Students live in nearly 3,000 homes across Reading borough
THE number of student properties in Reading has been revealed.
Of the 74,804 in Reading borough, 2,970 of them are occupied by full-time students, 3.9% of the total.
Student housing presents a range of challenges to Reading Borough Council and other stakeholders in the borough.
All properties occupied by full-time university or college students are exempt from paying council tax.
Recently, the University of Reading (UoR) funded an extra bin collection after bins were spotted overflowing and recycling bins were contaminated with general waste in Blenheim Road, an area popular with students.
However, the university was estimated to contribute £420 million to the economy of Reading and Wokingham in 2016/17.
The university has also hired a new community liaison, Molli Cleaver, to manage community relations and will launch a Hello Neighbour campaign in September to help students living in private accommodation to integrate.
A spokesperson for the UoR said: “The university is a big part of the local community.
“We know that around half of all adults under 25 in Reading borough are students of the UoR.
“Our 17,000 students and around 4,000 members of staff in Reading play a huge role in the social, cultural and economic life of our town.
“The university contributes more than three-quarters of a billion pounds to the economy, most of which stays in the local area and supports jobs, businesses and services for the people of Reading.
“Reading has a relatively high number of student rooms in halls of residence on our campuses, compared to most other universities, with around 5,000 rooms provided by the university and its accommodation partner, UPP.
“In addition, there are lots of other halls of residence operated by private providers where students can choose to live.
“Most students choose to live in a room in halls during their first year at university, and some choose to live in halls throughout all their years of study. Most opt to spend at least some time living in the town.
“Being an active part of the local community is a key part of our mission as a university.
“We are conscious of the many types of impact that we can have as a university on the local area, and we work closely with both Reading and Wokingham borough councils and many neighbourhood groups to build our positive impact.”
The UoR is not the only university in town either, as the University of West London runs the Berkshire Institute for Health, from Fountain House, in Reading’s town centre.
The building is located close to the Minster Quarter, where the council has begun a search for a developer to transform the area.
The number of student properties was revealed in a Freedom of Information request submitted by Jamie Dixon, which was answered by a Reading Borough Council officer in March.