Students already facing the highest accommodation fees in Scotland are to see their expenses increase as they will soon have to pay for water.
Scottish Water has begun levying water charges on all university and college halls of residence.
The move, which the utility company says rectifies a long-running misunderstanding, has angered students at St Andrews University who say it will amount to a 2% increase in rent.
It is also being opposed by the university itself, which says the estimated £300,000-a-year bill would impact on teaching and research if absorbed by the institution.
Annual fees for the most expensive halls in St Andrews are around £7000 and over the course of a four-year degree, a 2% water charge would add £560 at current rates.
Student association president Freddie Fforde said: “This cost is being passed on to students which will result in around an additional 2% on hall fees.
“Student rents at St Andrews and elsewhere rise each year beyond inflation to cope with refurbishment and redevelopment works and another 2% hundreds of pounds is just not feasible or morally justifiable.”
The university voiced its “fundamental” disagreement with what it said was the reversal of an earlier decision to exempt student acccommodation from water charges.
A university spokesman said: “This is a regrettable national issue and not a decision we welcome. The sudden imposition and magnitude of these charges comes at a time when many students’ finances are already under pressure.”
A Scottish Water spokesman said: “There has been no change in the classification of university or college halls of residence in terms of water and waste water service charges.
“There was a historical misunderstanding of how these sorts of properties should be billed and, as a result, a number of people within and outwith the water industry have wrongly believed that such properties enjoy exemption from charging.
“This has led to the situation where some of these properties are correctly in charge, some haven’t been in charge and some have had their charges cancelled and refunded in error by the licensed provider due to the misunderstanding.
“Scottish Water is rectifying this to ensure that all such properties are brought into charge where charges have not been correctly levied, with effect from April 1 2013.”