MORE than 30 students spent the night camped outside a North Oxford estate agents to secure their first choice accommodation for next year.

Estate agency North Oxford Property Services released its list of student houses yesterday morning and some home-hunters waited in line for more than 24 hours.

Oxford Mail:

Robin Swailes

By 9am the 60-strong queue had stretched around the corner. The North Oxford estate agents provided champagne for the first two groups, who had been queuing since early yesterday morning.

Music student Harry Davidson, of Oxford University, was first in the queue after his housemates arrived at 5.45am on Wednesday. He said: “I had friends around me and we did it in shifts.”

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Engineering student Alex Clarke, 20, was second in the queue and made the most of the stake-out.

He said: “It wasn’t too bad. I got a lot of work done and was probably more productive than I would have been in the library.”

His group had made it inside after more than 24 hours to sign for their number one choice.

Oxford Mail:

The queues outside the letting agency

He said: “We’ll be happy once we are out of here and it’s all sorted.”

Classics student Ellie Jenkins, 18, said: “We shouldn’t have to queue like this, especially with the amount we pay to go to university.”

NOPS director Robin Swailes said: “They are all mad aren’t they queuing up all that time for a house. It’s been happening for 25 years.”


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