Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to mandate higher education institutions and local authorities to work together to ensure appropriate provisions are in place to house the numbers of students that universities are admitting.

Neither the Department for Education nor the Department for Levelling up, Housing and Communities have made such an assessment. It is for local areas, through their Local Plans, and in response to local needs and concerns, to determine the level of student accommodation required in their area.

Universities and private accommodation providers are autonomous. The department plays no direct role in the provision of student residential accommodation, whether the accommodation is managed by universities or private sector organisations.