Two successive years of very large freshman classes with the attendant pressure on being able to house both returning on-campus residents with contracts for the new academic year along with all those freshmen has generated some media attention and campus commentary that U-M and Ann Arbor have a student housing "shortage." The reality is that while U-M residence halls have indeed been fully occupied, there is availability in on-campus apartments and the off-campus student housing market is experiencing a historically high vacancy level - approaching 10 percent for at least the last two years.

While there may be selective shortfalls in specific types of housing that students are interested in (e.g. unique, multi-occupant houses), students arriving last August without previously making housing arrangements had no difficulty in locating good, quality housing near both Central and North Campuses.

The University houses about 30 percent of the student body (undergraduate and graduate) in on-campus residence halls and apartments; this percentage has stayed consistent since the early 1970s. The availability of on-campus housing will not change substantially in the foreseeable future, even with the arrival of North Quad Residence Hall in September 2009, because some older residence halls will successively be closed for up to two years for major renewal and renovation. There is, however, an important new on-campus housing option available for the last two years for sophomore to senior undergraduates; University Housing now offers more than 400 one- and two-bedroom apartments in Northwood III as an alternative to residence halls. Additionally, single graduate students are now eligible to live in Northwood Community Apartments (formerly Family Housing). For the remaining nearly 28,000 University students, off-campus housing will remain a significant component of University student life. Here, too, there is some good news. With the advent last year of M-Ride - University community members can ride Ann Arbor buses for free - it became economically and practically more convenient for students to consider off-campus housing located at a greater distance away from Central Campus. A 24 percent increase in ridership since the start of the program suggests that some students have actively pursued this opportunity.

There are several long-term critical issues related to off-campus housing that require more sustained attention from all stakeholders - the City of Ann Arbor, the University, landlords, safety and security agencies and the students themselves - in order to bring about higher-quality student neighborhoods and improved town-gown relations related to off-campus students. An incomplete list of these issues includes:

Quality of student housing

Student rental properties in Ann Arbor and environs run the gamut from poorly maintained units with unrepaired code violations - and, in worst cases, without a current certificate of occupancy - to very well maintained units with highly responsive and responsible landlords and everything in between. Students should utilize the excellent online and print resources of the Off-Campus Housing Program to identify the most important questions to ask before signing any lease. They should also have their own checklist with regard to their expectations regarding appearance, upkeep, sanitary and safety conditions and aesthetics before they start their off-campus housing search and selection. The City Building Department is required to inspect every rental unit every two and a half years but is severely taxed to keep up with the volume of units across the City and two and a half years in any event is a long time between mandatory inspections. Students can file a complaint with the Building Department if they believe that their landlord is not satisfactorily completing repairs or is not resolving code violations (See www.off campus.housing.umich.edu/lt/inspection.cfm for specifics of filing a complaint), but the best thing to do is to carefully review the track record of a prospective landlord before signing on the dotted line.

Safety and security