Following the UK’s decision to trigger Article 50 and leave the European Union, there has been a 7% drop in the number of EU students applying for places at UK universities.
Student Tenant, who carried out the research, say that this is the first time that the number of applications from EU students has decreased in nearly a decade of unbroken growth.
And it’s not only applications from the EU that have fallen. There has been a 5.6% decrease in the number of university applications in England, a 7.1% decrease in Wales, a 4.5% decrease in Northern Ireland and a 1.9% decrease in Scotland.
Student Tenant has expressed concern that the reduced number of university applications for 2017 will impact university funding and student property lettings over the next three years, costing the economy nearly £1 billion.
The silver lining for corporate tenants is that this may relieve some of the pressure to find rental properties in popular cities like London this summer. Property in the sub £1,000 per week bracket gets very scarce during August and September when wealthy international students descend on the UK to take up places at some of the finest universities in the world.
Of course, current exchange rates may still tempt students from further afield to come to the UK and fill any remaining places. If you are managing moves over the summer months, especially to cities like London and Cambridge, Dwellworks recommends that you book home search tours as early in the summer as you can to make sure you have the best possible choice.