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For my understanding, can I check whether the minister is suggesting engagement with the review group with a view to the Government lodging amendments at stage 3?

Does the minister recognise that student loans are used for income in other areas?

Do the minister and the Government recognise that the work that he has outlined still results in a less-than-strategic approach to the ratio of residential accommodation, affordable accommodation and cross-tenure accommodation to purpose-built student accommodation within each area, and that a strategy could bring some coherence to that?

As we heard this morning, students as a group have been adversely affected and impacted by the current housing emergency. In fact, figures from NUS Scotland show that 12 per cent of students in Scotland have experienced homelessness while studying. We have just heard from my colleague Jeremy Balfour about how we in the Parliament want to ensure that people can study because of their ability, not their ability to pay. That is incredibly important.

For those who are in student accommodation, it has become increasingly unaffordable, insecure and poor quality. Students cannot learn properly if they do not have warm, secure and affordable homes to live in. That is why I lodged my amendments on student tenancies and accommodation.

Amendment 537, on pre-tenancy requirements and student funding, was lodged because landlords can refuse to rent to students, and some express preferences based on the source of student income, such as loans or student grants. That can create challenges for students who are seeking housing, especially those who rely on student loans or who have limited income. Amendment 537 would require Scottish ministers to introduce regulation to provide student funding with equal status to other forms of income for the purposes of pre-tenancy checks. The purpose of the amendment is to ensure that students are not discriminated against based on the source of their funding, and that they can secure housing in the same way as non-students can.

Amendment 541 is on the power to enable tenants to terminate student residential tenancies—I know that other members have an interest in that, too. Students are not currently defined as tenants under the Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act 2016 if they live in private purpose-built student accommodation or halls of residence.

Purpose-built student accommodation is exempt from several tenancy regulations and, instead, falls under common law. Most notably, students can struggle with the 28-day notice period in certain circumstances. Student accommodation continues to operate on a fixed-term lease, which is practical for the academic year. However, students sometimes have valid reasons to leave their leases but often find it very difficult to do so, and the system gives providers a strong upper hand. For example, students who are on an interruption of study do not have the choice to end their lease in a private PBSA without incurring costs or being required to find a replacement student. The same is the case for students who withdraw from their studies.

Amendment 541 would give Scottish ministers the power to provide, where necessary, for a student residential tenancy to be terminated by a tenant in the same manner as a private residential tenancy may be terminated by the tenant under part 5 of the 2016 act. The purpose of the amendment is to ensure that students in PBSAs can end their contracts with the student accommodation provider if they withdraw from or take an interruption from their studies without incurring any financial losses or emotional distress as a result of their decision.

I turn to amendment 474, which is on a purpose-built student accommodation charter. Purpose-built student accommodation rent typically costs 30 per cent to 50 per cent more than the average rent in any given area. In fact, rent for PBSAs increased by more than 34 per cent between 2018 and 2021, which is much higher than the rate of inflation. It means that PBSAs are often financially inaccessible to students from low-income backgrounds, particularly those from the 20 per cent most deprived areas according to the Scottish index of multiple deprivation. As a result, some students are left with no choice but to travel long distances from their family homes, to face homelessness or to experience unsuitable housing situations. Furthermore, increased prices for PBSAs do not always reflect a higher standard of accommodation. An NUS report pointed out that the quality of student accommodation can affect students’ mental health and wellbeing and, in turn, their ability to study.

Amendment 474 would require Scottish ministers to publish a purpose-built student accommodation charter within 12 months of the act coming into force. I am aware that the Scottish Government is working with universities and Universities Scotland to look at practice and codes in that area, but I am keen to see what can be done through legislation to set out a statutory right to and responsibility for such a charter. It would set out

“the purpose of purpose-built student accommodation ... the rights and responsibilities of landlords and tenants under a student residential tenancy”

and

“the processes for dispute resolution”.

It could also include the standards and outcomes that landlords should aim to achieve. The amendment aims to ensure that landlords and tenants are aware of the purpose of such accommodation. It is for the Government to set out, via regulation, that the premise is to ensure that PBSAs are affordable, accessible, safe and connected.

My amendment 475 is about introducing a purpose-built student accommodation strategy. Since 2015, PBSAs have made up 28 per cent of approvals for accommodation across Glasgow alone. That is in spite of the fact that students make up only 18.5 per cent of the city’s population. Students and residents across all areas, cities and regions in Scotland need accommodation. However, not all students want purpose-built student accommodation and residents need a wide range of affordable housing options to be available to them, too.

Amendment 475 would require ministers to prepare a purpose-built student accommodation strategy that sets out ministers’ objectives with regard to purpose-built student accommodation, their plans for meeting those objectives and arrangements for monitoring progress towards them. The strategy could include aims for the ratio of student residential tenancies to other types of tenancy, as well as the Government’s view on the role of PBSAs within the available housing stock. My amendment sets out that, in preparing the strategy, ministers would be required to consult higher education institutions, local authorities, representatives of students and, crucially, non-students and residents in local areas. Ministers would be required to lay the charter and strategy before the Scottish Parliament. The purpose of the amendment is to ensure that a more strategic approach is taken to the provision of different housing tenures in any local authority area.

Amendment 556 is a consequential amendment to amendment 537.

Like me, are you faced with a very difficult circumstance, which is to try to press an amendment at stage 2, which may or may not carry the support of the committee, without knowing the position of the Government?

Does the minister recognise that members will have done some of that engagement?

Okay.

If they are recognised as income for other areas, why not for this one?

For clarity, can I check whether the minister is, in principle, supportive of a charter and a strategy on purpose-built student accommodation?

My question is similar to the one about timescales. What I am hearing in relation to a number of amendments is the need for consultation with the review group. I have to say that I share Ross Greer’s concern, if that is the right word—I do not want to put words in my colleague’s mouth—that we are not hearing that we should consult the review group on lodging stage 3 amendments that do the same thing, albeit with some specific changes. I again ask the minister whether the Government is prepared to lodge an amendment at stage 3 that looks to address the student loan income issue that we have been discussing.