Updated Thursday 19 December 2024
Imperial is introducing a new rent framework to cover the cost of our undergraduate halls of residence, with the goal of ensuring access to Imperial’s accommodation for all first year undergraduates who want it, regardless of background.
At Imperial, we are committed to offering a high-quality undergraduate halls experience that delivers good value for money in London. We are also supporting students from lower socio-economic backgrounds, ensuring they can study and thrive at Imperial. We offer one of the most competitively priced accommodation packages for undergraduates in London, alongside one of the most generous bursary schemes in the sector.
Imperial aims to operate its undergraduate halls on a financially sustainable, break-even basis, which means rental income must cover the cost of delivering and maintaining the halls, to avoid diverting resources from other activities.
Imperial periodically reviews rental rates to ensure they remain fair and competitive. This includes consultation with Imperial College Union on the services and costs for the undergraduate halls.
A budget review highlighted that future rental income would fall significantly short of the costs of undergraduate halls if rents remain fixed. We calculate a £4.4 million deficit next academic year due to rising expenses in wages, maintenance, utilities, insurance, and other costs of ownership. To cover the cost of delivering and maintaining undergraduate halls, we need to increase the average rent by 26%, including future allowances for inflation. We are spreading this increase over 3 years to reduce the impact on students. The average rent will increase by 8.7% to £232 per week in 2025/26.
Imperial’s new framework will introduce three rent groups:
- Group A – rents up to 55% of the maximum student maintenance loan. This group adopts the principles of the Greater London Authority’s London Plan, endorsed by the National Union of Students, which recommends that at least 35% of new student accommodation should cost no more than 55% of the maximum maintenance loan provided by Student Finance England. The maximum maintenance loan is available to those with a household income below £25k who are living away from home and studying in London. 38% of Imperial’s bedspaces are in this group for 2025/26 with annual rents of £5,655 to £7,566. 55% of the maximum maintenance loan in 2025/26 is £7,569. The weighted average rent in 2025/26 will be £6,970. This is 1% lower on average than the rent charged on these bedspaces during 2024/25. Imperial commits to having at least 35% of bedspaces in this group.
- Group B – rents priced lower than similar accommodation provided by London university peers. 54% of Imperial’s bedspaces are in this group. Rents will increase by an average of £28.10 per week (13%) to £245 per week in 2025/26.
- Group C – rents for premium bedspaces priced competitively compared to the market. 9% of Imperial’s bedspaces are in this group. Rents will increase by an average of £46.30 per week (14%) to an average of £383 per week in 2025/26.
Importantly, there will be enough Group A bedspaces for all students receiving an Imperial bursary. We are committed to working with Imperial College Union to review our room allocation policy to give students receiving an Imperial bursary priority access to their choice of room. 97% of students currently receive one of their top 4 accommodation choices.
Rent changes for academic year 2025/26 range from a reduction of up to 24% for 589 bedspaces in South Kensington and Paddington to an increase of up to 18% for some bedspaces at North Acton. Rents have been reduced in these central London locations to provide increased access for students from lower socio-economic backgrounds. Rent increases at North Acton reflect rents having previously been set at a lower level given this was a new location for undergraduate halls when the rent framework was last reviewed in 2019. There are now around 1,400 student beds in the area.
We have made changes to the rent framework based on feedback from Imperial College Union (ICU). However, ICU are clear that they cannot endorse the increase in rents. We are grateful to ICU representatives for their constructive engagement with the consultation process.
The halls webpages will be updated with rents for 2025-26 in early January 2025.
Separately, we are working on increasing our Group A halls offering for returning undergraduates, and we will have more details to share in 2025.