14 properties are live in Exeter right now on Mystudenthalls.com, with weekly rents from £160.00 to £245.00 and bills included at most of them. The live Exeter options range from affordable en-suite student flats to higher-spec studios, so the student housing here suits a range of budgets. Better-value rooms can go earlier in the booking cycle, partly because the University of Exeter recorded 33,105 students in 2024/25. Use the filters below to sort by price, area and room type, and book directly with the provider.
To see where these rents sit, StuRents puts the average purpose-built apartment in Exeter at around £168 per person per week, so a live starting price of £160.00 is competitive for a self-contained, bills-included room.
The buildings listed here are privately operated student accommodation, rather than University of Exeter residences. These are purpose-built student buildings operated by specialist housing companies. University-managed rooms usually go to first years first and tie you to the institution’s own residences, while a private room can be booked by students at any Exeter institution, in any year, and you pick the building and the area rather than being allocated one. Private buildings also tend to include more facilities in the rent: expect extras like a gym, study space, a cinema room and a staffed reception in many of them, whether you want sociable student living or a self-contained studio. There is plenty of this stock in the city, too; an Exeter Civic Society audit recorded 16,935 purpose-built and co-living bedspaces built, approved or in the pipeline across Exeter as of February 2026, so students have a broad private market alongside university-managed accommodation.
Most of the cheap student accommodation Exeter offers is concentrated in two parts of the city. Heavitree, just east of the centre, is the established value area, with a proper local high street of supermarkets, cafes and independent shops and frequent buses into town and out to campus. The city centre is where many of the cheaper en-suite rooms sit, generally undercutting the self-contained studios. The most affordable live rooms at the moment are Northernhay House at £160.00 a week, Exeter One at £175.00 and with bills included. By comparison, StuRents puts the average private house share elsewhere in the city at roughly £145 per person a week excluding bills, so once you add utilities, a bills-included en-suite at this end of the market can land close on price with far less admin. Central Living at £180.00 and Trust House at £185.00 are the next cheapest options if the cheapest rooms have gone.
Location matters because Exeter’s campuses, stations and student areas sit in different parts of the city.
At the higher end, Study Inn Walnut Gardens, with its on-site spa, gym and cinema room, and the two Canvas buildings, Canvas Quintana Gate and Canvas Clubhouse, offer more facilities, including spas, gyms and cinema rooms, in central buildings with a strong studio focus.
The University of Exeter runs two campuses in the city, and which one you study at should steer your search. You can browse everything near the institution on the dedicated University of Exeter page.
It is worth knowing that some University of Exeter courses are taught at the Cornwall campuses in Penryn and Truro. Those sites are not covered here, so if you are studying in Cornwall you will need to look at accommodation in the Falmouth and Penryn area instead.
Exeter is compact and walkable, which helps keep day-to-day transport costs down. Good bus links also make it practical to live a little further out.
A room in Heavitree or out towards Cowley Bridge Road usually costs less per week than a central studio, and a reliable bus route or a short cycle often more than makes up the difference over a year.
Most private student homes in Exeter come with bills included, which usually means electricity, gas, water, broadband and contents cover bundled into one weekly figure, so there are no separate utility accounts to juggle. Always check the individual listing, as inclusions vary by property.
The main room types are:
Private contracts in Exeter vary in length, commonly running from around 44 to 51 weeks, which is longer than the typical 40 to 44 weeks of university-managed rooms, so check the term suits your course before you book. A few buildings offer shorter or summer stays, but do not assume this is available everywhere.
Because Exeter is in England, the Tenant Fees Act 2019 sets the rules. A tenancy deposit is capped at five weeks’ rent where the annual rent is under £50,000, and any holding deposit to reserve a room is capped at one week’s rent. As a full-time student you are exempt from council tax, though in a privately rented flat you may need to send the council a student certificate to confirm it; rooms in dedicated student buildings are usually handled automatically. If you watch or record live TV or use BBC iPlayer you will need your own TV Licence, which is £180 a year from 1 April 2026.
Most providers ask for a UK-based guarantor, usually a parent or guardian, who agrees to cover the rent if it is not paid. If you do not have a UK guarantor, many buildings accept rent paid in advance instead, and a service such as Housing Hand can act as a guarantor for eligible students, which is a common route for international students. Always confirm the policy with the provider before you apply.
Exeter packs a lot into a small, walkable centre. Gandy Street is the characterful heart of the independent scene, with coffee shops, vintage stores and the Exeter Phoenix arts centre and cinema. Exeter Cathedral and the medieval Underground Passages anchor the history, and the city was named a UNESCO City of Literature in 2019, recognised for a thousand-year book-making heritage. For nights out, Timepiece on Little Castle Street is the long-standing student favourite and runs regular student nights, with the Cavern and a string of pubs filling out the rest.
The countryside and coast are the real bonus. Dartmoor National Park is roughly 30 minutes away by bus, Exmouth beach about 40 minutes by train, and the Jurassic Coast, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is within day-trip range, all of it within reach of a city you can cross on foot.
Live rooms on Mystudenthalls.com run from £160.00 to £245.00 a week, with most including bills. As a higher-cost southern city, Exeter sits above the national average for some room types: StuRents puts the average purpose-built apartment here at around £168 per person per week, and Cushman & Wakefield reported new-build purpose-built beds nationally at £205.39 a week for 2023/24. En-suite rooms in shared flats are generally the cheapest option, and self-contained studios the priciest.
Heavitree, east of the centre, is the established value area, and the city centre is where many of the cheaper en-suite rooms sit, generally undercutting studios. The most affordable live rooms at the moment are Northernhay House at £160.00 a week, Exeter One at £175.00.
In most private buildings, “bills included” covers electricity, gas, water and broadband in your weekly rent, and often contents insurance too. It removes the need for separate utility accounts, but the exact list varies by property, so check the listing.
No. Households where everyone is a full-time student are exempt from council tax. In a private flat you may need to send Exeter City Council a student certificate to confirm your status, while dedicated student buildings are usually exempt automatically.
Under the Tenant Fees Act 2019, which applies in England, a tenancy deposit is capped at five weeks’ rent where the annual rent is under £50,000. A holding deposit to reserve a room cannot exceed one week’s rent. Both should be refundable, subject to the contract terms.
Most providers ask for a UK-based guarantor. If you do not have one, many buildings accept rent paid in advance, and a service such as Housing Hand can act as a guarantor for eligible students, which is a common option for international students. Confirm the provider’s policy before applying.
Yes. Most first years take a university-managed room near Streatham for their first year, then move into private student accommodation from second year, but private buildings can be booked in any year of study, including first year, by students at any Exeter institution.
Contract lengths vary, commonly around 44 to 51 weeks. For university-managed rooms, the University of Exeter opens applications in mid-April, with a guarantee deadline of 31 July for eligible first years. The private market moves earlier in some respects, with many returning students searching from October or November, but rooms stay available through the cycle, so it is still worth browsing after Clearing.
The main options are en-suite rooms in shared flats, which are usually the most affordable, and self-contained student studios with a private kitchen and bathroom. Some buildings also offer standard rooms or larger studios. Filter by room type to compare what is live.
Many private buildings come with on-site teams, CCTV and key-fob or secure entry, and Exeter is a compact, generally safe student city. Safety features vary by building, so check the individual listing for what each property provides.
For the Streatham Campus, Pennsylvania, Cowley Bridge Road and the city centre work best. For St Luke’s Campus, the city centre, Heavitree and St James are the most practical. You can compare everything near the institution on the University of Exeter page.
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