First-year undergraduates at the University of Glasgow, Manchester Metropolitan University and the University of the West of England in Bristol were told this month they would have to find their own rooms due to a lack of hall space. The housing crisis comes as rental markets are extremely tight in UK cities and follows similar problems last year when some universities took in more students than they had planned. At UWE, students were offered accommodation in Newport, almost an hour away from the main campus in Bristol. A similar situation occurred last year at universities, including York, which was forced to offer students accommodation in nearby Hull. Student representatives have accused universities of over-recruiting again this year. But vice-chancellors said they had to balance the problem of homelessness with growing demand for higher education. A near-record 426,000 students made university offers on August 18 when they collected their exam results, according to figures from UCAS. Since then, tens of thousands have sought places in the clearing, where unplaced students seek places in unreserved courses. Jim Dickinson, student union trustee and associate editor at university blog WonkHE, said universities were failing to plan their recruitment around the housing supply in their areas. “If there’s a shortage of student housing, you can deal with supply or you can have tough conversations about demand,” he said. A parent of a Bristol UWE first year said her son was on a waiting list of hundreds looking for somewhere to live. “It’s outrageous for them to accept clearance applicants knowing they couldn’t provide accommodation,” he said. Bristol UWE said 533 first-year students were on the waiting list for rooms made available by the university, following a “high volume of applications”. He offered to pay travel costs for students who agreed to take university rooms “within commuting distance” in Newport, Wales, and said they would otherwise have to use the private rental market. “Bristol has become an increasingly popular city to live in,” the university said. “This, combined with increasing demand for university places and rising costs of living, has put additional pressure on our accommodation and rental market.” Rania Regaieg, president of the UWE students’ union, said the problem was due to the increase in applications to the university and the tight housing market. The union was working to find alternative housing options, he added. One student, who did not want to be named, said she learned there were no seats in student halls after securing a place at MMU through the liquidation. She said that if she could not secure a room she would have to postpone her place. “I will have no choice but to wait,” he said. Jackie Clune, whose daughter Saoirse secured a place to study drama at MMU, said she spent six days searching before finding a more expensive room in private halls. “He wanted the security of the halls, but there was absolutely nothing,” Clune said. MMU said students had been told of the “high demand” for accommodation before accepting their places. He said the “majority” of students had found rooms and more options would be available on Tuesday. “Providing high-quality accommodation for our students is our top priority,” the university said.

Glasgow earlier this month told students it could not guarantee accommodation that had not already been confirmed and told students not to travel or complete their registration if they had nowhere to stay. The university’s Student Representative Council accused it of “over-recruitment”. Glasgow said “a significant contraction” in private rented accommodation was to blame. Chloe Field, vice-president of higher education at the National Union of Students, said: “As universities increasingly sell off their housing stock and wash their hands of their duty to their students, we naturally see predatory private providers stepping in to fill the gap.”