Among the notable results was the finding that more than a quarter (26%) had difficulties paying their rent in full, with this figure rising to a third (34%) among students in Scotland, and over a third (36%) said the process of securing a guarantor caused them a great deal of stress.

NUS conducted the research in the context of a mass campaign from the student movement across the UK against discriminatory practices, extortionate rents, poor conditions and other inequities in the housing system which are causing hardship, distress and suffering.

Student campaigners have been calling to make it illegal for landlords to require tenants to have a UK-based guarantor who either owns property or earns over a certain amount of money. The research results released today reveal 60% of student renters were required to have a guarantor and 40% of respondents found the process of securing one difficult. Difficulties and stress caused by the guarantor requirement were particularly prevalent amongst international and low-income students, who generally do not have access to the same funds or security net that others may.

Another key finding from the research was that 84% of student renters reported encountering issues with their housing, including 48% who have experienced mould or mildew, 44% issues with heating or cooling, and 20% with pest infestations.

Housing costs were confirmed as a continuing problem for students and apprentices with over a third of students (36%) indicating they have difficulty paying their housing costs. Almost 40% of those report going without heating, and 17% have used a foodbank, with this figure rising to 19% among respondents in Scotland.

Lastly, over a third (38%) of students in Scotland said that they didn’t feel part of their community, indicating the isolating nature of the current student housing system.

As students and apprentices in Scotland rally outside the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh calling for the Scottish Government to include them in upcoming housing regulations, it is only fitting that these survey results are now released.

Last month, leaders from more than 50 students’ unions across the UK came together at Westminster to meet MPs for an NUS National Lobby Day to discuss the issue of student housing and raise the significant impact guarantor requirements have on students.

NUS Scotland president Sai Shraddha S. Viswanathan said: “Today myself, students and apprentices from across Scotland will be rallying outside the parliament in Holyrood to ensure that the Scottish Government doesn’t leave us out in the cold.

“The housing bill being debated is a strong first step to tackling Scotland’s housing emergency but there are currently loopholes and blind spots which disadvantage students and apprentices and risk undermining the bill’s effectiveness.

“As we unveil the full results of NUS’ housing research, we are hopeful that politicians will take heed of the harm failing to abolish guarantors or to regulate student accommodation will have.

“If the Scottish Government wants to demonstrate that they truly care about the wellbeing of students and apprentices, they must listen to our calls and fix student housing.

“When rent and housing costs are so unaffordable that after paying them almost a fifth of students are having to resort to using foodbanks there is no excuse for us to be treated as an afterthought.”

NUS president Amira Campbell, added: “The results of this research lay bare what we sadly already knew, students and apprentices across the UK are suffering at the hands of a housing system predicated on exploitation and profit extraction. 

“We should be ashamed as a society that we are allowing policies like the requirement for a UK-based guarantor to stand as a barrier in the way of our most vulnerable students having a safe and secure place to live.

“Our country’s unfair and inequitable housing system is limiting students and apprentices from feeling part of their communities. We need urgent action from the UK Government, and devolved governments in all the nations across the UK, to fix this system and help student renters.”