Energy efficiency in student housing: examining students’ residential motives

In the United Kingdom (UK), there has been a diversification of the types of accommodation supplied to students, in part tied to the increasing numbers of students in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). The growing diversity of student housing choices has produced spatial socio-economic tensions and has created environmental gaps. This paper examines the variety of motives integrated in students’ residential decision-making processes and explores students’ residential pathways according to socio-economic and demographic features. The paper also showcases the typology and the energy efficiency ratings of housing occupied by students in the university town of Loughborough (UK). Finally, the paper demonstrates that students, overall, do not consider environmental factors when selecting an accommodation.