Home or away – is student accommodation becoming a luxury?

With the price of university halls or digs doubling in a decade, we look at the pros and cons of living with your parents while studying. For Abla Klaa, one of the main perks of living with her parents while studying is that the fridge is always stocked. “I’m saved from worrying about grocery shopping or choosing between a greasy takeaway or cooking dinner – if I knew how to,” says Klaa, a second-year broadcast journalism student at Leeds University. The downside is she has to help do the dishes “and make sure the state of my room meets my mum’s impossible standards of cleanliness”. For prospective students, deciding whether to go away to university or stay at home is becoming more pressing. According to the National Union of Students, the price of student accommodation has doubled over the past decade, pushing living costs for a student outside London to more than £12,000 a year. Read More.