.
Another way students can pay for accommodation is with savings. While savings can take years to accumulate, the process of saving is a good long-term habit to get into and will make your time at university a little easier.
This might be savings you’ve amassed yourself, or savings that you have been gifted by a relative that can help to partially cover your accommodation costs.
Budgeting is also essential to ensure you’re not living outside of your means and will help to ensure you’re being strategic in your spending.
Savings can help to supplement your maintenance loan and are good to have anyway as a safety net as university is filled with unexpected expenses.
From technology problems to expensive textbooks, savings are important to have for a rainy day.
Another way to help spread the cost of rent as a student is to opt for flexible student accommodation.
Many universities offer flexible accommodation that allows students to pay for their accommodation on a month-by-month basis, helping to ease the pressure off students.
At Host, we recognise how stressful it can be to leave home, so our student accommodation comes with all bills included to create a calm and stress-free environment.
We offer various payment plans to help spread the cost of student accommodation and to suit your personal circumstances. From our monthly payment plan to our instalment plan, we’re here to help make the cost of accommodation more affordable and provide support to students when they need it the most.
Whether you’re a student or a parent, get in touch with a member of our team today to find out how we can help you.
Last, but not least, you can partly pay for your rent and other expenses with money you make from a part-time job.
Although ‘over two-thirds of students rely on the [maintenance] loan’, it often doesn’t cover all living expenses, making part-time work common amongst students.
That said, how much work you can take on will depend on your university schedule as well as the course workload.
Provided you have time for part-time work, it’s not only a great option to earn money on the side of your studies but will also provide you with experience to add to your CV when it comes to finding full-time work once you’ve finished your degree.
We hope that this article has provided you with a better understanding of how students pay for accommodation and the financial support that is available.
Written by Jemima for Host.
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