The Know Daily - Thursday 26 October 2023

_{Read in 5m 26s ∙ Listening to David Bowie}

A stretch of the Mendip Hills in Somerset is to be designated a “super” National Nature Reserve, which will make it a “better place for wildlife to thrive”, according to the government body Natural England. Up to nine organisations will work together to protect the hills’ wildlife, which includes species such as the skylark and the hazel dormouse.

🛏️ The student rental squeeze

New research has found that the student rental market in England needs urgent attention, with accommodation costs taking up most of an average student maintenance loan.

Tell me more.
After paying for accommodation from maintenance loans, many students have been left with the equivalent of 50p a week to live on, according to a new report by the student housing charity Unipol and the Higher Education Policy Institute (Hepi).

The joint report warns that “average student rent has gone up by 14.6%, while maintenance loans have risen by 5.2%”, said the BBC. In England, the average annual cost of student accommodation is now £7,566, while the average maintenance loan is expected to be £7,590 this year - just £24 higher.

How are students coping with this?
The report found that students facing financial difficulties are taking “desperate measures”, said The Guardian, including “illegally doubling up in rooms, taking on increasing amounts of paid work, or even avoiding university altogether”.

Unipol’s assistant chief executive warned that students from poorer backgrounds could be excluded from a university education if the student housing “crisis” is not tackled.

Did some areas come out worse than others?
The report focused on student rental markets in Bournemouth, Bristol, Cardiff, Exeter, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Nottingham, Portsmouth and Sheffield, deliberately excluding London and Edinburgh in order to get a more balanced view of the problem.

It found that Bristol had the highest average annual rent, at £9,200 per year, followed by Exeter and Glasgow. Cities with a shortage of accommodation tended to have the highest rents and biggest rent hikes over a short period.

What has the government said?
In a statement, a spokesperson from the Department for Education told the BBC that the student finance system “ensures that the highest levels of support are targeted at students from the lowest-income families”.