Exclusive

Students take gap years and ‘neglect studies’ as survey suggests Edinburgh rents skyrocketed by nearly two thirds in a year

14 November 2024, 12:22 | Updated: 14 November 2024, 12:31

Students take gap years and ‘neglect studies’ as survey suggests Edinburgh rents skyrocketed by nearly two thirds in a year.
Students take gap years and ‘neglect studies’ as survey suggests Edinburgh rents skyrocketed by nearly two thirds in a year. Picture: Alamy

By Rebecca Brady.

A student housing justice group has found nearly three in five students in Scotland’s capital city are worried about where they’re going to live next year, as private rents have risen across the board.

Listen to this article

Loading audio...

SLURP has exclusively shared its annual survey results with LBC, suggesting the average monthly rent in a shared private tenancy is now £690.36 for students across Edinburgh’s four universities – up 10.4% on last year.

Private halls of residence have hiked rents by a massive 64% since last year, taking the average to £1,028 a month.

Heriot-Watt University student Jamie has told LBC he is still staying with friends two months into the academic year because he has struggled to find a lease.

Read more: Alex Salmond's funeral takes place in Aberdeenshire as mourners pay tribute to the 'loved' former SNP leader

Read more: Man arrested after bust of Israeli leader stolen from the University of Manchester and defaced

Heriot-Watt University student Jamie has told LBC he is still staying with friends two months into the academic year.
Heriot-Watt University student Jamie has told LBC he is still staying with friends two months into the academic year. Picture: Alamy

“I have been under pressure to, like, make money so I have been partially neglecting my studies to work more so I can have more money to afford everything,” he said. “Now I’m trying to take a gap year, so I won’t need to be as worried about it next year.”

The non-means tested student loan in Scotland equates to £810 a month. SLURP’s volunteer coordinator Noah Brown has told LBC that leaves students in an impossible position: “That private rental agreement is 85% of your student loan and the private student accommodation one… that’s 126.9% of your student loan, like, just on rent.”

Mr Brown supports the idea of introducing an ‘Edinburgh adjustment’ providing a higher maintenance loan to students studying in the Scottish capital, like that offered to those who study in London.

“I definitely think it would be very beneficial for almost everyone who’s getting a student loan for it to be more,” Jamie agreed. “Because then you wouldn’t just be using it on rent, you’d be able to buy yourself food as well. You’d be a lot less stressed about everything.”

An ‘Edinburgh adjustment’ would provide a higher maintenance loan to students studying in the Scottish capital.
An ‘Edinburgh adjustment’ would provide a higher maintenance loan to students studying in the Scottish capital. Picture: Alamy

Currently, Jamie is considering moving out of Edinburgh to Livingston where rents are lower and travelling in for his lectures. But the reliability of public transport has given him pause.

Mr Brown is urging the Scottish Government to consider students within the new Renters Reform Bill as it’s debated in Holyrood.

“When a student tenant is negotiating a price with a landlord their only other option really is this really expensive private [halls] accommodation, and this allows landlords to charge a higher price because you have no other choice,” he said.

“I don’t want people to view student housing interests as conflicting with the community because, like, we are members of the community and unregulated purpose-built student accommodations raise the rent for everyone.”

In the same survey, 11.8% of respondents said they are ‘very worried’ about where they will live next year, with 47.4% saying they are ‘slightly worried’.

More Latest News

See more More Latest News

Rolf Harris has died aged 93

Paedophile entertainer Rolf Harris died penniless after 'wiping out £16m fortune to make it harder for victims to access'

Exclusive
Captain Sir Tom Moore's daughter Hannah Ingram-Moore

Money 'reasonably expected' to reach Captain Tom's charity never did, commissioner tells LBC

Which? has revealed the best and worst deals for Black Friday. (stock image)

Black Friday 2024: Which? reveals deals to avoid - and the best alternatives

File photo dated 16/04/20 of the then 99-year-old war veteran Captain Tom Moore, with (left to right) grandson Benji, daughter Hannah Ingram-Moore and granddaughter Georgia, at his home in Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire

Salary demands, book payments and a doomed spa block: Key findings of the Captain Tom Foundation inquiry

Captain Tom's daughter is facing questions about a hefty book payment

Captain Tom's daughter faces questions over £1.5m book payment after none of the money went to charity

Captain Tom's daughter Hannah and her husband Colin 'significantly' benefited from the foundation personally

Captain Tom's daughter and her husband saw 'significant personal benefit' from father's charity, inquiry finds

The tourist died in the Patong are of Phuket.

British tourist found dead in Phuket storm drain after going missing on night out

Marcus Fakana, 18, is facing 20-years behind bars.

Brit teenager, 18, facing 20-year jail sentence for 'holiday romance' with 17-year-old girl in Dubai

Taxi driver Urfan Sharif, 42, made the dramatic admission under cross-examination in court today

Sara Sharif begged for forgiveness for 'being rude' in letter to parents, court hears

Simone White, Holly Bowles, Bianca Jones

British tourists 'in hospital with methanol poisoning' after drinking toxic shots in Laos holiday spot

Soldiers from the 13th counter intelligence battalion, 2nd reconnaissance platoon of the Swedish Armed Forces, participate in military exercise in Kungsangen

Britain must learn from Sweden to boost defence as tensions with Russia rise, military chief says

Exclusive
Errol Musk called on Starmer to resign

Elon Musk's father calls on Keir Starmer to resign as he claims Labour have 'sent England back 400 years'

Sky Television HQ

Sky employee dies after 'falling from height' at London headquarters

Halyna Hutchins was shot dead on the set of Rust

Alec Baldwin's Rust film premieres 3 years after cinematographer shot dead - but her mother refuses to come

Schoolgirl, 14, and pensioner, 71, fighting for their lives after van ploughs into crowd of Christmas shoppers

Schoolgirl, 14, and pensioner, 71, left fighting for their lives after van ploughs into crowd of Christmas shoppers

Three men have been arrested after a bomb scare in Glasgow

Three men arrested after bomb scare at bus station