Blocks marketed as high-end student housing are collapsing or sitting half empty
Nearly 70 students in Dundee were left looking for somewhere to live in late July when the owner of their 116-room block went bust, one of several purpose-built schemes to fail. StuRents puts the average rent in such blocks outside London at £191 a week including bills, against roughly £160 a week the average British student pays. Occupancy is 71.3% in Glasgow and 69.9% in Coventry, and Unite cut rents and tenancy lengths in Nottingham, Leicester and Sheffield this year, so ask about reductions when looking for a room.
The new renting rules now apply to student houses, but not to halls
England. The Renters’ Rights Act came into force on 1 May 2026 and has changed notice periods, rent schedules and upfront costs on private tenancies, including the house or flat you rent from a private landlord. University halls and registered purpose-built student accommodation are exempt and can still issue fixed contracts running to the academic year. Letting agents advise checking the notice terms, the payment dates and what a guarantor is being asked to cover, and getting a breakdown of every expected payment before signing.
Letting Agent Today, 5 October
What counts as allowed use of AI still changes from module to module
Some lecturers encourage using AI to make sense of an assignment brief, others set oral assessments so you cannot lean on it, and a students’ union education officer writing for Wonkhe argues that the variation itself is fine but is almost never explained. The result is students who have done nothing wrong second-guessing themselves at the point of submission. If your module’s position is not written down anywhere, ask the person marking it before you submit rather than risk an academic misconduct question afterwards.