Glasgow faces major student accommodation shortage

Glasgow has the worst student accommodation shortage in the UK and needs an extra 22,000 beds to meet demand, a report by Savills reveals.

It also says that Edinburgh is following closely behind with a need for an additional 17,000 beds.

The high student population in Glasgow, with more than 77,000 students across its universities, is putting a strain on existing purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA).

The city’s current student-to-bed ratio is 3.8, significantly higher than the recommended ratio of 1.5.

High quality PBSA to meet demand from students

Alex France, an associate director in the development team at Savills Scotland, said: “Glasgow’s strength as an academic centre of excellence is not to be underestimated and its continued success is critical to the city’s economic prosperity.

“Providing sufficient high quality PBSA to meet demand from students is imperative to maintain Glasgow’s national and global appeal, as well as helping alleviate pressure in the region’s private rented sector, which is suffering from severe supply shortages.”

While new PBSA developments are underway in Glasgow, Savills warns they won’t significantly improve the situation in the short term.

The city only has 11% of its current PBSA stock in the development pipeline, with a projected improvement in the student-to-bed ratio of just 0.4.

The UK’s largest student cities

Savills analysed the PBSA market across 20 of the UK’s largest student cities, containing more than 1.3 million full-time students and around 500,000 operational beds.

In total, the firm found that an extra 234,000 beds are required to bring the student-to-bed ratio down to the preferred figure of 1.5.

A high student-to-bed ratio generally indicates a lack of supply.

Using data from HESA, Savills found that the ratio of full-time students to beds is 2.7 across these markets.

Currently, just five cities have a ratio of more than 3.0, with Glasgow at the top of the list at 3.8, followed by London and Bristol at 3.6 and 3.5 respectively.