Friday May 22nd 2026
Edinburgh City Chamber
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Kirsty Paterson
Campaigning students told Edinburgh councillors that they have “had enough of developers profiting off our housing needs”, as they supported a call to tackle a student housing crisis in the city.
Student Abbie spoke at a meeting of the City of Edinburgh Council to tell them that “purpose built student accommodation doesn’t work for students – we need affordable housing, too”.
She was speaking in support of a motion by SNP councillor Danny Aston, who said the students’ deputation showed the extent of the crisis.
Privately owned purpose built student accommodation (PSBA) projects have become more and more common across Edinburgh, but Cllr Aston told members that they are becoming increasingly unaffordable, with rents now around £1400 a month or more.
His motion, he said, would look at insisting that all PSBA developments provide the same amount of affordable homes that other developers currently have to.
This has already been introduced in Mayor Sadiq Khan in London, said Cllr Aston, where at least 35 per cent of bedspaces must be secured as ‘Affordable Student Accommodation’, increasing to 50 per cent if the development is on public sector land or industrial land.
Cllr Aston also called for the private developers behind PBSA to have to pay business rates.
“The operators are making very large profit margins here,” he said. “Almost every other business is subject to business rates, so isn’t it fair that PBSA should be as well?”
He said that the advantages meant that developers would be drawn to PBSA rather than mainstream housing, “which our city is in dire need of”.
The students from Slurp – students for action on homelessness, based at the University of Edinburgh – told councillors that they are also concerned that PBSA is not only pushing up rents for students, but also for tenants across the city.
They also condemned the “lack of tenants’ rights” in PBSA properties, saying students are being left at risk of unsafe conditions and eviction in the summer months.
Abbie said: “As students, we’ve had enough of developers profiting off our housing needs. We’ve had enough of the council facilitating this.”
The SNP motion was not supported, with votes going in favour of an amendment from the Labour administration, who said the issue was already being considered by council officers who have done an “extensive level of work”.
Their motion agreed that council officers will brief members of the Planning Committee on how an affordable tenure policy along the lines of that implemented in the London Plan, might be implemented in Edinburgh.
A plea from the Green group to widen the scope to include affordable student housing co-operatives was also accepted.
Cllr Ben Parker, Edinburgh Greens housing spokesperson, said,: “The existing student housing co-op in Edinburgh is a fantastic asset for the city, and we want to see its success replicated.
“Student housing co-ops offer affordable rents and management structures which prioritise the wellbeing of tenants and the wider community.”
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