UK ELT sector looking to increase accommodation to meet demand

The Report on UK ELT student accommodation shortages in 2023 was produced by English UK and research partner Bonard and is based on the response of 91 English UK member centres to a survey conducted in March and April this year.

Shortages affecting recruitment: Two-thirds of respondents (66 per cent) had to restrict student enrolment in 2023 because of a lack of accommodation options. Of those, half managed to place all students in their preferred type because they restricted intake, and half could not place all students in their preferred type, despite restricting intake.

Among the group that managed to place all with restrictions, a further 3,273 beds would have been needed to meet demand: 1,835 in residence and 1,378 in homestay.

For those that still couldn’t place despite restricting intake, a further 3,410 beds would have been required to meet demand.

Homestay shortages were particularly acute in the peak month of July last year, the authors said, when 2,433 beds were missing for the respondents to the survey.

Looking at different regions of the UK, Southwest England and the Channel Islands had the largest share of missing beds at 35 per cent; followed by South and Southeastern England (23), London (17) and Eastern England (10).

Increasing accommodation stock: The authors found that 42 per cent are planning to increase the number of beds for the summer peak of 2024 compared with their stock in the summer peak of 2019, while a further 17 per cent were expecting to take on a similar number and 15 per cent were still waiting to make a final decision at the time of the survey.

Almost half of respondents (47 per cent) plan to increase the number of beds through new partnerships, and one third (33 per cent) plan to increase beds in in-house accommodation.

Looking ahead, 69 per cent anticipate that it will be difficult to find enough homestay to meet new demand, while 50 per cent believe that homestay stock will not return to pre-pandemic levels.

Accommodation offered: Homestay most offered accommodation option among respondents, offered by 82 per cent, followed by residence (72), hotel (23), and shared house/apartment (16).

In 2023, homestay was the preferred option for 45 per cent of students, followed by residences (40). Small numbers of students opted for hotels and shared houses, while 11 per cent chose not to have accommodation arranged through the language school.  

Accommodation challenges: Member centres cited demand for homestay exceeding the offer on the market as the largest challenge facing ELT centres face in providing accommodation, followed by lack of availability when contracting rooms, balancing affordability of accommodation with quality and location, expectations of guests, and demand for residences exceeding the offer on the market.

Measures to boost supply: Asked what English UK could do to support UK ELT centres in sourcing accommodation respondents cited promotional support on the benefits of homestay to potential hosts (33 per cent), supporting members in competition efforts against long-term contracts and large providers (22), creating accommodation and hosting family listings (13), and regulating specific rules, such as mixed-age groups housing, pricing rates and taxes (13).

The authors also discussed a number of other potential solutions, including forging partnerships with other English language centres, initiatives with local authorities to boost and quantify supply, partnering with higher education providers to use on-campus rooms in summer, and local media and social media campaigns to boost awareness of the benefits of hosting.

They also recommended paying competitive rates for homestay and considering bonus packages for long-term hosts or those that take multiple students, and special events to appreciate the contribution of hosts.

In the foreword to the report, the authors said that student accommodation shortages have made headlines in several study destinations in the last year.

Bonard said that data on the purpose-built student accommodation sector (PBSA) shows that although the UK has the most advanced accommodation sector in Europe, the provision rate of rooms is expected to decline as new stock fails to satisfy growing demand.

Homestay supply has recovered somewhat from the Covid-19 pandemic, but some hosts have converted spare rooms into offices for hybrid working while some families have moved away from city centres, impacting on availability.

“A lack of suitable student accommodation impacts every stakeholder in the international education sector: it can jeopardise the student experience, hinder recruitment efforts, and ultimately damage the reputation of a study destination,” they said.