If you build it will they come? The boom in purpose-built student accommodation in central Liverpool: Destudentification, studentification and the future of the city

The wave of UK higher education expansion and the commodification of the student experience have reshaped many towns and cities not least in the development of large swathes of private purpose-built student accommodation. A growing body of research has explored the role of purpose-built student accommodation in the processes of studentification and destudentification of neighbourhoods. This study explores the huge and rapid development of purpose-built student accommodation in Liverpool and, for the first time, raises questions not just about its impacts but about its sustainability. The model upon which many of Liverpool’s purpose-built student accommodation projects are based generates hidden risks and carries a momentum that neglects wider market conditions. We conclude that there will be a disorderly end to Liverpool’s purpose-built student accommodation boom and consider the likely implications for a range of stakeholders

Purpose built student accommodation: changing face of student accommodation in Sheffield

The supply of Purpose Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) both nationally and within Sheffield, has increased considerably over the last decade and has played an important role in meeting the demands of both students and the Universities. This paper examines the current dynamics of the PBSA market in Sheffield, the effect that such accommodation has had upon the remainder of the city’s student accommodation, and the extent which the supply and demand may fluctuate in the future, especially in the face of recent changes made to the higher education sector. These questions were explored through interviews with PBSA providers, student landlords/agents, along with representatives from both Sheffield Universities as well as Sheffield City Council. The paper concludes that PBSA has had a substantial impact upon the student accommodation market in Sheffield. Whilst facilitating University growth it has also benefited both the student and landlord. However, much uncertainty hangs over the future of student demand in light of increasing University fees, which could have major implications for both PBSA providers and private landlords

Cash-Cow into the Purse of Malaysian Property Investors: Students Housing Investment

Growing demand for higher education (HE) and increasing students enrolment in higher education institutions (HEI) has been a global issue especially in the last three decades and housing the growing student population has become a dilemma for all concern HEIs stakeholders. Globally increasing demand for HE and enrolment has long been not corresponding with student housing supply. Most HEIs provide housing accommodation for a small proportion of their total students’ population while the majority depend on private rental sector for their alternative housing. In most of the HEIs neighbouring community residential houses were rented out to students. These houses are not sufficient to accommodate the teaming student population because the market is dominated by traditional small-scale private developers. However, with the continuing expansion and demand for HE, increasing enrolment and increasing students housing demand, the study highlighted and suggested for private investors to pull up and dig into student housing investment. This will ameliorate and fill the shortfall created by inadequacy of HEIs housing provision. Student housing investment is a resilient market, lucrative venture and guaranteed cash cow

Fear of the unknown: a pre-departure qualitative study of Turkish international students

This paper presents findings from eleven in-depth interviews with Turkish undergraduate students, who were, by the time of data collection, about to spend a semester at a European university under the Erasmus exchange scheme. The students all agreed to be interviewed about their feelings about studying in a foreign culture, and were found to be anxious prior to departure about the quality of accommodation in the new destination, their language ability and the opportunity to form friendships. Fears were expressed about possible misconceptions over Turkey as a Muslim and a developing country. Suggestions are made for HEI interventions to allay student travellers’ concerns

The geographies of UK university halls of residence: examining students' embodiment of social capital

Recent investigations into ‘student geographies’ have recognised the complex ways in which students from different backgrounds go about ‘fitting in’ among their peers within universitymanaged accommodation. Halls have been characterised in the literature as highly pressurised spaces in which multiple (and potentially conflicting) identities can perpetuate disadvantage through incongruous accessibility to student-centric social activities and behaviours. This paper joins these debates by critically examining universities’ ‘Student Accommodation’ web pages alongside qualitative interviews in order to question notions of halls being inclusive and encouraging a cultural mix. Using Bourdieu’s reading of social capital this paper suggests that, while these spaces may perpetuate disadvantaged access to social capital, some students may transcend this, drawing on other forms of non-student social capital which legitimises their position among their peers in halls. This adds to previous discussions of ‘difference’ by highlighting the power of social capital in transforming individuals’ positions within social groupings

Living together in student accommodation: Performances, boundaries and homemaking

Recent discussions of the geographies of students have drawn attention to the trajectories of UK students electing to leave home for university. While such debates recognise these important mobilities, little has been discussed as to how students interact within their term-time accommodation. Through a qualitative study of the living arrangements of UK students, this paper will demonstrate that much can be drawn from focusing on the micro-geographies of non-local students within their term-time homes. Student accommodation is more than simply somewhere to live. Student homes are intensely dynamic places, perhaps more so than family homes as they contain multiple, disconnected identities. This research contributes to research on the geographies of the home by unpacking how house-sharers in transition interact with each other, how they transfer their identities from one home to another, how they delineate their territory and whether they integrate or withdraw within their term-time accommodation. This paper addresses this by exploring (1) how students negotiate their habitualised behaviours in shared spaces and (2) how these behaviours become spatialised through the configuration and maintenance of boundaries

Understanding and promoting student mental health in Scottish higher education - a mapping exercise

There has been an increase in the incidence of mental health difficulties among HE students over the past decade. Official statistics show that the proportion of undergraduates declaring a mental health difficulty on entry to HE rose from 5 in every 10,000 in 1994-5 to 30 in every 10,000 in 2004-5. Incidence of severe psychological problems has increased, and student mental health is generally worse than that of the general population (for agematched populations). Anxiety and depression are the most commonly noted difficulties. The research review identified a relationship between mental health and the following factors: finances, accommodation, academic issues, university systems and social factors. Academic issues, and specifically coursework, emerged as particularly related to stress levels and mental health issues