Dozens of students slept all night in rows outside a rental agency to secure university accommodation. Students from the University of Oxford and Oxford Brookes took turns queuing up at Finders’ Keepers estate agents in St Clements, Oxford. They were all desperate for a place to live for their next year of college. Some queued for almost 24 hours to get the perfect house or apartment, after sitting on camp chairs outside the agency until the 9am opening the next day. Armed with blankets, multiple layers of clothing, hot water bottles and hot drinks, they braved subzero temperatures to save a spot in line. It is an increasingly common phenomenon in Britain due to the shortage of student accommodation. Video footage shows the queue outside the station this morning (28/11) swelled to around 100 people – with dozens having turned up as of 4am this morning. Couple of friends Milly Ashley, 19, and Will Johnson, 19, were first in line since Monday morning (27/11) at 10am to get their dream home. Milly, who is studying business at Oxford Brookes University in Headington, said: “We tried to queue from 4.30am last week and there were people camping from 11am the night before. “So we decided to give them this times to beat and go even sooner. “We got Domino’s and had a good chat. Actually, it’s going fine. But I can’t feel my feet at all and I’m wearing four sweaters, leggings, joggers and a jacket.” Will, who studies property development at Oxford Brookes University, said: “Lots of people want to get the house we’re going for – we met 10 people today who are trying to get it. “It’s probably the best four-bedroom house. , and also in a good spot, so we sat on these seats all night. “It was absolutely freezing, I’m wearing three sweaters right now. It’s so ridiculous that we have to stay here for so long. It’s just a scam to increase demand beyond belief.” The guys in the back, they always end up with the worst houses ever because they have to – they can’t get anything. “Last week we arrived around 5 a.m., and the line was already so long that by the time we arrived, all the seats we wanted were gone. “They told us we could check out one spot, so we walked to the house to take a look around. By the time we got there, they called us before we even got upstairs to say the flat was already rented.” Finally, after a long wait, the group managed to get the house they wanted. Milly and Will were joined by their friends Lily Ward, 19, and Charlie Harms, 19, who plan to move in 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 viewed the properties on their shortlist before they had been made available for letting by the estate agency. Lily said: “We knocked on a few people’s doors last week and asked if we could have a look around before the houses were demolished. “However, it was a months-long search for houses – and we had to find out well in advance which houses would be available today by asking around friends and online. “We’ve known for a few second years, so we called them and asked if they knew when their homes became available.” Will said the officers at Finders’ Keepers think the queues are ‘amazing’ – and find the whole situation quite funny. He added: “They love it. They were literally the last to leave work and came out smiling at us, and one of them said ‘have a nice cold night guys, we’ll see you in the morning’. “I don’t think they have much sympathy, I think they just find it all a bit funny – to be honest I would.” Further down the queue, Oxford University students Tom, 22, and his friend Jared, 22, were also waiting to get their dream home for them and their friends. Tom, a PhD student in planetary sciences, said he didn’t mind queuing because they did it voluntarily. He said: “We weren’t that bad yet, but we heard at tea time yesterday that the queue was already growing, so we left our work and got to work. “We haven’t been here all night – I’ve been here for about six hours now and we’re doing two and a half hour shifts. I had to get up really early to get back here, but I got one night’s sleep, so it was okay. “My feet are pretty cold, but we choose to do it. It’s freezing, but we can leave whenever we want. If we didn’t wait, we would still get a spot, it just wouldn’t be as fun. “It’s quite a stupid system, you think they have a digital queue or something, but I don’t know if this is just an artefact of the old way people used to get student accommodation or what. “If we were to wait here or have a fixed queue, the outcome will ultimately be that they will always sell the houses they own anyway – so it’s a bit unnecessary to make us queue up.” Jared, who is studying modern Middle Eastern studies at St Cross College, added: “This is essentially just us deciding that yes, it’s a bit bleak but we’d rather wait here for the night and get locked up in a nice place. ” can leave it for a while, there are usually only houses available in May. Last year I didn’t move into a house until June, so this year we decided to just get it done earlier. “If you sort it in November it takes the stress away. It’s nice to know everything is sorted and done so you don’t have to think about it for the rest of the year. “I imagine the officers are useful receive information about which homes are most popular in this way, so that they can ask for more or less rent next year. “We have pre-planned this with a shortlist, you have to be prepared, but we are about seventh or eighth place, so we should be fine.” Emma Baker and Ella Givens, student paramedics from Oxford Brookes, arrived later than most this morning and ended up at the back of the queue. The pair, who are hoping to find a place in Cowley, said they were ‘surprised’ when they arrived to see such a big queue – and might try queuing at night if they are unable to obtain a home today. Emma, 18, said: “We were told there were people queuing for five and six bed houses, but we didn’t expect such a big queue for four beds either. “We weren’t really prepared to queue from four or six beds. five o’clock in the morning – there are some nice houses here, but I think it’s a bit much. “Hopefully we’ll get somewhere. It’s a bit ridiculous having to queue for so long, especially as Oxford is such a student town.” Ella, 19, said: “Our campus is a little further away from the normal student areas in the city – so fingers crossed we get somewhere despite the queue. “I don’t think we realized how bad the three and four bedrooms were.” houses would be sought – perhaps we were a bit delusional. “If there’s a nice house that we really want and we don’t get anything today, I guess we’ll give the queue a try. I’m willing to give it a try, depending on whether our friends want it too.”