Ever since the Young Ones hit TV screens in the 1980s the reputation of student accommodation has been one of chaotic squalor and a sea of empties.
There is something in that.
No one would ever claim that students are the tidiest or most house proud of tenants. But they are young, often vulnerable and living away from home for the first time, and are entitled to expect a decent standard of affordable housing for their years of study.
They also play a crucial role in the London economy. But there is growing evidence that many of the tens of thousands of freshers about to start their courses, and the others beginning second or third years of study, will struggle to achieve that.
Today we report how one company Empiric Property has already let 98% of its rooms well ahead of the start of the academic year and weeks before it would normally expect to be fully let. The company expects rents to rise 9% this year alone.
Yesterday we revealed how there are four students chasing every purpose-built room in London. For many of the others who cannot secure space in halls of residence the only other option is the appalling stress of the open private rented market.
This is not a situation that can continue.
London remains one of the most popular destinations for students from all over the world. But that reputation will be in jeopardy if students fear that they will end up living in conditions that even Vyvyan, Rick and Neil would have refused to accept.
