Students 'begging' letting agents for flats

Hundreds of Scottish university students have been begging letting agents to accept their bids on flats amid a major accommodation crisis.

One firm told the BBC it was being inundated on a daily basis with people crying, unable to find somewhere to live.

Some students have been using hostels and sleeping on common room floors, while others face long commutes.

NUS Scotland said the crisis was forcing people to quit courses.

Universities Scotland said "a significant contraction in the private rented sector in many Scottish cities" meant that higher education institutions were seeing "unprecedented demand for university accommodation".

Chief executive officer of letting agency Pacitti Jones, John O'Malley, told BBC Scotland: "We are still receiving hundreds of applications for anything we put up. It's an absolute nightmare and it's unmanageable.

"They phone us up desperate. They are upset, they are offering six months upfront, they are offering that money without viewing it, which we can't allow. It's a really horrible situation."

Mr O'Malley blamed a combination of rising student numbers and an estimated 40% drop in private rental properties compared to pre-pandemic levels.

It comes as Edinburgh University provided bunkbeds in a converted common room inside halls of residence due to a shortage of available flats.

The university described the conditions facing students as a "short-term option" to assist while a permanent solution was fixed.

Phoebe Chellew, a third year Edinburgh student, slept on the floor in Pollock Halls after spending the summer trying to find a flat.

The 24-year-old, who has now secured longer-term accommodation, said: "It was really cramped, no privacy at all. It was right next door to the freshers common room.

"There was nowhere to study and I feel like I fell behind because you would come back to the common room and people would be chatting."

Her flatmate Fiona Williamson, a fourth year student, told BBC Scotland: "It was draining. You can't just get up and turn the light on.

"We had to walk through corridors, in our towels, to get to the showers."

A spokesperson for the University of Edinburgh said all students who met the requirements of its accommodation guarantee had now been offered a place in residences.

"We provided temporary accommodation within our halls of residences for some students who didn't fall within our accommodation guarantee. This was short-term and students who took up this option were offered a permanent room at the university," the spokesperson added.

"All students have since moved into permanent university-managed or private accommodation."

Glasgow University students were told to consider deferring or even withdrawing from their studies if they were unable to find somewhere to live.

BBC Scotland has seen an email in which the university told one second-year student it "may be more appropriate for you to suspend your studies or withdraw".

The National Union of Students (NUS) has described the escalating accommodation crisis as "absolutely huge" and suggested landlords were turning to lucrative holiday lets.

The body also blamed a lack of available, affordable halls of residence.

The Scottish government is currently carrying out a review of purpose-built student accommodation.

The NUS also said it was still hearing of students pulling out of college and university places across Scotland as a direct result of the shortages.

Ellie Gomersal, NUS president, said: "This is heart-breaking. Going to university for the first time should be the most exciting time, instead it's being filled with stress and worry.

"We do need to see those guarantees from universities that if they are increasing the number of places for students then they are also increasing the provision of quality, affordable housing."

Claire Hopkins, 21, from Larne in Northern Ireland, is in the final year of her course at Glasgow Caledonian University.

After struggling to find a place in university accommodation and faced with "ridiculous" prices in the private renting sector, she asked the university to reschedule her classes so they all happen on the same day each week.

She is now flying over to Glasgow every Sunday, spending the night in a hotel, and flying back on a Monday evening after classes.

She told BBC Scotland: "That's on top of having a part-time job, which I know will become exhausting and draining half way through the semester.

"With the stress already of exams and coursework, and a dissertation to do as well, now flying and making sure I make classes adds to the pressure and anxiety of it all."

Erin Henderson, a fourth year primary teaching student, eventually found a flat in Glasgow after beginning the hunt in June.

She describes the challenge of applying for flats with ninety others also interested.

Ms Henderson, who spoke to the BBC as she was moving her belongings in to her flat, said: "I have finally got one but it's not the best moving in in October during term time.

"It's been such a faff trying to find something. I'm paying more than I would want to. There's just not enough of if there is then it's not affordable."

A spokesman for Universities Scotland said: "We agree with NUS Scotland that every student should have a safe and affordable place to live.

"We are also fully engaged with the Scottish government's review of purpose-built student accommodation, to help further strengthen this as part of the mix of available accommodation."