Brighton is the fifth most expensive city for students to live.

According to information from a student accomodation website undergraduates are forking out £81.28 - nearly £20 more per week than the national average of £62.61.

The only places more expensive to study are London, where rents reach £104.13, Guildford which averages £87.86, Cambridge where rents are £86.95 and Exeter at £82.66.

The statistics, based on an analysis of rents for 52,000 properties in 73 UK cities and towns, also show that students across the country are paying almost a fifth more for housing than they were five years ago.

In 2004 average rents for student digs were just £52.44 a week.

Simon Thompson, co-founder and director of accommodationforstudents.com, the website which published the research, claimed the cost of halls could determine which university students attend.

He added: "Now that students are accumulating large borrowings to subsidise their study, the cost of accommodation has become a critical factor in their choice of university.”

Tom Wills, the University of Sussex’ Student Union president, said: "Astronomical rents in Brighton are a problem for students and young workers alike. We urgently need more affordable homes and halls of residence to ease the pressure on housing in our city.

“Sadly the government is moving in the opposite direction with the proposed cap on houses in multiple occupation and locally, the recent refusal of planning permission for new halls of residence.

“Such developments mean the housing nightmare for students and people trying to get a start on the property ladder is set to get even worse."

Jane Wilkinson, the past president of Brighton and Hove Estate Agents Association who is Sussex regional director of Leaders rental agents, said she believed the average weekly price was more like £75, but the figure may be increased by those who chose to live in more expensive accommodation.

She said: “Today in Brighton a lot of students aren’t looking at traditional student-type accommodation. They are looking at really nice, expensive properties which may be changing the average price and making it look more expensive.”

She added that due to the economic climate some students were struggling to find properties.

Earlier this year, students at the University of Sussex criticised plans to build 800 ensuite rooms at the Northfield site on the edge of the Falmer campus.

They feared rents in the £30 million block would outstrip the £106 a week paid by some students in Lewes Court, currently the most expensive rooms on campus.