Unite Students Accommodation Matters

With a new academic year just weeks away, we’re looking at the class of 2025 – and the factors that influence their wellbeing. Our expert panel discusses how key factors like part-time work, sense of community, loneliness and settling into a new city can impact student wellbeing, and what universities and accommodation providers can do to help new students settle into their new city. Join host Jen...

They’ve made headlines and opened up a whole new opportunity for the future of student accommodation… so, in this very special episode of Accommodation Matters, we’re exploring joint venture (JV) partnerships. This half-hour episode will tell you everything you need to know about JVs – why universities are choosing JVs, the benefits to universities, students and the local community, and the challe...

Every building needs a refresh at some point. Whether it’s adapting amenity spaces to meet changing student needs or refreshing the look of bedrooms, a refurbishment can unlock significant improvements in student and employee satisfaction. But balancing budgets against quality and student expectations is easier said than done. So, this month’s episode is a deep dive into refurbishments – how to do...

In an increasingly competitive student market, understanding the drivers of student satisfaction has never been more important. This month, we’re getting into what student satisfaction looks like in 2025. Hosted by Jenny Shaw, our panel covers what satisfaction surveys tell us about student needs, the role of quality, wellbeing and value for money, and what might drive satisfaction for Generation...

‘Compassion’ is the word of the moment in the HE sector. But why, and what does that look like in practice? Join host Jenny Shaw and an expert panel for a deep dive into how compassion is shaping new approaches across UK Higher Education, in student support and beyond. This lively discussion covers how compassionate communications can enhance the student experience, how to integrate compassion int...

Season 9 launches with something a little bit different. To celebrate four years of Accommodation Matters, we took the show on the road to GSL Live and recorded a live episode! Join host Jenny Shaw for a lively panel discussion about designing community within student accommodation – including how the physical design can support community-building, the role of accommodation teams, whether themed a...

In July, Unite Students launched the 2024 Applicant Index: an in-depth look at the needs and concerns of this year’s university applicants. We recorded an episode about the findings at the time – now, as these applicants take up their places at university, we’re sharing our full interview with Nick Hillman, Director at the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) to give you even more insights int...

The Higher Education sector is full of ideas for improving student life. Last year, we asked our listeners to get in touch with what ideas and initiatives they’d launched in their accommodation – and our listeners loved it. So we’re doing it all over again. Join host Jen Steadman for this month’s episode of Accommodation Matters, where you’ll hear about initiatives to promote inclusion, safety and...

🎧 The special Student Accommodation Podcast Summit Episode is out now! Accommodation Matters host Jenny Shaw recently collaborated with experts Sarah Canning and Deenie Lee (The Property Marketing Strategists), Dan Smith (Student Housing Consultancy), Laura Bosworth (REAL), Richard Stott (Kexgill Group) and Rebecca O'Hare (University of Leeds) to record a special episode discussing crucial issues...

Every year, Unite Students surveys university applicants for our Applicant Index. And every year, we’re surprised by the differences between applicant cohorts. If you want to be prepared for the first year students who will arrive into your city in the autumn, you won’t want to miss this episode – or the report that spawned it. Hosted by Jenny Shaw (Higher Education External Engagement Director at...

Political decisions can reshape the whole Higher Education landscape – so no doubt you’re keeping an eye on the 2024 General Election campaign. But what does it mean for Higher Education and student accommodation? In this episode, we’ve enlisted an expert panel and host Jenny Shaw to tell us just that. Our guests look at party manifestos, how universities should respond to these commitments (or la...

Content note: This episode contains discussion of sensitive topics including suicide. If you need support with the topics discussed in this episode, there are organisations such as Mind (0300 123 3393), Samaritans (116 123) or Student Minds that can help you in complete confidence.    More and more students are seeking support for their mental health, and in response, we’ve seen a whole host of ne...

It’s the episode you’ve been waiting for… An explosion in student numbers. A contraction in houses of multiple occupancy (HMO). Challenges to building new developments. Any one of these could have created a PBSA supply issue – but together, they’ve created a crisis in many cities. Our expert panel looks at how this came about, the ways in which this is playing out in some of those cities, what the...

The 2023 Student Academic Experience Survey showed that 1 in 4 students feels lonely most or all of the time – and that number is growing. With loneliness carrying the same health risks as smoking 15 cigarettes a day and having a substantial impact on mental health, academic performance and student retention, this month we’re asking: how can Higher Education end student loneliness? Our expert pane...

Grenfell Tower (2017). The Cube student accommodation fire, Bolton (2019). Two disasters that reshaped the landscape for building safety in student accommodation, and led to stringent new legislation in the Building Safety Act. But what does the Building Safety Act actually mean for purpose-built student accommodation? How can we trust that students are safe in our buildings? And how can you make...

It’s the final episode in our series on the future of sustainability in purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA)! The festive season is a season of giving, and so this time we’re looking at social impact – giving back to local communities by making a positive difference. Our guests dive into their own social impact initiatives, as well as student engagement, their experiences of ‘town and gown’...

Hot off the launch of the new Living Black at University Commission report , we’re continuing our focus on the future of sustainability within purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) with this month’s episode on race and inclusion in student accommodation. With Black students being the UK’s fastest-growing student demographic, greater inclusion of Black students is increasingly important for th...

Unite Students has committed to becoming a net-zero carbon organisation by 2030 – with new developments in particular being targeted for a reduction in carbon. But what does a sustainable new development look like in practice right now, what solutions are there to key sources of embodied carbon, and what are some of the challenges being faced when it comes to building sustainable new developments?...

Accommodation Matters is back for its seventh series! For this series, we’re focusing on the future of sustainability within purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA). First up is what most people would think of when hearing the word ‘sustainability’ – environmental sustainability. Our panel of experts explores how to tackle net-zero in PBSA, engaging students on sustainability within accommodati...

With a new academic year rapidly approaching, we wanted to know what new and exciting initiatives are being rolled out in Purpose Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) around the UK – so we asked you, our listeners, to submit their own contributions about what they’re doing differently for the 2023/24 academic year. This month, we’re sharing your ideas and innovations for the year ahead to inspire ou...

In September, a new cohort of students will be walking through the doors of universities up and down the UK. So, in this month’s episode of Accommodation Matters, we’re looking at what we’ve learned about this cohort through our 2023 Applicant Index research , what universities are doing to accommodate and support these students when they arrive at university, and some of the challenges that might...

Last year’s cost of living episode of Accommodation Matters proved to be the most popular yet – but more than a year on, how has the cost of living crisis moved on, and what does the cost of living picture look like for students in 2023? Our expert panel explores a wide range of talking points including food inflation, student maintenance loans, stigmas around seeking help with financial issues, c...

International students make up a substantial proportion of the UK’s student population, but how do their mental health needs differ from those of home students? That’s the question we’re looking to get to the bottom of in this month’s episode of Accommodation Matters. Host Jenny Shaw oversees an expert conversation that covers some of the factors that have a particular impact on international stud...

Following on from our latest Accommodation Matters episode ‘ What does 1 million applicants mean for student accommodation? ’, we now share Jenny Shaw’s full interview with Ben Jordan, Head of Policy at UCAS, about the UCAS ‘Journey To A Million’ essay series – sponsored by Unite Students and Knight Frank. In this short 10-minute primer, Ben shares: What the core ‘Journey to a Million’ concept is...

UCAS is projecting that by 2030, there could be up to one million applicants for Higher Education in the United Kingdom – throwing up countless considerations across the sector. The UCAS essay series Journey To A Million is exploring some of these issues and how they might play out through the rest of the decade. Ahead of the release of Unite Students’ essay, co-authored with Knight Frank, we’re l...