Student accommodation finance by city
PBSA and student housing finance across 62 UK university towns and cities, with HESA student numbers, the local planning pipeline and sold-price evidence for each. We arrange finance for schemes anywhere in the UK.
Student accommodation finance by city
Every university town we cover, ranked by full-time students. Each page carries HESA demand data, local planning activity and sold-price context.
| Town or city | County | Full-time students | International | Market report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| City of London | Greater London | 415,000 | 165,000 | H1 2026 |
| Manchester | Greater Manchester | 100,000 | 30,000 | H1 2026 |
| Birmingham | West Midlands | 80,000 | 22,000 | H1 2026 |
| Nottingham | Nottinghamshire | 65,000 | 20,000 | H1 2026 |
| Leeds | West Yorkshire | 65,000 | 16,000 | H1 2026 |
| Bristol City Centre | Bristol | 60,000 | 16,000 | H1 2026 |
| Liverpool | Merseyside | 60,000 | 17,000 | H1 2026 |
| Sheffield | South Yorkshire | 60,000 | 16,000 | H1 2026 |
| Cardiff City Centre | Cardiff | 55,000 | 14,000 | H1 2026 |
| Newcastle upon Tyne | Tyne and Wear | 50,000 | 14,000 | H1 2026 |
| Coventry | West Midlands | 50,000 | 18,000 | |
| Camden | Greater London | 48,000 | 19,000 | H1 2026 |
| Oxford | Oxfordshire | 45,000 | 16,000 | |
| Westminster | Greater London | 42,000 | 18,000 | H1 2026 |
| Southampton | Hampshire | 40,000 | 11,000 | H1 2026 |
| Leicester | Leicestershire | 40,000 | 11,000 | |
| Southwark | Greater London | 35,000 | 13,000 | H1 2026 |
| Brighton | Sussex | 35,000 | 8,000 | H1 2026 |
| Canterbury | Kent | 31,000 | 6,000 | H1 2026 |
| Cambridge | Cambridgeshire | 30,000 | 11,000 | H1 2026 |
| Cathays | Cardiff | 30,000 | 8,000 | H1 2026 |
| Tower Hamlets | Greater London | 30,000 | 11,000 | H1 2026 |
| Preston | Lancashire | 30,000 | 7,000 | |
| Exeter | Devon | 28,000 | 8,000 | H1 2026 |
| Stratford | Greater London | 28,000 | 10,000 | H1 2026 |
| Portsmouth | Hampshire | 28,000 | 7,000 | H1 2026 |
| Islington | Greater London | 26,000 | 10,000 | H1 2026 |
| York | North Yorkshire | 26,000 | 7,000 | |
| Hatfield | Hertfordshire | 25,000 | 7,000 | H1 2026 |
| Bath | Somerset | 25,000 | 9,000 | H1 2026 |
| Swansea City Centre | Swansea | 25,000 | 6,000 | H1 2026 |
| Plymouth | Devon | 23,000 | 5,000 | H1 2026 |
| Bournemouth | Dorset | 22,000 | 6,000 | H1 2026 |
| Woolwich | Greater London | 22,000 | 7,000 | H1 2026 |
| Salford | Greater Manchester | 22,000 | 6,000 | H1 2026 |
| Durham | County Durham | 20,000 | 6,000 | |
| Reading | Berkshire | 19,000 | 6,000 | H1 2026 |
| Norwich | Norfolk | 19,000 | 5,000 | H1 2026 |
| Wolverhampton | West Midlands | 18,000 | 5,000 | H1 2026 |
| Huddersfield | West Yorkshire | 18,000 | 5,000 | |
| Derby | Derbyshire | 17,000 | 4,000 | H1 2026 |
| Kingston | Greater London | 17,000 | 4,500 | H1 2026 |
| Loughborough | Leicestershire | 17,000 | 5,000 | |
| Luton | Bedfordshire | 16,000 | 6,000 | H1 2026 |
| Hull | East Riding of Yorkshire | 16,000 | 4,000 | H1 2026 |
| Colchester | Essex | 16,000 | 6,000 | H1 2026 |
| Ealing | Greater London | 16,000 | 5,000 | H1 2026 |
| Lancaster | Lancashire | 16,000 | 5,000 | |
| Lincoln | Lincolnshire | 16,000 | 3,000 | |
| Guildford | Surrey | 16,000 | 5,000 | H1 2026 |
| Sunderland | Tyne and Wear | 15,000 | 4,000 | H1 2026 |
| Chester | Cheshire | 14,000 | 2,500 | |
| Stoke-on-Trent | Staffordshire | 14,000 | 3,000 | H1 2026 |
| Bradford | West Yorkshire | 14,000 | 4,000 | |
| Northampton | Northamptonshire | 13,000 | 3,000 | |
| Bolton | Greater Manchester | 11,000 | 3,000 | |
| Bangor | Gwynedd | 10,000 | 2,500 | |
| Gloucester | Gloucestershire | 9,000 | 1,500 | |
| Newcastle under Lyme | Staffordshire | 9,000 | 2,000 | H1 2026 |
| Falmouth | Cornwall | 8,000 | 1,000 | |
| Cheltenham | Gloucestershire | 8,000 | 1,500 | |
| Winchester | Hampshire | 8,000 | 1,500 | H1 2026 |
Students: HESA, Higher Education Student Statistics 2023/24 (approximate, CC-BY 4.0).
Browse by county
62 university towns across 38 counties.
- Bedfordshire1 town
- Berkshire1 town
- Bristol1 town
- Cambridgeshire1 town
- Cardiff2 towns
- Cheshire1 town
- Cornwall1 town
- County Durham1 town
- Derbyshire1 town
- Devon2 towns
- Dorset1 town
- East Riding of Yorkshire1 town
- Essex1 town
- Gloucestershire2 towns
- Greater London10 towns
- Greater Manchester3 towns
- Gwynedd1 town
- Hampshire3 towns
- Hertfordshire1 town
- Kent1 town
- Lancashire2 towns
- Leicestershire2 towns
- Lincolnshire1 town
- Merseyside1 town
- Norfolk1 town
- North Yorkshire1 town
- Northamptonshire1 town
- Nottinghamshire1 town
- Oxfordshire1 town
- Somerset1 town
- South Yorkshire1 town
- Staffordshire2 towns
- Surrey1 town
- Sussex1 town
- Swansea1 town
- Tyne and Wear2 towns
- West Midlands3 towns
- West Yorkshire3 towns
Locations: common questions
Which UK cities have the most students?
On HESA figures the largest full-time student populations among the towns we cover are City of London (around 415,000), Manchester (around 100,000), Birmingham (around 80,000), Nottingham (around 65,000), Leeds (around 65,000). Depth of demand is the first thing a lender reads on a PBSA scheme.
Do you arrange student accommodation finance outside these cities?
Yes. The pages below cover the university towns where we publish HESA data, but we arrange finance for student schemes anywhere in England, Wales and Scotland, and for student HMO portfolios in smaller university towns.
Where does the location data come from?
Student numbers are HESA Higher Education Student Statistics (2023/24, approximate, CC-BY 4.0). Residential sold prices are HM Land Registry price-paid data. Planning activity is drawn from local-authority planning records. Market figures are attributed to the named research houses.