New UniHomes data suggests student landlords face another year of intense demand, with Liverpool topping the UK for projected searches per property in the 2026-27 letting cycle and the wider market still short of around 600,000 student bed spaces.
The report points to a widening gap between rising student numbers and available homes, rather than a temporary spike in one or two cities. Liverpool led the rankings with 2,525 projected searches per property, followed by Bath on 1,699 and London on 1,074, based on UniHomes’ analysis of three years of search data combined with Google demand trends.
For landlords, the immediate message is that demand in the student market remains concentrated, local and highly competitive. That matters at a time when many investors are weighing whether tighter rules, licensing pressure and changing tenant demand still justify buying or retaining shared rental stock.
Student accommodation pressure stays concentrated in key cities
According to UniHomes’ latest student accommodation demand report, Liverpool is expected to be the most competitive city for student rentals in the coming academic year, ahead of Bath, London, Coventry and Derby.
The strongest landlord angle is not simply that demand is high, but where it is staying high despite heavier regulation and years of investor attention. UniHomes said Liverpool’s student population has grown 28 percent over the past decade, with demand for six-bed homes on its platform up 47 percent year on year. In London, the report said HMO availability has fallen 23 percent since 2018, leaving more than 40,000 fewer homes in the market.
That helps explain why the ranking is still being driven by supply shortages rather than just student preference. Bath, for example, combines rising university numbers with a tight planning environment and limited room for new stock, while London continues to attract both domestic and international students despite higher costs and tighter HMO rules.
Lian Chambers, head of marketing at UniHomes, said the findings showed why investors should not ignore student rentals as a specialist part of the private rented sector. The company said the data was built from search behaviour between 2023 and 2025 and then forecast forward for the current 2026-27 letting cycle.
What landlords should watch in the student HMO market
One reason this release is stronger than a routine hotspot list is that it lines up with other signs that student-linked shared housing remains under pressure. Earlier this year, Landlord Knowledge’s report on student-led buy-to-let hotspots found university cities still dominating higher-yield rankings, while demand continued to favour towns where rents can support shared-house returns.
This also follows Landlord Knowledge’s coverage of the government’s student possession transition rules, which underlined how sharply policy changes can affect this part of the market. The latest UniHomes figures suggest demand has not eased even as landlords face more compliance decisions over HMOs, letting cycles and local licensing.
The practical warning for landlords is that strong headline demand does not remove execution risk. The cities at the top of the ranking are also the places where planning constraints, licensing regimes or changing room-size preferences can quickly affect margins. Liverpool’s rise in six-bed demand may suit traditional shared-house investors, but London’s growth in one-bed searches points to a different student mix and a different investment case.
There is also a timing point here. UniHomes said booking patterns are shifting earlier in some cities, with Liverpool searches peaking a week earlier than in the previous season. For landlords relying on slower reletting cycles or late-summer marketing, that could mean missing the strongest applicant demand window.
What this means for landlords
- If you’re considering student buy-to-let: focus on cities where demand is proven but local supply rules, HMO licensing and planning constraints are understood before purchase.
- Watch for: earlier booking patterns, especially in stronger student cities where demand may peak before many landlords usually start remarketing rooms.
- Bottom line: the student market still offers clear demand, but returns will depend more on local supply shortages and compliance than on broad national averages.
Editor’s view
Student demand is not the problem in this market. The harder question for landlords is whether they can still supply the right kind of stock, in the right city, under tighter local rules and with less room for mistakes on timing.
Author: Editorial Team – UK landlord & buy-to-let news, policy, and finance
Published: 23 June 2026
Sources: UniHomes, CBRE, HESA
Related reading: Cardiff tops buy-to-let hotspots as student towns deliver yields above 9%
