Where will students live in the upcoming academic year, and how much will they have to pay for it?

Students are also affected by housing shortages and are definitely much more distressed than their friends who studied at Polish universities a few years earlier. It has become a lot more difficult to find a flat on the private rental market and average rents are rising,” 

comments Karolina Furmańska, Associate Director, Living Sector, Cushman & Wakefield.

Only 9% of students can be accommodated in university-owned halls of residence. In addition, few such schemes have been fully refurbished and upgraded over the last dozen years. No wonder most students are looking for better accommodation than that of university-owned halls. Although modern private facilities have doubled their offer in the last 10 years, they can accommodate just 1% of all students in Poland,” 

comments Karolina Furmańska, Associate Director, Living Sector, Cushman & Wakefield.

This demonstrates that there is huge untapped potential in the Polish PBSA sector. With the living and fit-out standards that young people have got used to, private student houses are their first choice option. They feature modern amenities, including internet access, private rooms, space for learning, fitness rooms or launderettes for young people who value convenience and comfort,”

says Karolina Furmańska, Associate Director, Living Sector, Cushman & Wakefield.

The student rental market, just like the general rental market, has gone through a period of great turmoil in recent years. Two years ago, the pandemic increased the supply of flats vacated by students who returned to their family homes to study remotely. The past year saw an undersupply of rental flats and an upsurge in rents caused by the war in Ukraine and an influx of refugees. It is little wonder that those seeking flats meeting their expectations, especially financial ones, will now start looking around much earlier,” 

says Ewa Tęczak, Residential Market Expert, Otodom.

Students are not the only group active on the rental market. Rental growth averaged approximately 35% in the last two years and was largely driven by rising service charges. In addition, higher costs due to interest rate hikes were also indirectly passed onto tenants as a great many rental flats had been bought with a mortgage by private investors. As rental prices have stabilized and availability is much greater, some tenants have started looking for flats with better conditions or are simply trying to adjust rental costs to shrinking household budgets,” 

says Ewa Tęczak, Otodom.