RENTS UP... AS BOSSES PROFIT

Luxury lifestyles of bigwigs behind student digs firm

- SASKIA ROWLANDS

BOSSES of a student digs firm are homing in on a fortune - as cash-strapped freshers struggle to put a roof over their heads.

Unite Students, which owns 157 properties, has hiked rents by 7% year on year, meaning undergrads will have to find around £88 extra each month.

The move has forced many to turn down places or opt for cheaper lodgings miles from campus.

Meanwhile, chief executive Richard Smith lives in a £1.2million country pad near Bath and netted £870,000 last year. And chief financial officer Joseph Lister owns a £1.3million Wiltshire farmhouse.