Scottish Government urged to enforce student accommodation rights

Scottish Greens education spokesperson Ross Greer has called for clarity over student rights to terminate leases, after it emerged that many students are struggling to pay for accommodation they cannot use.

A new survey by NUS Scotland reveals a quarter of students have been unable to pay their rent in recent months, and one in seven feel locked into tenancy agreements they cannot get out of.

During the passage of the two emergency Coronavirus Scotland Acts in mid-2020, the Greens secured a new right for tenants in student accommodation, the right to terminate their lease with 28 days’ notice. This standard notice period was previously available to all other private tenants but not to those in student accommodation.

Responding, Ross Greer said:

“When passing new emergency laws last year, the Greens ensured students would have the right to end their leases early if they were leaving their accommodation due to covid-related disruption. Despite this now being the law, many student accommodation providers are still trying to trap their students into paying for a room they are not returning to.

“The NUS have provided the Scottish Government with guidance which could be used to explain this new law and how students can use it. Ministers now need to explain why, in the face of so many private providers attempting to trap their students like this, they have chosen not to adopt this guidance and actually enforce the law as we wrote it last year.”