Thousands of students at risk of homelessness amid acute accommodation shortage
Published: 27 September 2024
Research insight
Thousands of students across Scotland are at risk of homelessness and unable to access the right housing in the country’s biggest cities, according to a new report from the UK Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence for a cross party group of MSPs.
It highlights a severe student housing crisis in cities such as Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Dundee, and urges the Scottish Government to take immediate action to address the problem.
The report, produced for the Cross-Party Group on Housing, reveals significant shortfalls in student accommodation, with a deficit of 13,852 bed spaces in Edinburgh, 6,093 in Glasgow, and 6,084 in Dundee.
The acute shortage, coupled with a lack of affordable or accessible housing for students with additional support needs or mature students with families, has left many facing precarious living conditions.
“The Scottish Government declared a housing emergency earlier this year, but students are often left out of the conversation,” said Graham Simpson MSP, convenor of the Cross-Party Group on Housing.
“We have come up with a set of recommendations for the government that are clear and challenging. These include the need for a collaborative approach to student housing, more robust data on student accommodation, and the integration of student housing into local housing strategies.”
The report, co-authored by CIH Scotland, the University of Glasgow-led UK Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence (CaCHE), the University of Stirling, StudentCrowd, the Edinburgh Student Housing Co-operative (ESHC) and Slurp Edinburgh (Students for Action on Homelessness), also stresses the importance of city-wide one-stop shops that would guide students to suitable and affordable accommodation, an initiative that could help alleviate some of the pressure on housing markets in major student cities.
“The issue of student housing can be contentious as developers compete for prized land and local residents may feel pushed out due to lack of affordable housing supply,” said Ashley Campbell, policy and practice manager, CIH Scotland. “The challenge for government, local authorities and universities is to work together more proactively to ensure that everyone can access a home to meet their needs and that students can find their place within existing communities.”
Lawrence Williams of Slurp Edinburgh added: “From hidden homelessness to unaffordable rents, students in Scotland face a range of housing issues that have long been overlooked by policy-makers and universities. This report is a promising first step towards recognising the crisis and identifying structural barriers to student housing security. We urgently need bold measures like rent controls, cooperative student housing, and guaranteed emergency accommodation for homeless students.”
This report was published on the Scottish Housing News webpage.
First published: 27 September 2024
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