Clearing and 2018 intake update
Early indications are that the University of Leeds will have a small increase in their undergraduate intake and a larger increase in their international postgraduate intake. Accommodation options within their own portfolio is tight, however there is still choice in the private rented sector. Leeds Beckett University is predicted to have level intake. Actual numbers will not be available for either institution, along with other institutions until the 1st week of October.
The national picture
15 days after Clearing 484,460 students have been placed. This is 2% down on 2017 where 493,860 students had been placed. Overall 1% less students went through Clearing to get their place in 2018 (41,910 compared to 42,300 in 2017). There are 9% more students holding an offer but have not yet accepted (34,920 compared to 32,140).
House Hunting Pattern in Leeds (January to August 2018)
First few weeks
On the opening day of house hunting Unipol displayed 16,615 bed spaces on its web site - that’s a lot of choice…
The first weekend was cold and at times we experienced snow showers but eager house hunters undertook 25,811 property searches and viewed 123,167 adverts between Friday 19th and Monday 22nd January 2018.
February to July 2018
The first few months of activity saw good website activity from students with 92,538 property searches and 360,325 adverts viewed.
To date
Over 8,500 requests for viewings were sent by students through the website in addition to calling providers. Over 102,000 sessions have taken place with 51,500 unique users.
Activity since June has picked up as students looked to secure accommodation before leaving for the summer.
Most activity from July to September has been from new to Leeds postgraduates and internationals (both undergraduate and postgraduate). August has been particularly busy on the Unipol website with over 16% more sessions on the Accommodation Search than August 2017.
On looking at activity it is important to look at it in the context of student numbers as this gives us an indication as to whether more or less activity could be due to the number of students in the market for properties or other factors.
The figures below do not look at the current Clearing statistics.
The National Picture
The End of Cycle Report from UCAS 2017 reported 533,890 students acceptances (this was a decrease of only -0.2% on the previous year).This is the first decline since 2012, but still the second highest number of acceptances on record. Applications have been declining since 2015. But universities are accepting proportionally higher numbers of those applicants.
The local story.....
University of Leeds has 32,929 full time students. Total undergraduates have increased by 1,193 (+4.8%). EU students are up 7% to 1,298 and Non- EU students are up 10% to 3,012. Leeds Beckett University has not fared as well with 18,712 full time students and saw a reduction of 1,148 (5.7%) students from last year. 2017 - 2018 FT undergraduates have decreased by 6% to 16,424 (-1,060). EU student numbers are down 12.7% to 185 and non- EU down 22% to 566.
The Annual Unipol Briefing gave a full analysis of the above information. All Unipol accredited landlords in Leeds were invited. This important briefing gives crucial market information that is only available to members of Unipol. Another reason to become a member of Unipol
Advertising with Unipol
Unipol are a unique student housing charity, established in 1975, passionate about helping students find the best housing. We have long established relationships with the universities, their student unions and a number of colleges around Leeds including Leeds Arts University, the Northern School of Contemporary Dance, Leeds City College and Leeds College of Music.
In practice this means that students are actively reccommended to use Unipol above all others to secure their accommodation and all of our publicity is welcome on campus and in student halls.
There has never been a better time to advertise with Unipol.