Cardiff Student Accommodation Market Report H1 2026

85,000 full-time students anchor the Cardiff market.

HESA's 2023/24 statistics record about 85,000 full-time higher education students across Cardiff Metropolitan University, Cardiff University and University of South Wales, of whom roughly 22,000 (25.9%) are international.^[D1] The same approximate series shows year-on-year growth of about 3%. These are enrolment figures, not a count of students needing a bed: commuting, postgraduate and part-time students change the local ratio.

Supply against demand

• Full-time students: 46,600 students (2026 (as published)).^[E1]
• PBSA bed stock: 16,100 beds (2026 (as published)).^[E1]
• Student bed spaces approved in the preceding year: 1,299 beds (Year to June 2025).^[E2]
• Total students at Cardiff University, Cardiff Met and USW: just below 70,000 students (Steady 2018 to 2024).^[E2]

1 application sought new student capacity in H1 2026.

Between 1 January and 30 June 2026, Cardiff received 2 student-related planning records. After manual review, 1 application proposed new or additional student capacity (1 refused at the time of extraction). The rest were condition discharges, amendments, operational works or consultations from neighbouring authorities, which we exclude so that a scheme counts once.^[D3]

Over the twelve months to 30 June 2026, the same registers show 1 new-capacity application, against 0 applications to relax student-only occupancy or move buildings out of student use.

For comparison, H1 2025 saw 1 new-capacity application in the same registers. Counts this small move sharply year to year and are not a trend on their own.

Published evidence on rents and occupancy in Cardiff.

Local rent and occupancy evidence comes from published research and operator or university disclosures. We quote it as published, with its period and scope, and do not blend sources.

Flats in Cardiff's student districts sold at a median of £165,000 in H1 2026.

HM Land Registry recorded 634 standard residential sales in the student postcode districts (CF10, CF14 and CF24) with completion dates in H1 2026, including 178 flats and 242 terraced houses.^[D2] Flats and terraces are the closest proxy for small student investment stock: the Land Registry does not identify HMOs.

The median flat sale was 2.9% below the H1 2025 median. Mix matters at this scale: one new-build block or a cluster of ex-student flats can move a district median.

No standard new-build sales had been registered in these districts for H1 2026 at extraction. New-build completions are often registered months later, so this does not mean none took place, and the medians above mostly reflect second-hand stock.

251 property charges were registered in Cardiff's student districts in H1 2026.

Companies House recorded 251 charges created in H1 2026 over property in these districts, across 187 borrowing companies, +2.0% on H1 2025 (246).^[D4] Charges are security instruments. They show that secured finance was put in place, not how much was lent or on what terms, and one facility can create several charges.

Of the charges we could match to a lender type, 83.3% were held by specialist banks, development, bridging or private funders rather than high-street banks. Bridging and development lenders alone accounted for 39 charges, against 27 in H1 2025.

HMO activity and local policy shape small-scale student investment.

Across Cardiff, 27 applications in H1 2026 proposed a change of use to a house in multiple occupation, 18 of them in the student districts. Of those decided, 76.9% were approved.^[D3]

Local policy

• HMO planning controls (Cardiff HMO SPG): Cardiff's 2016 HMO SPG treats concentrations above 20% of dwellings within 50m as too high in Cathays and Plasnewydd, and 10% elsewhere; it covers C4 (3-6 sharers) and larger sui generis HMOs.^[E5]
• PBSA local plan policy: The Replacement LDP (2021-2036) deposit plan proposed Policy H6 restricting new PBSA to the City Centre and Cardiff Bay business areas, and Policy H5 carrying the 20%/50m HMO threshold. The plan was at examination as of July 2026.^[E6]
• HMO licensing: Additional HMO licensing applies in Cathays (current scheme from 1 Feb 2023, five years, to 1 Feb 2028), covering all HMOs in the area bar statutory exemptions. The Plasnewydd scheme (from 1 Jan 2021) had a stated end date of 1 Jan 2026; SRS's page does not confirm a renewal.^[E7]

Schemes shaping Cardiff's student housing supply.

What the H1 2026 evidence means for Cardiff.

• International students are about 25.9% of full-time enrolments: a meaningful minority, so recruitment policy still matters, but domestic demand carries most of the market.
• New-capacity applications continued in H1 2026. Delivery depends on decisions, viability and funding, so applications are not completions.
• Specialist and non-bank lenders hold most matched charges in these districts, consistent with a market where smaller and transitional assets are financed outside the high street.

Financing student accommodation in Cardiff.

Student accommodation finance covers development loans for new PBSA, bridging for acquisitions and conversions, and term or investment loans once a scheme is let. Read our finance services, or the H1 2026 UK student accommodation finance report for the national picture.

How this report was built.

• Planning. Raw council planning exports in the Construction Capital lake. Student records are keyword-screened then manually classified; only primary capacity applications count towards new provision. Bed figures are as stated in proposal text, excluding hybrid schemes that also propose dwellings, and are a floor, not a total. Councils count only where the scrape window spans the whole period.
• Sold prices. HMLR Price Paid, standard (category A) residential sales in curated student postcode districts. Flats and terraces are the student-let proxy: HMLR cannot identify HMOs. Transaction-sample medians, not a constant-quality index or a PBSA valuation. Registrations lag completions by weeks to months, so the latest months understate final counts; do not read falling counts as falling liquidity.
• Charges. Companies House charges registered against property in the location's student postcode districts (charged-property postcode). Charges are security instruments, not loans: no amounts, LTVs or rates. Persons entitled can be security trustees. Lender categories come from the Construction Capital lender register; 'unmatched' = not in the register. Snapshot 2026-08-01.
• Evidence. Rents, occupancy, schemes and policy are quoted from dated public sources, researched 2026-09-25, and are not adjusted.
• Geography. Student postcode districts for Cardiff: CF10, CF14 and CF24. Curated around university campuses and the main student-let neighbourhoods.