There are the cheapest student halls at UK unis, and some are way nicer than you’d think

You can legit get a room for £85 a week

4 weeks ago

Students are spending a horrifying average of £689.43 each month on rent. When rent eats into so much of your student loan, it’s hard not to wonder whether its worth spending your life savings on a room barely large enough to house a hamster and a bathroom that had better be closed off as a biohazard zone. We have scoured the internet to find the cheapest student accommodation halls at UK unis, so you can compare what you get for you money and subsequently rethink all your life choices.

Some of these rooms are terrific value for money. Some are not. Seriously, I think I would spend £89.00 a week to not have to share a room with someone else.

Amazingly, a few of these halls are at Russell Group unis. Accommodation at the University of Glasgow, the University of Manchester and Newcastle University makes this list.

Here are the cheapest student accommodation halls we could find at UK unis, listed from spenniest to cheapest.

University of Glasgow, Cairncross House, £121.00 per week

A twin room in Glasgow Uni's cheapest halls

But what if you both want to watch Netflix at the same time?
(Credit: The University of Glasgow, via YouTube)

At first glance, £121.00 per week feels like a great deal for a uni hall just a 15-minute-long walk from the main Glasgow uni buildings. Thing is, the rooms at that price are all twin. Yes, you would have to share a small room with a total stranger for a whole year. From this photo, it looks like there’s just a wardrobe separating the beds. You’re about to make a very close friend (or a very inconvenient nemesis).

Aberystwyth University, Cwrt Mawr and Trefloyne, £114.72

Aberystwyth University has two self-catered halls with rooms for just £114.72 a week. The buildings don’t look especially inspiring, but you can spend the money you save on rent on succulents and fairy lights and overpriced Eras Tour posters to brighten up your room. You share a shower room, toilet and kitchen with 5-9 other students. The sea is just a 15-minute-long walk away (although that’s really because of how small Aberystwyth is, as opposed to how central the uni’s accommodation is).

A kitchen in the cheapest halls at Aberystwyth University

Not a lot of space if everyone wants to make their pot noodles at once
(Image via Aberystwyth University)

A bedroom in the cheapest halls at Aberystwyth Uni

It’s minimalistic
(Image via Aberystwyth University)

University of Manchester, Oak House, £113.00 per week

Cheap accommodation at the University of Manchester

Bottle green radiators are original, I guess? Image via the University of Manchester

What you gain in value, you lose in convenience – Oak House is a 41 minute walk away from the main campus. You share a kitchen, two bathrooms and two shower rooms with seven other students. You get your own sink. The accommodation is self-catered and for undergrads only.

I’m personally not a fan of breeze blocks painted a luminous brat green colour, but each to their own, I guess. Your dislike for the decor could be something you bond over with your seven other flatmates.

To be fair, two ovens is much better than a lot of uni kitchens Image via the University of Manchester

Newcastle University, Jesmond Road – £98.00 per week

Several people could walk about in that kitchen at once! A massive upgrade from my uni accommodation!
(Image via Newcastle University)

This accommodation for postgrad students looks like terrific value. It’s opposite two big uni libraries, a six-minute walk from the main Newcastle University campus, and around the corner from a nice-looking pottery cafe (essential). You share a kitchen and bathroom with about three other people, which isn’t too grim. Plus, the accommodation is in some reasonably attractive converted Victorian terraces. Sign me up!

University of Wolverhampton, city standard accommodation, £96.00

A bedroom in the cheapest halls at the University of Wolverhampton

Who chooses the paint colours of uni rooms, and what went wrong in their childhoods?
(Image via University of Wolverhampton)

Wolverhampton Uni has 140 rooms available for just £96.00 per week. Students share a kitchen and bathroom with up to 5 other people. It takes 12 minutes to walk to the central campus, and 19 minutes to get to the main train station, if you’re eager to leave Wolverhampton.

A kitchen in the cheapest halls at Wolverhampton Uni

You’d struggle to fit everybody’s air fryers along the counter
(Image via the University of Wolverhampton)

Wrexham University, double en-suite £89.00

Love has never been so cost-effective. The Wrexham University website says that there is an option for “students who know each other previously” (read: students who committed flatcest in Fresher’s Week after too much Aldi tequila and have lacked the bravery to break up since) to sign up for shared occupancy of one of four double en-suite rooms. The bedrooms usually cost £178.00 per week, so it works out as £89.00 each for two people. You’d have a bathroom between the two of your, but you’d have to share a kitchen with approximately six other people. The website does not mention what would happen if you get dumped part way through the year.

The cheapest room option in the halls at Wrexham Uni

Imagine the fights over who gets to work at the desk and who gets to write their essay squatting awkwardly on the carpet
(Image via Wrexham University)

Wrexham University does have some amazingly cheap accommodation. A single en-suite is £124.50, and an upgraded single plus en-suite is still just £129.50. Plus, maybe you’ll see Ryan Reynolds walk past on his way to a football game? (A girl can dream.)

University of Cumbria, Brampton Road Halls, £88.00

Cumbria Uni has 76 rooms in the pretty city of Carlisle going for just £88.00 per week. The kitchen you’d have to share with 4-6 other students may not look very exciting, but some of the rooms appear to have Instagrammable views of the Lake District.

A kitchen in the cheapest halls at Cumbria Uni

What it lacks in daylight it makes up for in budget-friendliness
(Image via the University of Cumbria)

University of Sunderland, Panns Bank, £85.00

I’ve seen far less nice student accommodation than this go for twice the price. Panns Bank accommodation overlooks the River Wear, and is a 17-minute walk from the main campus. The hall has a wide range of rooms which are priced slightly differently depending on the size and how recently they’ve been refurbished. Most rooms fall somewhere between £90 and £130.

The cheapest room in these halls at Sunderland Uni

The cheapest rooms are £85 because they have a sloped ceiling
(Image via the University of Sunderland)

These halls have so many plus points. Kitchens with actual sofas! Balconies to drink gin on! Views of canal boats to put on your Instagram story! (I promise I’m not sponsored by Sunderland Uni. I’m just suddenly a fan.)