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University students in Manchester offered halls in Liverpool and Huddersfield
Students have been offered money by the universities as an incentive to move to different cities
University students preparing to move to Manchester this month have been offered halls in Liverpool and Huddersfield amid ‘unprecedented’ accommodation demands.
The University of Manchester (UoM) is offering incoming students £2,500 to live off-campus over thirty miles away Liverpool and Preston after revealing they are ‘just over’ 350 rooms short in halls to meet demand.
Students who are offered places in Liverpool and Preston will be given an extra £100 a week to help with ‘additional costs’, the university has confirmed.
Meanwhile, Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) is offering students £100 a week to take up accommodation in Liverpool and even Huddersfield – which is a fifty mile journey away – due to similar concerns.
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Joe Carman, eighteen, is one of the new students at MMU who has been offered halls in Liverpool and Huddersfield.
Joe, from Leeds, told the BBC that he is worried he would miss out on the ‘halls experience’ if he lived elsewhere. He said: “I chose to go to Manchester Metropolitan University to live in Manchester.
“I don’t know where I am going right now so it’s very stressful. I’m on the waiting lists for all the students halls but I’ve been told there is over 100 people on them and it’s just not realistic – I’m not going to move into a hall.
“Nothing for me is confirmed right now and I’m meant to be moving in two weeks. I can’t prepare for anything mentally or get anything because I don’t know what I need.”
Manchester Metropolitan University
Joe is now searching for a private house in Manchester where he can move in with other students before he starts his degree in Animal Behaviour and Conservation.
A spokesperson for MMU said: “Manchester is an incredibly popular student city and there is significant demand for accommodation.
“We have offered places to our target student numbers this year and planned our accommodation based on long-term experience of how many of those offers are likely to be accepted, while also building in a considerable cushion.”
The spokesperson said the university would cover travel costs for students living out of the city, adding: “We know that this will be disappointing for [students], and we are doing everything we can to find them rooms in Manchester as soon as we can.”