PBSA Rents Continue to Rise – But So Do Incentives, New Data Shows
StudentCrowd releases national supply and demand report, with exclusive analysis on incentive trends
LONDON - 22 July 2025
A new UK-wide market report from StudentCrowd, the UK’s leading student property data provider for PBSA, reveals that while average PBSA rents continue to rise, a growing number of operators are reintroducing financial incentives - a trend now visible across room types, price points and locations.
The data shows average rents have grown by 7.5% per year since 2021, while average incentive values have increased by 15% annually over the same period (see Fig. 1.) With the cost of living still a concern for many households and UCAS Clearing around the corner, it’s a timely reminder for students and parents to consider the full picture when comparing accommodation, including which providers are offering added value through cashback, discounts or voucher-based deals.
Fig. 1. National Average Incentive Value (Of Offered Tenancies)
Tuely Robins, Director of Strategic Partnerships at StudentCrowd, observed: “After two years of relatively low and stable incentive values, 2024/25 saw the highest figures and greatest range recorded over the four academic years. The peaks in November 2024, at the start of the cycle, and again in October 2025, at the end, as well as the similar, albeit less dramatic, pattern displayed to date in 2025/26, suggests that booking patterns may be changing.”
The figures also show:
- Average incentive values increasing across all room types this year, with apartments and cluster ensuites offering similar or higher incentive values than studios
- Incentives being used nationwide, including in high-demand cities and traditional university hotspots
The report draws on StudentCrowd’s live dataset, which covers 100% of UK PBSA buildings and more than 3.7 billion data points, to provide analysis of pricing, availability and student sentiment. It is the only data in the market to track incentives at a national level.
Other headline trends identified include:
- 58,000 PBSA beds added since 2021
- 93,000 beds currently in the approved planning pipeline
- 16% rise in student numbers since 2019/20
- 4.37/5 average student satisfaction rating for PBSA
Alongside national-level analysis, the report highlights how trends can vary between cities and even at postcode level, reinforcing the importance of hyper-local data when assessing pricing, development potential or marketing performance.
Tuely added: “With so many moving parts across the student accommodation sector, from development pipelines to pricing pressures and changing student behaviour, it’s never been more important to work from a live, trusted data source. This report brings real figures from across the sector to provide a clear view of how the market is functioning right now.”
The full report is available now via the StudentCrowd website.
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For more information or press enquiries, please contact: Press@studentcrowd.com