Ms Clare Austick:

A couple of people rent rooms to students but we saw during the pandemic that many people were very cautious. They did not want just anyone living in their rooms and they took their rooms off the market. Covid has exacerbated the pre-existing student accommodation crisis. We need affordable purpose-built student accommodation that is available to students. We need to ensure the rent is affordable and the rooms are up to standard. It is about finding places for students. Very often we look at providing course places for students, and that is all great and we want more people to attend college, but we cannot forget about where they will live or stay or how they will commute to college. Digs accommodation is available but it is very limited. It is not where it was pre-Covid-19.