Thursday June 19th 2025
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Joe Sullivan
New student housing blocks in the capital should be banned over fears of an oversupply, according to an Edinburgh councillor.
Over 20,000 beds exist in private student halls in the city, and new projects are regularly being approved.
But SNP councillor Danny Aston says the private student halls sector is likely in a bubble, and that the city should look to stem the damage before it bursts.
He has put forward a motion to Thursday’s full Edinburgh Council meeting, calling for a moratorium on new purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) projects.
Cllr Aston said: “The developers don’t seem to see the bursting of the bubble coming. There’s plenty of evidence that it’s either just started to happen or will happen soon.
“There have been recent applications, recent decisions. They’re acting as if none of the issues are really happening.
“I’m concerned by the time they really start to bite, Edinburgh will have been disfigured by a whole bunch of white elephant developments that the operators can’t fill.”
Glasgow City Council had an effective moratorium on new PBSA projects between 2019 and 2021, preventing many new projects from starting construction.
Cllr Aston wants councillors to compile a report exploring options for a moratorium, looking to the ban implemented in Glasgow for inspiration.
New PBSA developments are still restricted in parts of the city by planning rules.
PBSA projects are generally targeted at wealthier international students, with their high monthly rents adding a bar to entry for many.
In Edinburgh’s private student housing blocks, prices often start at £800 or £900 per month for a room in a shared flat, and climb higher for studio flats.
Cllr Aston continued: “The higher education sector clearly has financial issues. Edinburgh universities are not going to be immune to that.
“The other aspect directly affecting [the PBSA market] is that we’re moving into a more troubled phase in terms of international relations. Relations with China in particular are becoming cooler.
“Chinese students, for a number of years, formed a very big part of the demand for PBSA in Edinburgh, particularly one year masters students, which is a big part of the market.
“And a lot of developers build specifically for that.”
Edinburgh locals have long been speaking out about the proliferation of student housing blocks in the city, with many new projects receiving dozens of planning objections.
A recent application to build a new PBSA block in Dalry saw locals strike out, with 7 student housing blocks already operating within 500 metres of the site.
At the time, law student Xander Lyons told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “We have too many [PBSA blocks]. There’s so many student housing buildings around here, we’ve got Orwell Terrace and Bainfield, and then IQ.
“It seems like every time there’s a new development planned, it’s student flats. If they were affordable, then great, but they’re not.
“You’re quite often sharing with eight other people, and you’re paying 800, maybe 900 pounds a month. It’s not going to help the housing crisis.”
And continuing student flats development in Jock’s Lodge has drawn anger, with one application last year drawing over 1,000 objections.
Two pubs and a popular local takeaway are in the firing line of the new development, which would host 191 student beds.
But despite the objections, both projects were approved, as they lined up with the city’s development guidelines.
Cllr Aston said his motion was aimed at giving the city legroom to tackle the issue, saying: “What I’m proposing in my motion is to buy some time.
“Give us some space to work out what the impact of the financial challenges and the international context are going to be for higher education.”
He said he was unaware of why the Glasgow moratorium ended, but that if his motion is passed, he would want the report to include this.
If Cllr Aston’s motion is passed, council officers would return to the city’s Planning Committee by September.
The motion will be discussed at the next full meeting of Edinburgh Council, set to take place on Thursday, 19 June, which can be viewed here.
Tweet Share on Facebook
