Students currently tied to a contract in halls of residence or other purpose built student accommodation would be able to give seven days’ notice before ending their lease.

Subject to Parliament’s approval of the legislation, new agreements entered into by students while the new Bill is in force will also have a ‘28-day-notice to leave’ period.

This measure will ensure that if students entering into accommodation contracts for the next academic year are unable to take them up due to COVID-19 restrictions, they will be able to give notice and not be held liable for accommodation they cannot use.

Constitution secretary Michael Russell said: “To reduce the spread of this terrible virus, many students have returned to their family homes for the duration of the lockdown but are still paying for their term-time accommodation.

“During this time of great uncertainty and financial hardship for many, these proposals would relieve a significant extra financial burden on students. Introducing a 28 day notice period for contracts entered into during the lifetime of this Act, recognises the uncertainly around the impact of ongoing lockdown measures, as well as providing the same rights as for those students renting in the mainstream private rented sector.

“We continue to press the UK Government to recognise the impact the pandemic is having on the higher education sector and for appropriate financial support to be made available to Scottish institutions.”

The Scottish Government intends to introduce the Coronavirus (Scotland) (No.2) Bill to Parliament on today, with publication also today.

These provisions apply only to students living in halls of residence or purpose built student accommodation.

Under the Bill’s provisions, students would be able to give seven days’ notice to leave contracts they are currently still liable for. For those entering into new accommodation contracts during the lifetime of the Bill, a 28-day notice period would apply. Students would only be able to use notice periods for COVID-19 specific reasons and, for example, could not give notice simply because they have changed their mind about attending an education establishment.

• Read all of our articles relating to COVID-19 here.