Privately Rented Accommodation

The average cost of private accommodation, depending on the type of property, ranges from approximately £180-£500+ per month. The average student pays approximately £200 - £250 per month (excluding energy bills, these are usually paid separately).

There is currently a very high demand for privately rented student accommodation across the UK, including Cardiff.  As the unprecedented demand has led to increased costs across all areas of South Wales, you should factor this into your financial planning before you arrive. You may find it easier and more cost effective to live in halls of residence where usually all bills are included (suitable for single students only). Students arriving in January can benefit from having a shorter contract until June 2022 to allow themselves time to find alternative accommodation for the remainder of their course elsewhere.  Please see information about halls of residence here. 

You should also be aware that it has become increasingly more common for landlords to ask for a UK based guarantor or alternatively, for students to pay their rent up to 6 months in advance in addition to their deposit (usually equivalent to one month's rent). If you are planning on renting in the private sector, you should also prepare for this up front cost before you arrive. 

Be aware: We would strongly recommend that you do not secure accommodation advertised through Facebook or Gumtree. Unfortunately, there has been an increase across the whole of the UK of students being targeted by fraudsters through these platforms and paying sums of money through bank transfer for properties that do not exist.  

It is important to know that, Housing Agents or landlords are not allowed to charge 'non-refundable agency fees' this includes: Finders fees, fees to secure a property or fees for signing a contract.

There are various helpful websites that you can use to see what is available in the rental market in Cardiff. These websites allow you to enter your criteria, such as price, the amount of rooms required and location. We recommend signing up to these websites to receive alerts when properties become available. 

Zoopla > Search Property to Buy, Rent, House Prices, Estate Agents

Rightmove - UK's number one property website for properties for sale and to rent

Whilst we would recommend you start looking for accommodation before you arrive to research availability and costs, we would still recommend that you not formally sign a contact/tenancy agreement until you have viewed the property in person.

The Global Student Advisory Service be holding an accommodation webinar at the beginning of January 2022 to provide lots of useful tips for students looking to find accommodation in the private sector. The webinar will be advertised to students in advance, if you are unable to attend the webinar, the recording will be available to you at a later point. In the meantime, a recording of an earlier webinar held in September 2021 can be found here.

We are currently aware that there is limited affordable family accommodation available in Cardiff. Students arriving with family members, especially children, are finding it increasingly difficult to secure suitable accommodation due to unprecedented demand and rising costs. This has resulted in students being placed under enormous pressure when they first arrive and are experiencing: 

• Increased costs associated with short term accommodation e.g. Hotels.
• Unable to open bank accounts without a UK address
• Unable to register with a GP
• Unable to register their children in school
• The additional stress has also been having a negative impact on student's studies

Therefore, we strongly advise students with families to travel alone initially to ensure you can find appropriate accommodation before your partner and children travel to alleviate additional pressure. 

We would advise looking into the surrounding areas of Cardiff. Areas such as Cardiff Bay, Barry, Newport, Caerphilly, Pontypridd, Bridgend and Treforest all offer great transport links and may have more properties available at a slightly cheaper rate. To help you check how easy it would be to commute please refer to the below links for train and bus service information: 

Cardiff Bus

It is not advisable to try to arrange accommodation in the private sector prior to arrival as students must be sure that the accommodation suits their needs before signing a legally binding contract.  It is vital that you book temporary accommodation before your arrival in Cardiff.  If you would like help securing temporary accommodation please email internationalarrival@cardiffmet.ac.uk and the team will provide you with some guidance on how and where to book your temporary accommodation. 

If you choose to live in the private sector, we recommend that you get contents insurance for your belongings.