Hostels and commutes for students in housing crisis

Students in Stirling are the latest in Scotland to be hit by an accommodation crisis, with some having to make daily trips from Glasgow to attend lectures.

One student told BBC Scotland he is sharing a room in a hostel while he tries to find a flat.

Another said a landlord asked him to take part in a blind bidding process, due to the volume of interest.

The student union blames the lack of suitable private accommodation coupled with a larger influx of students.

Flat-hunters are also competing with students from Glasgow, where there are similar housing issues, who are now looking for homes in Stirling.

The University of Stirling said it was "committed to exploring long-term sustainable solutions" to the problem it described as a national issue.

Alec Smith, 22, has just started a postgraduate degree in publishing studies at the University of Stirling.

Unable to find a place to stay, he is sharing a room with four strangers at Stirling Youth Hostel. He said flat hunting was stressful.

"Everything's either absurdly expensive or inquired about by as many as 30 people," he said.

"I went to a flat viewing on Monday during which I learned that one of the other people viewing the same flat is actually a Glasgow University student who is so desperate for a place that she's looking as far afield as Stirling."

Mr Smith is from Aberdeenshire, so commuting from his family home isn't an option.

He added: "It's disheartening. Given that the pandemic is over and classes are in person now, there's no option to study remotely either - I've got to be in Stirling in person."

Eve Morris, a third year psychology and sport student, is travelling from Glasgow to get to her classes.

"It's been a horrible experience," she said. "We started looking at the start of summer, but a lot of landlords don't want to rent to students or the flats go really quickly.

"I'm in pretty much everyday for classes or netball practice at 7am. I know people have found it extra tough this year to find somewhere."

Ms Morris is looking for a flat with three other students, who are currently commuting from their family homes in Lenzie, Milngavie and Fife.

She added: "It has impacted us socially. We want to be able to go out for socials but you have nowhere to stay. You feel like you're missing out a bit."

Matty Millar, a fourth year sociology student, has spent the summer looking for accommodation he could share with his girlfriend and some friends.

They had hoped to move in at the start of the autumn term.

"There was either nothing or if we found something, it was gone within an hour," he said.

"We managed to get a viewing for one place and the landlord sat us down and said last year people offered to pay more and asked if we would be happy to do the same.

"We said yes and a couple of days later, an email went round saying they were doing a blind bid for the flat. At that point, we just backed out."

Mr Millar is still staying with his parents in Glasgow while he looks for for somewhere to stay. He has to get a train and a bus to his classes in Stirling everyday.

Masters student Jamie McDiarmid accepted a back-up room in university accommodation after he was unable to find a private flat to rent with two friends.

"Anytime a flat came on the market, it was gone within a day or two," he said.

"We once booked a viewing and then the agent cancelled it within hours as the flat had been let out.

"At one point, three full weeks went by and nothing we were looking for came up. I've never seen it this bad.

"In just a year it's changed so much, I think a lot of landlords are taking their properties off the market.

"The university hasn't helped the situation by increasing student numbers."

It's an issue that is familiar to Jess Reid, Stirling University Student Union's vice president for communities.

"We have a lot of returning students who lived at home during Covid and made the decision to come back and there's just not enough private accommodation to keep up with student numbers," she said.

"University accommodation still has spaces, but it's difficult for students who are perhaps in third and fourth year and looking for private accommodation and not getting anywhere.

"There's always a rush towards August to get flats once offers are confirmed. But this year in particular there's been a bigger rush than usual."

She said Glasgow University students were moving into purpose-built student accommodation in Stirling, because of housing problems in that city.

"Obviously that creates a difficulty for us because then Stirling students can't access that," she added. And she pointed to a cap on houses of multiple occupancy (HMOs) in the city.

"Student numbers have grown in the last couple of years but we've noticed the impact this year because the HMO cap has remained the same in the city," she said. "I think our HMO cap is particularly low for a city that relies on its student population."

The University of Stirling said it was working with Stirling Council and the students' union to find a long-term solution to the issue.

"Against this backdrop, we continue to offer our students a variety of competitively priced university-managed accommodation, ensuring there are options for every budget," a spokeswoman said.

The spokeswoman also said all first-year undergraduates who live more than 20 miles from the university are guaranteed a place in university accommodation.

She encouraged anyone struggling to get in touch with the student support and accommodation teams.