The 10 hardest uni cities for students to find accommodation in, revealed

Getting into semi-decent student accommodation is often tougher than getting into uni. It’s an all-too-common experience for students at UK unis to spend a small fortune on a room which make Harry Potter’s cupboard look luxurious. The odds are really stacked against students trying to find accommodation in certain uni cities.

The student accommodation site Amber worked out how in-demand halls are in different uni cities. The trickiest place to nab a room is Manchester. An alarming 98 per cent of student accommodation bedrooms were filled-up in term-time. Good luck with finding an available bedroom there.

Alarmingly, all 10 of the cities on this list contain a Russell Group university (the University of Warwick is really in Coventry, remember). London even has five Russell Group unis. If accommodation near a uni is scarce and super spenny, then it’s trickier for students from less privileged backgrounds to live there. This could make it even harder for these students to attend the most prestigious unis, where grads often get the best jobs. *Sighs*.

I dread to think how much these halls in London cost

These stats are all from Amber’s 2026 report, and refer to how much of the purpose-built student accommodation in each city was occupied in summer 2025. The higher the occupancy rate is, than the tougher it will be for students to find an available room. When students have limited options, they’re likelier to resort to rooms that aren’t really affordable, or are just a bit grim.

So, here are the hardest UK uni cities to find student accommodation in:

10. Nottingham – 83 per cent occupied

9. Sheffield – 84 per cent occupied

8, Coventry – 88 per cent occupied

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7. Leeds – 90 per cent occupied

6. Cardiff – 91 per cent occupied

A Cardiff student who actually found space in halls

5. Newcastle – 93 per cent occupied

4. Liverpool – 94 per cent occupied

3. Birmingham – 97 per cent occupied

2. London – 97 per cent occupied

1. Manchester – 98 per cent occupied

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