A SURVEY of student accommodation across the UK has revealed that one region’s university cities has almost twice the average number of students per university-owned bed.

The research was carried out by Sellhousefast.uk to look at the ratio between students and university provided accommodation.

Durham had the third highest ratio, with 13.30 students per bed. The average was 6.55 students per bed.

Nationally the number of privately-owned purpose built student accommodation (PBSA) places increased by 5.4 per cent in 2016/17, reaching more than 568,000.

In Durham, work is currently underway on PBSA schemes in Neville’s Cross, off North Road, Claypath and as part of the redevelopment of the former Gates shopping centre, while a number of other developments have been completed in recent years.

Robby Du Toit, managing director of Sell House Fast, said: “With a growing number of students entering university each year, it is a concern that there is such little university owned accommodation on the market for undergraduates.”