Durham University students have had to queue on the street overnight to secure a home for the next year amid claims of a lack of housing and rising rents.
Hundreds lined up in front of real estate agents across the city after lists were released.
One student said someone showed up at his home for a viewing after he had already signed up “in a panic”.
The university said it expected “pressure” in the private rental market and rent increases, and the issue received its “urgent attention”.
The Durham Students’ Union described the city’s housing market as “broken” and claimed rising student numbers were “threatening the welfare and education of students”.
First-year students in the city are assured of university-managed housing, but will have to find their own housing thereafter.
Rental agents in the city release available properties for the next academic year in a process known as “the drop.”
Third-year engineering students Tom Richardson and Peter Thorne told BBC Look North they had waited six hours for a house and still hadn’t confirmed a room.
“I think it’s just that there are too many students and not enough houses,” Richardson said.
He said he was alerted at 19:30 BST last night that queues had formed outside an estate agent.
“We decided to get up around two-thirty, get there for four, and then get in line straight away,” he added.
“It was absolutely insane — people had camping chairs, tables set out, loads of blankets — by the end, when people started moving, it looked like a dump.”
He said people had “become more and more desperate” as new lists were released on different days.
Mr Thorne added there were stories of freshmen arguing in the queue.
“Last week people came to our house and said, ‘We’ve already signed your house, we’ve been queuing since 5am’, and they had no choice but to panic sign a house without even looking at the house .
“I think it’s terrible for the first few years – the first two years was very easy for us trying to get a house and now it’s just such a change, it was pretty bad we still haven’t found one, but we hope for the best.”
Footage shared with the BBC by student television station PalTV shows students camping overnight.
Some told student reporters that they worked shifts with roommates and others had joined the line after a night out while others kept them warm with hot drinks.
Emily Doughty, editor of the student newspaper Palatinate, told BBC Radio Newcastle that prices had risen “massively” and she had heard of a case where £85 a week was being offered for £189 a week.
“It has become unaffordable for most students,” said the humanities student.
“A lot of houses come with bills included, so the prices have been raised.
“We have a real problem where low-income, working-class students are being pushed out of the city.”
The student union said “dramatically inflated” housing prices were “inexcusable and unacceptable”.
“The university bears some responsibility for this crisis,” it said.
“Bringing students to Durham without knowing that the city and area can accommodate them – in college beds or not – is irresponsible.”
It has urged the university to “declare a serious incident” to provide short-term assistance and “urgently review” the intake of student numbers for 2023-24.
“Landlords and real estate agents also bear a certain responsibility for the current situation. Promotional tactics and premature releases put pressure on students, which is unfair and unnecessary, especially in a livelihood crisis,” she added.
The university said it has “engaged in dialogue” with the city’s rental agencies and is in touch with the district council.
It encouraged students to contact their college if they encounter difficulties and said a group home would be set up. It said some returning students may be able to live in university-managed accommodation.
“The exceptionally early rush for housing was unexpected and we have worked quickly to communicate with our students on the matter and offer them additional support,” a spokesman said.
The university added that it had seen “an exceptionally high demand” for university accommodation and blamed higher post-Covid student intake on “unexpected national shifts” in exam marking.
“Our overall intake this year was lower than the previous two years. We continue to aim for lower intake than what external circumstances forced us to do in 2020 and 2021.”
Michael Kelleher, Durham County Council’s head of planning and housing, said the local authority is “aware of and concerned” by reports of students queuing outside rental agencies.
“While like any other municipality we cannot control what private landlords charge for existing rental properties, we work with developers during the planning process to ensure new developments offer a mix of accommodations,” he added.
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