As Scotland’s Housing Emergency has continued to worsen, college and university students have faced increasing challenges when looking for secure and suitable accommodation. Research by the National Union of Students (NUS) highlights some of the major issues affected members, but also points towards a possible partial solution.

According to the NUS ‘Cost of Survival’ report from 2023, significant numbers of students are struggling with housing. The research, which surveyed more than 5000 people, shows that just under 60% of those living in rented accommodation had seen costs go up in the past year, and just over a third had been unable to pay their rent in full at some point. More than one in ten students had been unable to find somewhere to live before their course commenced, and a similar proportion had either experienced homelessness in the past or were, at that time, homeless.

Later that same year, the NUS published a second report – ‘The Cost of Living for International Students’. The Scottish education system is increasingly reliant on the fees paid by overseas students, and this cohort are sometimes assumed to be comfortable as a result of their ability to travel for their studies, but the NUS found that a third of international students had considered leaving their course because of financial difficulties, with many stating that accommodation problems had been a factor. Just under a third had been unable to pay their rent in full at some stage, nearly a fifth hadn’t been able to find accommodation before classes began, and roughly the same percentage had experienced homelessness.

Then, in February of this year, more research arrived in the shape of the ‘Broke Student, Broken System’ report. With chapters on funding, finance, transport, mental health and, of course, housing, this publication argues that “students in Scotland are being let down by a dysfunctional system in which decision making is influenced primarily by market forces rather than student experience, wellbeing, or outcomes.”

The housing section of the report highlights the ‘marketisation of student housing’ with a particular focus on private purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA). According to the authors, the number of PBSA developments has been increasing while other accommodation types, like homes with multiple occupancy, have been “flatlining or decreasing”, with more and more of those PBSA options being a form a “luxury accommodation”. These sorts of developments, say the NUS, are driven by the desire to maximise profits for investors, the vast majority of whom are based overseas.

In additional to the analysis of PBSA provision, the NUS report also shows that student housing costs have risen much faster than both the average inflation rate and the rate of increase in student financial support, meaning that accommodation expenses are taking up an ever-larger proportion of students’ (generally limited) incomes.

As a result of these issues, the NUS says that “securing affordable, decent quality accommodation is one of the biggest challenges for students in Scotland,” and that the problem “has been getting worse in recent years.”

READ MORE

But they also believe that solutions can be found. Just last month, the organisation published a ‘Roadmap to a New Education System’, which it claims “sets out a bold vision for a better system, and better future for Scotland and its students.”

The report states bluntly that “the model of student housing that we are accustomed to just isn’t working”, with students paying the price:

“The idea that a student house is mouldy, cold, dirty, broken down and run by an unhelpful landlord is so embedded in our society that few students question it when the cliché turns into reality. Purpose-built student accommodation was supposed to provide a real alternative, but the sector is dominated by investors who care more about their quarterly returns than the students they are providing homes for.”

The NUS wants to “change the ‘normal’ around student housing”. As well as calling for a ‘rebalancing’ of the sector back towards accommodation that is owned and operated by colleges and universities, they also argue for the establishment of student housing co-operatives across the country. Examples of this approach, though rare in the UK, can be found across the USA and Canada

An expansion in Scottish student housing co-ops could, they believe, be achieved by reviewing and altering the legal landscape to support such a development, establishing an ‘intermediary body’ to support the creation and maintenance of co-op groups, and launching a public information programme to raise awareness of the co-op model.

New NUS Scotland President, Sai Shraddha S. Viswanathan, told The Herald that the problems affected students demand "action and a long-term plan to end student homelessness":

"Our research has found that a shocking 12% of students have experienced homelessness, a rate higher than that of the general population. Disgracefully, that figure rises to 21% among international students. Many more live in accommodation that is overpriced and of poor quality. How are students meant to learn and thrive when we aren’t even guaranteed a roof over our heads?

"The Scottish Government’s upcoming Housing Bill introducing rent controls is a positive development, but desperately needs to be amended to close loopholes which exclude student accommodation from regulation, and strengthened so rent controls actually bring prices down to affordable levels.

"Following this vital first step we also need to see an increase in the supply of social and council homes, and as we laid out in our recent Roadmap report an environment which can foster widespread student housing co-operatives across Scotland.

Right now, Scotland’s housing system puts profit over people and because of this too many students are facing desperate situations. We need both the Scottish and UK Governments to work together and end this emergency now."