Tight rental market continues to squeeze already cash-strapped London students

As London's post-secondary students settle into their accommodations for the 2024/2025 school year, many are facing one of two problems: higher rent payments, or long treks to campus.

That's according to students near Fanshawe College and Western University who told CBC News the market for student-friendly rentals that are both affordable and close to school feels as if it's shrinking.

"You kind of don't really know as a first-year how high your rent is going to be and what it should be, so I'm paying in the thousands, which my parents were a little bit frightened by," said Maya Feehely, a second-year student at Western who signed her lease for a room near the university partway through her first year.

Feehely said she's paying that price tag of north of $1,000 — not far off from what one might pay for a one-bedroom apartment in another part of town — for a single room in a house with several other students.

She could've likely gotten a better price if not for the house's location less than 300 metres away from the University's main gate on Richmond Street, she said. It's a situation she said isn't out of the ordinary for students who aren't willing to live far from campus.

"A lot of my friends are paying very similar prices for even farther houses with smaller rooms, though," she said, adding that she has friends who pay less than she does in London for units in Montreal that are also close to university campuses.

Students near Fanshawe College told CBC News said they're in the same situation.

"There's not a lot of options and it's hard to land your first choice," said Emma Chin, a Fanshawe student who lives across the street from campus. "It's a lot of frustration. People say the lowest price they find anywhere is like $850, up to $1,200."

Imraan Fallahi is a Fanshawe student who said his solution to the issue of pricey housing is to avoid moving.

"I made the choice to stay in London over the summer because finding an affordable place would've been harder otherwise," he said. "I was able to find a bit of a better price earlier and stuck with it, but the search was still tough."

Fallahi also said it's not uncommon to find listings that he believes are exploitative toward students desperate to find a suitable place to live. 

"They'll have shared bedrooms and a very confined space. A lot of the time it's an exorbitant price for what you're getting."

Around the corner on Thurman Circle, Fanshawe student Destiny Murphy said staying in the house she's lived in for three years, despite being from Hamilton, has been a good decision.

"I'd say I probably have one of the cheapest rents on the street compared to everybody else. I've been hearing it's like $850 to $950 for a room in a shared house now," Murphy said.

Aziz Dekhkanov is an urban planning student at Fanshawe who said he's happy to pay more in his position. He lives in one of Fanshawe's residences, paying $1,200 a month, with an included meal plan.

"I think it's better to stay in residence. It offers more benefits, and my friends who pay similar amounts and live away from school feel very stressed about it," he said.

Fanshawe's residence buildings have room for about 1,600 students, and demand has been high this year according to Dave Smith, the college's director of retail services.

"We have about 368 students on the wait list for residence," said Smith, adding that Fanshwe is looking into the possibility of building a new residence building on campus in the future.

Smith said staff have been advising students to look farther from campus to reduce the price they might have to pay.

"We also encourage students to use the third party website where students can go and look at listings from well-vetted landlords," he said.