About 200 students at Memorial University of Newfoundland are looking for a place to live even as the school year gets underway.

Officials at the university say the waiting list is the longest they've seen in years.

Among the students who started arriving in the city on the weekend, Aaron McLean of New Brunswick is among 200 on a waiting list for rooms in student housing on campus.

McLean said he's staying with a friend because the room he was promised didn't come through.

"They told me that I just had to stay with her until they could find something that would work for me," McLean said.

The university campus has 1,400 students in residence. Thousands of others stay in nearby off-campus houses and apartments.

With vacancy rates in the city the lowest they've been in years, director of student services Christine Burke said students probably have nowhere to turn.

"I am concerned that students are not going to be able to find the accommodations that they need," Burke said.

The university is holding a housing fair this week, hoping to match some students with landlords who still have places to rent.