The Vice-Chancellor of a Buckinghamshire university said ‘substantially low’ maintenance loans are forcing students to prioritise paid employment over their expensive degrees.

Analysis carried out by the student housing charity Unipol and the think tank the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) revealed last week that average student rent has gone up by 15 per cent in the last two years, while maintenance loans have risen by just 5 per cent.

Professor Nick Braisby, Vice-Chancellor of Buckinghamshire New University, based in High Wycombe, said Unipol’s report highlighted the challenges currently facing university life, with students being forced to “prioritise paid employment over study time” in the wake of rising private accommodation costs and the cost-of-living crisis.

He urged landlords in the county to do what they could to support students who were struggling to make ends meet but also pinned responsibility on the government, stating: “Landlords and universities cannot bear sole responsibility for addressing students’ financial challenges.

“Student maintenance loans are at their lowest real value in seven years with this year’s rise being substantially below inflation. We urge the government to provide more financial support. Investment in our students is an investment in the country’s future.”

The Unipol and HEP report also found that some students were illegally doubling up on their accommodation to cut costs after private rents saw a rise of between £1,000 and £7,475 for this academic year compared with 2021/2022.

It warned that students who could not rely on family help or substitute with part-time work would “have no money to live off, once they have paid their rent”.

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Assistant chief executive for Unipol, Victoria Tolmie-Loverseed said the student housing market had “reached a crisis point in affordability, underpinned by these alarming figures” with rising rents coupled with a “stagnated” governmental support.

Professor Braisby said Buckinghamshire New University was doing everything it could to ease the financial pressure being imposed on students all around the UK through its cost-of-living support package, which includes bursaries to support living costs, reduced rents for university-owned accommodation and a Big Deal initiative which provides free meals and society memberships.

A spokesperson for the Department of Education said the student finance system was designed to give the highest levels of support to students from the lowest-income families and urged students worried about their financial situation to “speak to their university”.

Adding: “To support universities to help their students we are making £276 million available this academic year, which institutions can use to top up their own hardship schemes. This is on top of increases to student loans and grants.”