A student housing company has been branded exploitative and shameful after demanding rent payments until summer.
Unlike other accommodation providers, Hello Student is continuing to charge tenants who have been forced to vacate due to the coronavirus crisis.
Green MSP Mark Ruskell has slammed the company’s “unjust” approach and demanded it think again.
The Mid Scotland and Fife MSP said the UK’s largest provider, Unite Students, had allowed tenants to break early from their contracts.
Accommodation services provided directly by universities have done likewise.
“This is nothing short of exploitative behaviour from Hello Student,” Mr Ruskell said.
“These unprecedented circumstances should not force students, many of whom will have lost income from part-time work, to foot an enormous bill in the midst of an emergency.
“Hello Student must think again and abandon this entirely unjust course of action.”
A spokesperson for Hello Student said it had to consider the welfare of hundreds of its employees as well as its residents.
They said the company was providing safe accommodation for thousands of students during the lockdown but that it was “acutely aware” of the financial pressures residents were facing.
“We will make a further announcement once we have considered our position further,” they said.
