Students are being forced to pay hundreds of pounds in rent for flats they are barred from living in. Sign our petition to cancel student rent.
Despite months of warnings and repeated calls from student groups, the Scottish Government allowed students across Scotland to travel to other areas for the festive break without a clear plan for students returning to campus. It was announced on January 8th, with just three days’ notice before teaching resumed, that the phased return of students to term-time accommodation was being delayed with most students being “unlikely to be permitted to travel back to term-time accommodation before the beginning of March”. From the summer until now, universities and colleges have been pressuring students to live in term-time accommodation and halls with the promise of face-to-face teaching starting soon, when all of the evidence went against this message. Students are left paying the bill for institutions’ incompetence, landlords’ greed and the Scottish Government’s inaction. If they are serious about supporting students and stopping the spread of coronavirus, the Scottish Government will step in and cancel rent for private student halls and private lets, and demand students in institution-provided accommodation get the same rent cancellation, until they return to term-time accommodation for in-person teaching. Students have been paying the cost of poor decision making throughout the pandemic, unfairly blamed at every turn, and are amongst the most affected by exploitative landlordism.
Now is the time for the Scottish Government to stand up for students and stop protecting the income of landlords - sign our petition to cancel student rent.
Background:
Students tenants unions across Scotland are calling on the Scottish Government to cancel student rent: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeVWt5pEEZBcBBt0kAXXsIQiJ53PkgOhsSDJ01oB27PhcLlNg/viewform
The First Minister announced the change to student travel rules on the 8th of January: https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-update-first-ministers-statement-8-january-2021/
The NUS Scotland President Matt Crilly has backed calls for the Scottish Government to cancel student rent: https://twitter.com/MCrilly/status/1347624939151650816?s=20