Student accommodation can vary in style widely from on-campus living in communal corridors provided by the institution often great fun for first year university students to private blocks of flats or 3 or more bedroom houses that are let out in student areas on the open market. Price is often a key issue for students, as well as proximity to their place of study and the ability to be near friends.
In recent years, large groups like Unite have sprung up that offer purpose-built or converted blocks of studios or other small units on the open market, catering for students' desire to live centrally and frugally, around other students. These blocks, like university digs, will often have shared facilities like laundry rooms, study rooms and common room areas.