Got into Delhi University? The next challenge for thousands of students is finding an affordable place to stay

Only a handful of colleges have hostel facilities, and securing a hostel room can be more difficult than getting admission to the university in the first place.

The gap has fuelled a thriving private paying guest (PG) accommodation market around college clusters. The shortage is not new. In a written reply to a Rajya Sabha question in November 2016, the Union human resource development ministry, citing DU, said the university had 19 hostels with a combined capacity of 3,580 students.

Including accommodation provided by some colleges, estimates put hostel availability at around 6,000 seats, against at least 60,000 students being admitted annually by DU.

A decade later, the gap remains substantial. In 2026, DU has 91 colleges, with 69 colleges and departments participating in undergraduate admissions. Around 71,600 new UG students were admitted in 2026-27, while college estimates suggest that about half of DU students are from outside Delhi.

Against this, there are around 7,000 hostel seats. The university has 20 main hostels across its North and South campuses, while 20 colleges have hostel facilities and 71 do not, according to officials.

The numbers become starker when measured against DU’s overall student population. Its 2024-25 annual report, the latest available on its website, records 2.1 lakh undergraduate students and 34,520 postgraduate students, including PhD scholars — nearly 2.5 lakh students in all.

Miranda House, for instance, has an overall student strength of 5,375, but its hostel accommodates only about 370 students. For 2026-27, the college has offered just 90 hostel seats to first-year students.

Sri Venkateswara College, with an overall student strength of around 4,600, has hostel capacity for 150 students, with only 50 seats available to first-year students.

Accommodation has, in fact, featured in DU’s governing framework since its early years. Section 33 of the Delhi University Act, 1922, states that every student, other than one studying through correspondence, “shall reside in a college or a hall, or under such conditions as may be prescribed by the ordinances”.

A university official, however, said the provision “in today’s times should not be read as a guarantee of a university hostel room to every student”.

For students arriving from another state, an admission confirmation can therefore mark the beginning of another search — this time for a place to live.

Limited hostel availability leaves many students dependent on PGs, private hostels and rented flats in areas such as Vijay Nagar and Malka Ganj near North Campus, and Satya Niketan near South Campus.

Students say the private accommodation market can mean paying more for cramped and poorly maintained housing.

“There should be more hostels for students. Outside, everything is expensive and not maintained. I don’t know where students are supposed to go,” a DU student said.

Reliance on private housing is not unique to Delhi. What differs in some university systems abroad is the support provided to students navigating the private rental market.

Indroneil B Biswas, who studied in Oregon in the US, recalled that a department administrator contacted him even before his arrival about applying for campus accommodation with another international student.

“The admins helped us navigate on-campus housing,” he said, though accommodation was not automatic.

Universities there also provide off-campus housing listings, information on tenants’ rights and, in some cases, access to student legal services for housing disputes.

In Manchester in the UK, Manchester Student Homes, a university-run service, helps students navigate private accommodation through listings and an accreditation scheme that requires participating landlords and agents to follow a Code of Standards. It also offers housing advice and assistance with disputes.

In Australia, universities, including the University of Melbourne, similarly provide off-campus housing platforms and guidance on the private rental market, including information on students’ rights and responsibilities as tenants.

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