‘I didn’t know what to do’: collapse of providers of high-end digs leaves students in shock
Cost of living crisis and drop in international students hits market for purpose-built accommodation “It was dead in the middle of summer, it was a shock,” says Nathalie Sriwiboonr
By The Guardian
A wave of strain in the purpose-built student accommodation market has left some students facing abrupt upheaval, with one fourth-year Abertay University student saying her landlord went bust while she was back home in Thailand for the summer. Nathalie Sriwiboonrattan said the collapse left her with little time to act before the new academic year began.
Sriwiboonrattan said she was “at home with her family thousands of miles away in Thailand” when she found out the owner of her Scottish studio flat had gone bust. She said: “It was dead in the middle of summer, it was a shock.”
She added: “I was like, my hands are tied. I’m not in the country. I don’t know what to do.”
The student was forced to move quickly to secure new housing for the academic year and paid £850 to have her possessions moved.
The wider backdrop is a market under pressure from the cost of living crisis and a fall in international students, according to the report. It said those pressures have hit providers of high-end student accommodation, leaving some students in an uncertain position just as term time begins.
The report did not identify the exact company behind Sriwiboonrattan’s flat, and no police, council or other local authority action was mentioned in the material provided. It also did not name a specific Cheshire location.
Sriwiboonrattan’s account forms part of a broader story about how the student housing market is being affected by financial pressure and falling demand, with the immediate practical consequence being a scramble for replacement accommodation before the academic year got under way.