STUDENT rents have risen by almost 20 per cent in four years, research suggests.
An undergraduate can now expect to pay £61.64 a week, up almost £10 from £52.44 in 2004.
The figures, based on 46,000 properties in 73 UK cities, were published by the website accommodationforstudents.com.
The highest in Scotland was St Andrews
, where rents topped £82 a week, followed by Edinburgh and Glasgow with average prices of £71.06 and £69.34 respectively.
London was still the most expensive place to study, with an average weekly rent of £102.65, the research showed.
The best value towns were Middlesbrough, Stoke, Wolverhampton, Crewe and Bradford where rents are between £40 and £45 a week.
The findings showed some "hot spots" where rents have risen well above the national average – renting in Exeter now costs around £78 a week, 35 per cent higher than the average of £58 five years ago.
Traditional universities such as Liverpool, Birmingham and Manchester are still good value, with rents between £52 and £57 – below the national average.
But others are increasing fast – in Leeds increasing student popularity has seen rents rise by 7 per cent in the past year to around £62 a week.
Simon Thompson, co-founder and director of Accommodation for Students, said: "The student accommodation situation has been worsened by the current credit crunch."
