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UT students continue camping outside for apartments as Knoxville's occupancy rate climbs above 98%

Students continue to set up tents and chairs outside popular apartments in hopes of securing a lease for the next school year.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — It all started Sunday afternoon when students began lining the streets in front of popular downtown apartment complexes. Pitching tents, and lounging in lawn chairs, students showed their determination to secure housing for the 2023-2024 school year. 

Although the first day isn't for ten months, some apartments within walking distance of the University of Tennessee campus are nearly sold out.

According to some students, it's a competitive process to get nearby housing. The line for leasing at TENN apartments stretched from the door, all the way down the block. Some students got there as early as 5:30 p.m. on Sunday night to wait for the leasing office to open at 10 a.m. on Monday.

The same thing happened to students trying to live at an apartment complex called The Standard off Cumberland Avenue. Students said in order to get a lease, they had to be there at noon Monday with "everyone they would be living with, or it was no deal."

"We had to camp out here for two days!" UT sophomore Shelby Savitzu said. "We were swapping out shifts for 48 hours!"

Luckily, she and her roommate got a spot on the list and signed their lease Tuesday, but UT sophomores Savitzu and Madeline Waite said this lease costs them more than money.

"It was a lot but we are survivors and we signed our lease and it is all done. Bless," Savitzu said. 

The sudden craze is becoming a trend. Camps like these have spanned miles over sidewalks downtown and becoming noticed. Apartments like Society 865 opened lease signing opportunities today and employees said they avoided campers by making the process online only. 

Hancen Sale with the Knoxville Area Association of Realtors said Knoxville's occupancy rate is over 98% and that a healthy occupancy rate sits at about 94%.

"In some ways, it opens some people's eyes to the challenges that we're facing," Sale said. "Certainly it's hard to afford a place to live right now but it's also really hard to find a place to live so it's a growing problem."

People appear to be paying high prices. Just a few months ago - the average cost of a one-bedroom apartment in Knoxville was about $1,200. Apartments at the University Walk are sold out and cost nearly $1,184 per person in a four-bedroom apartment. That's nearly $4,800 a month total for a 1,380-square-foot apartment. 

"It's a problem that provides every part of our county, whether it be downtown, or out west or out east. We don't have enough housing across the board," sale said. 

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