St Andrews Housing Costs Soar: Minimum Rents Triple as ‘Affordable’ Options Vanish

Over the past two decades, the cost of accommodation at the University of St Andrews has risen steadily across all accommodation types and halls. 

Between the 2010-11 and 2022-23 academic years, total student numbers increased by 25.4%, while the number of university-managed accommodation spaces rose by just 14.2%. Over the same period, accommodation prices increased across every category, with the sharpest rise occurring after 2018.

Historically, Albany Park offered the lowest-cost option: self-catered, standard single rooms. During the 2002-3 academic year, these rooms cost around £1,500 per year, rising gradually to around £4,000 by the 2017-18 academic year — its final before demolition. Albany Park contained 332 rooms, 240 of which were allocated to undergraduates. It was replaced by Whitehorn Hall, which opened in 2018 and offered 87 rooms of a similar style, priced around £5,500 in its first year.

This academic year, equivalent self-catered standard rooms at Whitehorn cost £7,256 per year. Gannochy House, now the most affordable remaining option of this type, costs £6,246 annually. However, only 58 such rooms are officially available as of 2024. This marks a significant increase in the minimum cost of university accommodation, rather than simply higher average prices.

Catered en-suite single room prices, regardless of which hall, have steadily risen. While prices varied by hall in the early 2010s, recent years show convergence at a higher level. 

This academic year, all catered en-suite single rooms across all halls cost between £11,509 (University Hall and John Burnet Hall) and £12,976 (Whitehorn Hall) per year.

Shared accommodation has also seen substantial increases. Catered en-suite shared rooms in Agnes Blackadder Hall rose from around £3,000 during the 2002-3 academic year to £11,326 this academic year — the highest price for this accommodation type. 

At David Russell Apartments and University Hall, shared room prices are now around £10,400, sitting now close to those of single rooms from over a decade ago. 

Self-catered en-suite single rooms have comparably grown. At Fife Park, prices rose from around £5,000 during the 2010-11 academic year to now £9,286. Catered standard accommodation has followed the same trajectory, with many rooms that once cost £4,000-£5,000 per year now costing £8,709 for a shared room and £9,570 for a single room.

Image by Ilaria Freccia