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Housing Hub
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Living out of College

Our students are diverse, with different housing needs. We recognise that no one type of housing meets everyone’s needs.

The Durham student housing market is accessed by different groups of students at different times of the year. There are a wide variety of providers, housing types and locations serving the different needs of our diverse student population.

Over 10,500 students will live out of Colleges every academic year, renting some form of student accommodation. Some students will also commute from home, or reside here in short-term / temporary accommodation.

This section of our Housing Hub aims to support your understanding of the student housing market, helping you to make an informed choice about your student housing.

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Types of student accommodation

For those renting student-specific accommodation in and around the city centre, there are two main types of accommodation:

  • Purpose Built Student Accommodation (PBSAs) – these are larger buildings which house circa 100 or more bedrooms. Overall Durham city has 13 PBSA sites with 3078 bedspaces between them. Typically they have services on site, a variety of study and social spaces and rents include all bills. Rooms will typically be let on an individual basis, and room types are usually studio, or ensuite study bedrooms with shared living facilities (cooking / dining / living areas). Most of the time you are there all your neighbours will be students however it is worth noting this may not be the case all year round.
  • Student Lets / Private Rented Sector Housing – there are around 2,530 private properties in the DH1 postcode area (Durham city and surrounding neighbourhoods) which are available to let to students. The most common type is in HMOs (Houses in Multiple Occupation), where 3 or more tenants will have a joint tenancy in what is commonly referred to as a ‘house share’. These have 3 or more bedrooms and usually share bathroom(s), living, kitchen and dining spaces. Some have outdoor spaces such as gardens or yards, driveways, garages etc. Even in areas with a dense student population you will still live alongside permanent city residents as part of the wider community.