Purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) and student housing: research findings

Key Messages

• Student accommodation in Scotland is a complex, interdependent system interacting with local housing systems and communities.
• Student numbers and accommodation demand are rising. However, there are strains emerging from external shocks, such as the Covid-19 pandemic, from internal processes, such as landlord retreat from student housing in the Homes in Multiple Occupation (HMO) private rented sector (PRS), and political risk from ongoing housing and educational policy developments.
• There is considerable variety to be found among student HMO private renting, university-owned PBSA (student halls) and the growing private PBSA sector.
• Student experiences are also varied, in large part because the existing stock of student accommodation dominates total provision and the average quality of this changes slowly.
• Private sector PBSA is market-driven, which evokes a range of divergent perspectives. The sector should approach PBSA in a joined-up way, so that diverging views can be reconciled and compromises sought.
• New PBSA developments continue to move upmarket and, with the signalled decline of mainstream PRS, there needs to be a wider range of accommodation provision. The sector should work together to deliver more mid-range, lower cost PBSA.
• There is limited data on variations in student housing affordability. The sector needs robust and regular, data on students' economic circumstances and the affordability of different types of accommodation throughout Scotland.