Living Rent demonstration Edinburgh. Source: Living Rent
Pressure is continuing to mount on Edinburgh City Council to clamp down on building new “ridiculously expensive” student flats – but now it looks like campaigners are being listened to.
It’s after a coalition of protest groups led by the Living Rent union held a public meeting in March to discuss the amount of purpose-built student accommodation (PBSAs) in the city.
“The proliferation of student housing has crowded out the space for other housing and pushed up rents in the city. There is an idea on the face of it that this accommodation will alleviate demand pressure from students, but it doesn’t work like that,” according to Jamie Mackay, a member of the Living Rent PBSA campaign team.
The group blames the for-profit model of PBSAs for contributing to an overpriced rental market and exacerbating the housing emergency which was declared by Edinburgh Council in 2023.
According to Living Rent, the inflated prices of PBSAs are distorting the market value for properties within the city. And because the market value is used by rent officers to judge whether a rent increase set by a landlord is fair, Living Rent argue that the high prices of PBSAs are contributing to unaffordable rent increases.
Now, the Convenor of the Edinburgh City Council Housing Committee, Cllr Tim Pogson, has acknowledged the damaging impact of PBSAs and has promised to take action against future PBSA developments in Edinburgh.
He said: “We are all aware of the impact of PBSAs – none of us here likes PBSAs. They are done purely as a financial project. They are not affordable and no-one is advocating for it. We either have PBSAs or affordable housing and I am absolutely committed to affordable housing.”
Students in Edinburgh PBSAs are paying an inflated rate for a single room, averaging £1200 a month. This is over £100 greater than the average price for a 1-bedroom flat in and contributes to an inflated market value for local rentals.
Quarterly statistics for rental prices in Edinburgh. Source: Citylets
Living rent has also argued that PBSAs are not addressing the needs of students. Member of Living Rent, Aishu Madduri, said:
“The situation for student residence here in Edinburgh is actually quite bleak. The rent for PBSAs is ridiculously expensive. I moved to Edinburgh as a student in 2016 and the situation has only got worse.”
The union argue that with such high prices rooms, PBSAs are too expensive for many students and therefore failing to address the demand for student accommodation.
In a report conducted by Edinburgh City Council, it was found that 80% of students still struggle to find housing, citing cost and affordability as the main reason.
Such unaffordability has affected student homelessness, according to Edinburgh student homeless charity SLURP. In a survey conducted by the charity, 15.9% of 1,350 respondents said they had nowhere to call home at the beginning of the 2023/25 academic year.
The Edinburgh University Student Association (EUSA) has linked this student homelessness and economic struggle to the high prices of rent for PBSAs.
“PBSA offerings are heavily skewed to the expensive end. The maximum student support in Scotland this year is £7625. PBSA is very unaffordable for students, particularly those from a disadvantaged background”, a spokesperson said.
In response to these accusations, a spokesperson for one of the largest student accommodation providers in the UK, Unite Students, said:
“Professionally managed, purpose-built homes with on-site support and maintenance teams represent a meaningfully higher standard of housing than much of the unregulated private rental sector.”
“The all-inclusive PBSA rents – covering bills, Wi-Fi, security, maintenance and on-site support – are frequently comparable in total costs to shared private rental accommodation once all bills are factored in.”
However, Living Rent have also pointed to the fact that students in PBSAs are not afforded the same tenancy rights that are enjoyed by those in normal tenancies.
Students in PBSAs have no access to the First Tier Housing Tribunal to resolve disputes and must instead use the Ombudsman. Unlike the First Tier Housing Tribunal, outcomes from the Ombudsman are only recommendations and are not enforceable. This means that students have no easily accessible legal route to file complaints or challenge changes to their tenancy. The National Union of Students addressed the issue, saying:
“Students deserve tenancy rights. Basic rights. And that extends into loads of areas of purpose-built student accommodation. So, students are often dealing with really poor housing conditions. it’s a complicated process if you ever want to really challenge this. Because you don’t have rights, you know there’s no tribunals”, a spokesperson said.
Ahead of the Scottish parliamentary elections, Living Rent will be holding a hustings on Thursday 16th April to debate the issues surrounding PBSAs and the general housing crisis.
For more information visit their website: Living Rent Edinburgh Hustings – Living Rent
