September 14, 2011 10.32 am This story is over 150 months old

Accommodation scramble for 200 new students without a place to live

Housing chaos: Student accommodation in Lincoln is in high demand, as some 200 students don’t have anywhere to live.
Fully booked: The University of Lincoln’s courts can house 1,000 students

— Updated on September 15 with more details on accommodation plans*

Around 200 incoming University of Lincoln students don’t know where they will be accommodated for the new year — less than a week before the new term begins.

The university is scrambling to find places for the freshers to live, with options including hotels in the city or even spare rooms of university staff.

*A temporary student accommodation village with dual suite cabins will be installed on the Brayford campus some time at the middle of next week, the university said.

It’s unclear where the cabins would be installed exactly, but a possible location would be next to the new Engineering Hub with access from Rope Walk staff car park.

AUDIO: A temporary student village is to be set up at the University of Lincoln. (mp3)

The shortage comes as some 3,000 new students are arriving in the city this month to begin their studies at the University of Lincoln.

The university told the affected students in an email to come to Lincoln on September 18, but only to bring the bare essentials, as first reported by The Linc.

A university spokesperson said: “More people are asking for our help with finding accommodation this year, with fewer people living at home with their parents.

“It is therefore taking longer than normal to find accommodation, but we are determined to help find places for everyone.

“The university’s accommodation team is working round the clock to do this.

“Every year we see students holding offers of accommodation that they then do not take up, so the team is reallocating places as soon as they become available to the next people on the waiting list.

“The university is also taking the measure of sourcing additional accommodation, including temporary accommodation that will enable people to come to the city for welcome week while they are waiting for a permanent room.

“We are arranging a number of options to provide temporary accommodation, should we need them.”

A 20% increase in students applying to the University of Lincoln has added greater pressure on the university to rent more rooms for students.

There are around 1,000 beds in the university’s own accommodation on the main Brayford Pool Campus and around 3,000 more in the university-approved private sector developments nearby, such as the Junxion or Pavilions.

If these accommodations are fully booked, students can also look for student houses run by private landlords across Lincoln.

Photo: University of Lincoln | Related Report: The Linc