With the latest wave of freshers already making themselves at home, official government figures reveal that there were 10,495 student-only houses and flats across Nottingham at the end of 2019.
That’s up from 9,629 in the same period of 2018, and nearly twice as many as the 5,464 counted at the end of 2009.
It’s very likely that the number has risen even higher in 2020, but figures are not yet available for this academic year.
It means one in every 13 properties in Nottingham is now a student home - the joint-highest concentration of student housing in the country, alongside Exeter.
Broxtowe came in second place for the number of student homes, with 288 recorded in 2019 - but this was the lowest figure in ten years.
The figures do not include halls of residence - dedicated student accommodation that is usually managed by the university or in partnership with a private company.
Reliable estimates of the number of students living in halls are unavailable at a local level, but figures from the National Student Accommodation Survey suggest 37% of students live in uni accommodation or private halls.
Thousands of students across the UK have been told to self-isolate in halls following Covid-19 outbreaks linked to fresher’s week.
At least 45 universities now have confirmed cases of coronavirus, and another two have suspected cases.
As of September 29, more than 865 cases had been identified among both students and staff since universities reopened, according to data collected by Sky News.
A City Council spokesperson said: “It’s unsurprising that there is a high proportion of student accommodation in Nottingham, since students make up around 18% of our population. That’s higher than most places, because we are a comparatively small city with two universities. That said, student accommodation is still only around 8% of all accommodation across the city, with plenty of family homes and other housing types.
“We have a policy to encourage purpose-built student accommodation in appropriate parts of the city such as the city centre, to free up homes in our communities for other occupants. By the end of this year, just under 2,000 new student bedspaces rooms will be available, with even more planned for the 2021/22 academic year and beyond. But currently, this supply of new student accommodation has not kept up with demand as our two highly successful universities continue to expand and attract more students.”
A Broxtowe Borough Council spokesperson said: "Although we have high numbers of student housing in Broxtowe, that isn’t surprising because of the proximity of the University campus to our border. We haven’t noticed the same rate of increase in numbers of student housing in the Borough which appears to have occurred in Nottingham City.’
Last week, students told Nottinghamshire Live that they feel like scapegoats for a rise in coronavirus cases nationally.
Student Dylan Swales, 20, said: "The curfew is obviously a bit rubbish but that's not the university's fault.
"I think students are being demonised and [made] scapegoats a bit right now. It's not fair because it's clearly a wider problem."
The number of student-only homes:
Area // 2009 // 2010 // 2011 // 2012 // 2013 // 2014 // 2015 // 2016 // 2017 // 2018 // 2019 // Rate (one in x)
Nottingham // 5,464 // 5,861 // 6,144 // 6,269 // 6,601 // 6,369 // 6,117 // 6,351 // 7,290 // 9,629 // 10,495 // 13
Broxtowe // 390 // 326 // 363 // 463 // 336 // 358 // 368 // 381 // 361 // 327 // 288 // 175
Rushcliffe // 326 // 353 // 372 // 357 // 350 // 283 // 241 // 237 // 274 // 228 // 218 // 232
Gedling // 95 // 99 // 77 // 75 // 83 // 77 // 97 // 78 // 96 // 111 // 118 // 448
Newark and Sherwood // 82 // 82 // 82 // 74 // 81 // 67 // 78 // 63 // 42 // 64 // 80 // 685
Mansfield // 74 // 74 // 65 // 62 // 69 // 69 // 57 // 55 // 60 // 58 // 51 // 973
Bassetlaw // 49 // 51 // 43 // 36 // 42 // 42 // 51 // 41 // 38 // 41 // 51 // 1,039
Ashfield // 40 // 53 // 42 // 48 // 37 // 60 // 65 // 52 // 54 // 56 // 45 // 1,250
England // 167,457 // 171,498 // 173,236 // 173,606 // 174,187 // 174,129 // 175,520 // 182,025 // 190,395 // 201,484 // 211,826 // 116
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