We’ve published our rent prices for students living in university halls from September 2025.
We know many of you are feeling the pressure of rising living costs right now, and we understand that any increase in rent can add to financial worries. With that in mind, we want to be transparent about the steps we’re taking, why they’re necessary, and how we’re supporting students who are most affected.
This year the average increase in rent will be 3%, with a range from 1% – 6.5%. For our most affordable accommodation we’ve increased the rents by only 1% (in Whitworth Park). This means that 27% of our accommodation meets the National Union of Students’ affordability definition of costing less than 50% of the maintenance loan.
To help more students and working with the Students’ Union, we’re funding 150 bursaries of £2,000 for students who want to live in our halls next year. We will also seek to raise money from donations to fund another 50 bursaries. This follows on from the announcement we made in November about providing more than 1,000 more bursaries to students from low-income households, to support their studies.
Maintaining safe, high-quality halls—and improving them when needed—does require ongoing funding. We receive no external government funding for our residences, so rent fees are what help us cover routine expenses, refurbishments, and future enhancements. All money is reinvested. We understand that even a small increase can be a burden, but we want to ensure that we can continue providing well-kept, modern living spaces for everyone.
Over recent years we have invested many millions of pounds in upgrading our halls:
- Uttley House – conversion of hotel to student accommodation (£5m)
- Dalton Ellis – Ewings and Graham refurbishment (£14m)
- Oak House –refurbishment to all blocks (£4m)
- Whitworth Park –refurbishment to all blocks is ongoing (£10m)
- We will also be building new accommodation in the coming years
Despite this, our rents are priced to be below the market rate in Manchester and are cheaper than many university halls in other cities, not just including London. Our residences feature ResLife and security support which is of a far higher level than the private sector.
We will continue to work closely with the Students’ Union on this issue and will have three further workshops between now and the end of the academic year to develop a long-term rent affordability strategy for our University managed accommodation, as well as involving Officers in planning our new residences.
You can find out the details of our prices on the Accommodation website.
And if you’re worried about your finances, there’s lots of support available through the University and the Students’ Union. Have a look at our cost of living pages to see how we can help.
Questions or concerns?
Submit your questions for our President & Vice-Chancellor, Duncan Ivison, to be answered during our upcoming Ask Me Anything podcast.
- Ask your question on Mentimeter before 14 February at 5pm.
- Watch the recorded episode on 24 February via Student News.