Unis make 1,600 students live in random places because their halls aren’t ready

Over 1,500 students have being placed into temporary rooms this Freshers', as halls across the country just aren't ready.

Students at Bristol, Cardiff, and King's are among those having to make do with hotels, building sites, and different countries.

The Times put the figure at over 1,640, and report that unis are going to have to explain themselves to ministers. Which is fair enough, because up and down the country, everyone's having a mare.

Students at Bristol are being told to live in Newport (in Wales, 30 miles away, across the mighty river Severn) and commute, as the uni's Accommodation Team admitted: "It seems likely that we will not be able to offer accommodation to everyone."

Cardiff students buzzing to move into the new "West Wing" halls were greeted with a building site. Rooms in the development cost up to £229 per week, but it wasn't finished on the advertised September 14th date.

Hundreds of King's students were forced into grim hotels after the London uni overbooked halls.

"The day before move-in I was told I didn't have my room and King's moved me to Stratford, which is more expensive and further away. They fully fucked me over," one student told The King's Tab.

The Times also report that students at Exeter, Portsmouth, Swansea, Lincoln, and Stirling have all been victims of the halls fiasco.

Universities minister Chris Skidmore said: "While the current provision of student accommodation is a complex one varying by institution, we cannot allow this inadequacy to continue."

“It is important that all providers meet high standards, demonstrate value and are accountable to students,” a Universities UK spokeswoman told The Times.

Has your uni fucked up your halls? Are you living in some grim hotel or miles away because they got it wrong? Email your horror stories to [email protected]

Related stories recommended by this writer:

• UoB is telling freshers to live in Wales because there aren’t enough halls left

• King’s students turned away from halls are still living in grim hotels

• Students forced to move into a building site because their luxury halls weren’t finished in time for Freshers