The higher education community is catching up with the reality that student housing is a major part of the educational offer. By providing the right learning environment and a stimulating and stable social experience, good quality, affordable and well-managed housing can contribute significantly to students' overall educational experience. However, student accommodation provision has changed. Student housing no longer sits within the control of universities. Private sector involvement used to be confined to shared student housing in the community. Universities, for their part, owned and ran halls of residence. Now, almost half of residences are owned by private providers, working independently or alongside university partners. The number of students living in halls -- or purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) -- is increasing year-on-year. Many universities have adopted a much lower profile in the provision of housing, but increasingly manage portfolios of mixed ownership. A debate has now started about the importance of all accommodation providers in the education process. This debate has been recently spurred on by the Coronavirus pandemic and its effect on the student residential experience. The purpose of this report is to support this debate with a clear, accurate and factual description of what the sector is; how it works; and how it is regulated -- and to do this free of industry spin and strong on fact. This report provides: (1) some key definitions for the student accommodation sector in the United Kingdom (UK); (2) a market overview; and (3) a number of policy options -- these are not intended as a comprehensive menu for change, but to explore some areas where future thoughts could be focussed and outcomes improved. [This report was produced with support from Unipol Student Homes.]