Stay or leave the city? Students and rented accommodation during COVID-19 pandemic

As the world-wide massive expansion in the number of higher education students has occurred, they are considered as an important driver of urban change. Off-campus student accommodation in the form of shared rental housing has become increasingly significant all over the world, with studies suggesting that this is having important consequences for housing markets in the many cities. As a result, there is a growing need for research showing the behaviour and motivation of this group of tenants. The COVID-19 pandemic and implemented restrictions provided a unique opportunity to explore the behaviour of young tenants in an unusual situation. By survey conducted in such inimitable conditions, new general knowledge has been gained. To highlight a key result, it was found that students are a large and extremely flexible group of tenants who demonstrate no reluctance to terminate a tenancy agreement and return quickly to the family home. The empirical results show that they displayed no attachment to the rented flat, full reluctance to pay for the reservation of a place and good knowledge of the market situation, leading to the negotiation of lower prices and more favourable rental conditions. However, their motivation to stay and continue to rent included uncomfortable study conditions at the family home, a romantic relationship with a partner, a job in the city and strong existing social bonds. The results reported in this study can be useful for global investors on the rental real estate market.