Cheapest Cities in Scotland for Student Accommodation
Where is the cheapest place to live in Scotland as a student?
While the cost of university in Scotland is consistent for tuition fees, the price of student accommodation and rent depends on which city you live in. If you are applying for university with a smaller budget, shopping around for the best rent prices could save you thousands a year.
How to find the most affordable place for students?
To help you decide which of the Scottish universities is best for you, we have used StudentCrowd’s live accommodation data* to rank the top 7 cheapest cities. This is the best data on student accommodation in the country. You can use our league table to make the smartest decision for your university budget. Although the weekly rent costs may only vary by a few pounds, over the course of your time at university this adds up.
So have a scroll through our league table! Find out which universities and cities are the best places for students to live Scotland, whilst also comparing the cost of rent and reading student reviews to learn about life there.
Last updated - 3rd March 2023
Top 7 Cheapest Cities in Scotland for Student Accommodation
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Inverness
"Inverness is a great city to live in if your not a big fan of big busy cities. It's a small, picturesque city. It has plenty of places to eat out in and the shopping is good..."
Universities in this location: University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI)
| Avg: Shared Flat Shared Bathroom | Avg: Shared Flat with Ensuite | Avg: Studio |
| Not available | £112 | £137 |
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Aberdeen
"Aberdeen is a really great student city, it isn’t too big and daunting or too small and claustrophobic. It has beautiful architecture and really nice surroundings if you want to get out of the city for a break as well as an amazing beach!"
Universities in this location: University of AberdeenRobert Gordon University (RGU)
| Avg: Shared Flat Shared Bathroom | Avg: Shared Flat with Ensuite | Avg: Studio |
| £100 | £135 | £176 |
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Dundee
"Dundee’s a lovely small city, also the sunniest city of scotland which helps making the most out of the experience!!"
Universities in this location: Abertay UniversityUniversity of Dundee
| Avg: Shared Flat Shared Bathroom | Avg: Shared Flat with Ensuite | Avg: Studio |
| £126 | £150 | £187 |
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Stirling
"Pretty affordable, nice natural and historic locations, accessible, friendly people, calm and quite"
Universities in this location: University of Stirling
| Avg: Shared Flat Shared Bathroom | Avg: Shared Flat with Ensuite | Avg: Studio |
| £108 | £159 | £197 |
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Glasgow
"Glasgow is a student-friendly and nice city! People are welcoming and I do not feel the sense of being stranger here! Prices are fair here and public transport are good, the only thing missing is that the subway does not cover different parts of the city!"
Universities in this location: Glasgow Caledonian UniversityGlasgow School of ArtUniversity of GlasgowUniversity of StrathclydeUniversity of the West of ScotlandRoyal Conservatoire of Scotland
| Avg: Shared Flat Shared Bathroom | Avg: Shared Flat with Ensuite | Avg: Studio |
| £145 | £154 | £199 |
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St Andrews
"Not much in the town itself, but it’s so easy to get to Dundee & Edinburgh, but while there isn’t much to do on a night out, the town is SUPER safe and (as a girl) I can walk home alone & it’s safe"
Universities in this location: University of St Andrews
| Avg: Shared Flat Shared Bathroom | Avg: Shared Flat with Ensuite | Avg: Studio |
| £164 | £200 | £244 |
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Edinburgh
"utterly gorgeous city. incredibly beautiful. the galleries are nice, the architecture is stunning. cost of living is much less than you’d expect from a capital. things don’t really seem to be open beyond 1-3am, though"
Universities in this location: Edinburgh Napier UniversityHeriot Watt UniversityUniversity of EdinburghQueen Margaret University
| Avg: Shared Flat Shared Bathroom | Avg: Shared Flat with Ensuite | Avg: Studio |
| £148 | £178 | £242 |
*StudentCrowd’s data is the most comprehensive data on the cost of student accommodation in the UK. Find out more on how we collect and manage our accommodation data here.
The table below is based on the cost of purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) and university-owned halls. We used the monthly average of all student accommodation in each location from September 2021 - August 2022. Note, it does not cover HMO (house in multiple occupation) rents, however, PBSA and university-owned accommodation are an accurate reflection of local HMO rents. StudentCrowd collects rent and occupancy data on a weekly basis for all PBSA accommodation and on a fortnightly basis for all university-owned accommodation in the UK.
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Find out how much you need to budget for university, learn about tuition fees, maintenance loans and calculate your expected living costs.
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Discover the average accommodation prices of over 70 cities in the UK. Read student reviews of each city and find out which is the cheapest!
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Read about all the different costs you will need to factor in when budgeting for university. Learn how to calculate your weekly budget after your maintenance loan comes in.
