Student Accommodation - Swansea University

Russell Group university rents 27% higher than the rest of the UK’s top institutions

The UK’s leading student accommodation platform, UniHomes, has revealed how Russell Group (RG) universities have impacted the housing markets in which they are located, looking at the price of property, the cost of renting and the average rental yield available to buy-to-let landlords.

Professionally incorporated in 2007, the Russell Group represents 24 leading UK universities, all of which rank within the top 100 in the nation. They ensure each university can continue to deliver a top level of education through sustainable funding while promoting world leading UK research and innovation to change lives for the better.

Each university has a strong focus on its environmental impact, championing research into green technology while mitigating its environmental footprint.

Every year, an estimated 250,000 domestic and foreign students attend their universities, which are considered the Ivy League learning institutes of the UK, providing education from the very best minds and granting access to some of the best facilities available.

Russell Group Rental Costs

However, this high-end education does come at a cost. The research by UniHomes shows that the average cost of renting in postcodes home to one of these elite learning institutions is currently £296, 27% higher than the other 76 universities that rank within the UK’s top 100.

The least affordable campus from a student rental perspective is the Imperial College London with an average weekly rent of £720. In contrast, the most expensive alternative is the University of Surrey where the average weekly rent totals £476; 34% lower than Imperial College London.

In terms of the best level of rental affordability, it’s the University of Leeds with weekly rental costs averaging £160 per week. That said, this still comes in 78% higher than the most affordable non-RG university, the Teesside University, where rental costs average £90 a week.

Russell Group House Prices

Not only is the cost of renting in and around an RG university higher but so is the actual price of property.

The Russell Group claims to generate £87bn a year for the economy, supporting a quarter of a million jobs across the UK and this is clearly bringing a benefit to the housing market in their current locations.

With an average price of £479,410, house prices surrounding RG universities are 62% higher than other top UK universities.

Of course, both are dominated by London in terms of the highest cost of buying and the Imperial College London again ranks as the most expensive university for the Russell Group, while the City University of London is the most expensive alternative institution.

With an average house price of just over £2m, Imperial College is 146% more expensive than the average price of £818,245 surrounding the City University of London.

Russell Group Rental Yields

However, the Russell Group does rank behind the rest where one area is concerned. The average rental yield surrounding their universities currently comes in at just 3.2%, while the other 76 top UK universities offer landlords an average rental yield of 4.1%.

The University of Southampton is home to the highest Russell Group rental yields at 6.8%, although this still trails Teesside as the best investment location without RG status, where yields average as high as 7.5%.

Co-Founder of UniHomes, Phil Greaves, commented:

“There’s no doubt that Russell Group universities rank as some of the top destinations to head for higher education within the UK.

It’s not just educational benefit that comes via a Russell Group university though, with these institutions bringing a notable economic benefit to their respective areas. This investment and the jobs created also seems to have had a clear impact on the local housing market, with house prices surrounding these top institutions coming in higher than the rest.

However, the downside to this is a reduced level of rental affordability and those pursuing a degree at one of these prestigious institutions can expect to pay more in rental costs than elsewhere.”

Category	Count	Average rent per week	Average house price	Average yield
Russell Group Universities	24	£296	£479,410	3.2%
Top 100 universities (Excluding Russell Group)	76	£233	£295,056	4.1%
Top 100 universities (Including Russell Group)	100	£249	£339,301	3.8%
Market data for each outcode sourced from PropertyData

List sourced from the Complete University Guide. Source: The Russell Group Market data for each outcode sourced from PropertyData
Table shows property market statistics for the top 100 UK universities based on their campus outcode
University	University Ranking	Campus Postcode	Russell Group	Average rent per week	Average house price	Average yield
Imperial College London	5	SW7	Yes	£720	£2,012,982	1.9%
London School of Economics	4	WC2A	Yes	£580	£1,634,931	1.8%
King's College London	20	WC2R	Yes	£580	£1,634,931	1.8%
University of Surrey	34	GU2	No	£476	£453,124	5.5%
London South Bank University	89	SE1	No	£439	£764,245	3.0%
City, University of London	57	EC1V	No	£436	£818,245	2.8%
SOAS University of London	37	WC1H	No	£402	£773,851	2.7%
University of the Arts London	51	WC1V	No	£402	£773,851	2.7%
University College London	10	WC1E	Yes	£402	£773,851	2.7%
Queen Mary University of London	35	E1	Yes	£383	£578,750	3.4%
University of Roehampton	81	SW15	No	£375	£612,942	3.2%
St George's, University of London	59	SW17	No	£367	£585,747	3.3%
University of West London	77	W5	No	£366	£577,642	3.3%
University of Greenwich	90	SE10	No	£366	£572,463	3.3%
University of Bath	9	BA2	No	£358	£408,872	4.6%
Bath Spa University	93	BA2	No	£358	£408,872	4.6%
University of Sussex	40	BN1	No	£341	£400,172	4.4%
Bristol, University of the West of England (UWE)	64	BS16	No	£340	£309,607	5.7%
University of Oxford	2	OX1	Yes	£329	£452,644	3.8%
University of Cambridge	1	CB2	Yes	£324	£478,789	3.5%
University of Hertfordshire	81	AL10	No	£318	£334,756	4.9%
Kingston University	100	KT1	No	£317	£487,914	3.4%
University of Kent	47	CT2	No	£315	£317,090	5.2%
Oxford Brookes University	48	OX3	No	£314	£421,333	3.9%
Royal Holloway, University of London	24	TW20	No	£312	£473,863	3.4%
University of East Anglia UEA	25	NR4	No	£309	£326,843	4.9%
Falmouth University	77	TR10	No	£304	£251,042	6.3%
Goldsmiths, University of London	68	SE14	No	£302	£433,271	3.6%
Middlesex University	98	NW4	No	£300	£501,095	3.1%
University of Southampton	17	SO17	Yes	£295	£226,720	6.8%
University of Warwick	11	CV4	Yes	£290	£250,185	6.0%
Brunel University London	84	UB8	No	£288	£380,225	3.9%
University of Bristol	14	BS8	Yes	£282	£472,584	3.1%
University for the Creative Arts	44	GU9	No	£272	£467,149	3.0%
University of St Andrews	3	KY16	No	£270	£302,160	4.7%
University of York	22	YO10	Yes	£267	£266,425	5.2%
University of Essex	41	CO4	No	£259	£285,709	4.7%
University of Portsmouth	61	PO1	No	£246	£226,254	5.7%
Arts University Bournemouth	48	BH12	No	£245	£294,015	4.3%
Bournemouth University	86	BH12	No	£245	£294,015	4.3%
Norwich University of the Arts	77	NR2	No	£241	£257,527	4.9%
University of Manchester	17	M13	Yes	£240	£213,936	5.8%
Harper Adams University	41	TF10	No	£235	£297,058	4.1%
University of Exeter	12	EX4	Yes	£234	£262,154	4.6%
University of Glasgow	19	G12	Yes	£233	£266,159	4.6%
University of Chichester	72	PO19	No	£229	£378,334	3.2%
University of Edinburgh	15	EH8	Yes	£229	£232,965	5.1%
Manchester Metropolitan University	54	M15	No	£229	£228,204	5.2%
Aberystwyth University	58	SY23	No	£222	£205,267	5.6%
Bangor University	72	LL57	No	£215	£155,261	7.2%
University of Sheffield	28	S10	Yes	£214	£246,520	4.5%
University of Reading	39	RG1	No	£214	£274,857	4.0%
Nottingham Trent University	46	NG1	No	£210	£165,504	6.6%
University of Salford	92	M5	No	£207	£193,050	5.6%
Queen's University Belfast	27	BT7	Yes	£205	£193,744	5.5%
Aston University, Birmingham	43	B4	No	£201	£281,232	3.7%
Cardiff University	30	CF10	Yes	£200	£180,520	5.8%
Heriot-Watt University	29	EH14	No	£200	£250,982	4.1%
Durham University	7	DH1	Yes	£199	£231,705	4.5%
Edinburgh Napier University	77	EH11	No	£198	£200,935	5.1%
University of Birmingham	13	B15	Yes	£198	£257,190	4.0%
Glasgow Caledonian University	88	G4	No	£197	£181,967	5.6%
University of Strathclyde	35	G1	No	£196	£165,394	6.2%
University of Nottingham	20	NG7	Yes	£194	£191,133	5.3%
University of Stirling	45	FK9	No	£193	£246,160	4.1%
Northumbria University, Newcastle	52	NE1	No	£190	£160,636	6.2%
Newcastle University	23	NE1	Yes	£190	£160,636	6.2%
University of Gloucestershire	97	GL50	No	£190	£323,321	3.1%
Swansea University	32	SA2	No	£189	£250,458	3.9%
University of Dundee	31	DD1	No	£184	£157,093	6.1%
Abertay University	96	DD1	No	£184	£157,093	6.1%
Coventry University	54	CV1	No	£184	£170,902	5.6%
Birmingham City University	84	B5	No	£183	£205,727	4.6%
Loughborough University	6	LE11	No	£178	£218,721	4.2%
Cardiff Metropolitan University	87	CF5	No	£175	£258,614	3.5%
University of Chester	94	CH1	No	£174	£214,339	4.2%
Keele University	56	ST5	No	£173	£174,427	5.2%
Lancaster University	8	LA1	No	£169	£168,705	5.2%
Edge Hill University	62	L39	No	£169	£285,121	3.1%
University of Lincoln	50	LN6	No	£165	£222,196	3.9%
Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh	75	EH21	No	£165	£209,014	4.1%
University of Liverpool	33	L69	Yes	£162	£132,599	6.4%
University of Leeds	16	LS2	Yes	£160	£153,784	5.4%
University of Derby	99	DE22	No	£158	£241,105	3.4%
Liverpool John Moores University	66	L2	No	£154	£143,564	5.6%
University of Leicester	38	LE1	No	£152	£128,191	6.2%
De Montfort University	81	LE1	No	£152	£128,191	6.2%
Liverpool Hope University	62	L16	No	£150	£272,684	2.9%
Sheffield Hallam University	67	S1	No	£148	£116,499	6.6%
University of Plymouth	71	PL4	No	£145	£165,632	4.6%
University of Wales Trinity Saint David	91	SA31	No	£133	£176,273	3.9%
University of Aberdeen	26	AB24	No	£130	£111,651	6.1%
University of Central Lancashire	70	PR1	No	£129	£130,965	5.1%
University of Huddersfield	53	HD1	No	£127	£139,092	4.8%
Robert Gordon University (RGU)	72	AB10	No	£126	£132,188	5.0%
Staffordshire University	75	ST4	No	£124	£162,880	3.9%
University of Hull	64	HU6	No	£115	£127,890	4.7%
Ulster University	60	BT52	No	£114	£155,000	3.8%
University of Bradford	69	BD7	No	£97	£115,837	4.4%
Teesside University, Middlesbrough	95	TS1	No	£90	£62,130	7.5%