Dozens of students slept in lines outside a rental agency overnight to secure university accommodation. Undergraduate students from Oxford University and Oxford Brookes took turns holding spaces at Finders’ Keepers estate agents in St Clements, Oxford. They were all desperate to find a place to study next year. Some had waited in line for almost 24 hours to get the perfect house or apartment, sitting on camping chairs outside the agency until 9am the next day. Armed with blankets, layers of clothing, hot water bottles and hot drinks, they braved sub-zero temperatures to get in line. It is an increasingly common phenomenon in the UK due to student housing shortages. Video footage shows the agency’s queue this morning (28/11) packed with around 100 people; dozens of people have been arriving since 4 a.m. this morning. Two friends, 19-year-old Milly Ashley and 19-year-old Will Johnson, had been first in the queue since 10am on Monday morning (27/11) to buy their dream property. Milly, who is studying business at Oxford Brookes University in Headington, said: “Last week we tried to queue from 4.30am and there were already people camping out from 11am the night before. “This time we decided to beat them and even more. Go early. “We bought Domino’s and had a nice chat. It was really okay. But I can’t feel my feet at all and I’m wearing four jumpers, tights, joggers and a coat.” Will, who studies property development at Oxford Brookes University, said: “Lots of people want to buy the house we want – we met 10 people today trying to buy it. “It’s probably the best four-bedroom property and it’s in a good location, so we sat in these chairs all night. “It’s been absolutely freezing, I’m wearing three jumpers now. It’s ridiculous that we’ve stayed here this long; This is just a scam to increase demand beyond belief. “The guys at the back are always finishing. They have to buy the worst houses ever because they can’t get anything. “Last week we arrived at around 5am and the queue was so big that by the time we got there all the places we wanted were already gone. “They told us we could see a place, so we walked towards it. The house for a quick look around. When we got there, before we even went up, they called us and said the apartment was already rented out.” Finally, after a long wait, the group was able to successfully get the house they wanted. Milly and Will were joined by their friends Lily Ward, 19, and Charlie Harms, 19, who plan to live with them next year, and spent most of the night with them. The group was so prepared for the night in the cold that they had even reviewed the shortlisted properties before they were even rented by the agency. Lily said: “We knocked on a few people’s doors last week and asked if we could look around for houses before they were built. “We still struggled for months to find a house and needed to find out well in advance by asking friends and the internet which houses would be available today. “We know a few second years, so we called them up and asked if they knew. Will said the reps at Finders’ Keepers ‘love’ the tails and find the whole situation quite funny. He added: “They love it. They were literally the last to leave work and came up to us smiling and one of them said ‘good cold night guys, see you in the morning’. “I don’t think they sympathize too much, they just find the whole thing a bit funny; that’s what I would do, too, to be honest.” Further down the line, Oxford University students Tom, 22, and his friend Jared, 22, were also waiting to buy their dream home for themselves and their friends. Tom, a PhD student in planetary science, said he didn’t mind queuing because they were doing it voluntarily. He said: “We weren’t that bad – but at tea time yesterday we heard the queue was already growing so we stopped what we were doing and braced ourselves. “We haven’t been here all night – I’ve been here for about six hours, rotating in two-and-a-half hour shifts. I had to get up really early to get back here, but I got a night’s sleep, so it was no problem. “My feet are quite cold but we choose to do it. It’s freezing but we can go whenever we want; if we didn’t wait we’d still find a place, but it wouldn’t be as nice. “It’s such a stupid system, you’d think they’d have a digital queue or something but that’s a big deal for people who are students I don’t know if it’s a product of the old way they used to provide accommodations and such. “After all, if we were waiting here or had a fixed queue, the result would always be them selling the houses they own – so making us queue is a bit unnecessary.” Jared, who is studying modern middle eastern studies at St Cross College, added: “It’s really just us deciding, yeah it’s a bit harsh but we’d rather just wait a night here and get locked up somewhere nice.” can be left for a long time, but there are usually homes available by the end of May. I was able to get into a house in June last year, so we decided to finish the job early this year. “If you get it done in November it takes the stress out of it, it’s nice to know everything is taken care of and done – so you don’t have to think about it the rest of the year.” This way they can figure out which properties are most in demand so they can ask for more or less rent next year. “We pre-planned this with a shortlist, you need to come prepared but we are seventh or eighth in the queue so it’s OK.” Oxford Brookes student paramedics Emma Baker and Ella Givens arrived later than most this morning and were at the back of the queue. The pair, who were hoping to find a place in Cowley, said they were ‘surprised’ to see such a large queue when they arrived and if they couldn’t get a property today they might try queuing overnight. Emma, 18, said: “We were told people were queuing overnight for five- and six-bed houses, but we weren’t expecting such a big queue for four-bed houses either. “We weren’t too keen on queuing for four- or six-bed houses. It’s five in the morning – there are many beautiful houses here, but I think this is a bit much. “I hope we get somewhere, it’s a bit ridiculous that you have to queue for so long, especially considering Oxford is a student town.” Ella, 19, said: “Our campus is a little further away from the normal student areas in the city, so we can still get somewhere despite the queue. I think we didn’t realize how bad it was that the three and four-bedroom houses would be ransacked, so maybe we were a bit delusional.” If there’s a nice house and we don’t get anything today, I think we’ll try to get in line. I am ready to try this; It depends on whether our friends will do the same.”