Over the course of ten years, Glasgow has added 6,000 student rooms.

Over the course of ten years, Glasgow has added 6,000 student rooms.

Glasgow has constructed around 6,000 purpose-designed student dormitories in the last decade, according to BBC statistics.

The figures indicate that 20 student buildings have been constructed since 2015, with the preponderance of them situated in the city center.

Last year, Glasgow City Council granted 3,222 student bedrooms, more than any in the last decade.

The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) reports that the city’s student population has increased by more than 20,000 in the previous decade, making it difficult to meet demand.

Housing crisis
A shortage of supply has driven up rents in Scotland’s largest city, prompting the council to declare a housing emergency in 2023 due to “unprecedented pressures”.

It wrote to almost 2,500 unoccupied property owners this month to repurpose them.

University enrollment has increased throughout the city.

Glasgow University has added almost 12,000 students since 2015, according to HESA data.

Over the previous decade, Strathclyde University and Glasgow Caledonian University have added 3,000 and 5,000 students, respectively.

At the outset of this academic year, a Glasgow University research predicted a student housing shortage of over 6,000, putting thousands of students at danger of homelessness.

Glasgow City Council has approved 34 purpose-built student housing planning applications since January 2015, according to BBC Scotland News Freedom of Information records.

Some plans are under progress.

Anderston has a 26-story student housing complex that can house 410 students.

A 36-story student apartment complex near Charing Cross is under constructed for 784 students.

This will be Glasgow’s second-tallest skyscraper after the Science Centre Tower.

Developers Watkin Jones claimed the Ard would solve a “chronic undersupply” of student housing and free up family-friendly dwellings.

However, city center residents have protested about the number of student residences being developed.

A 19-story student apartment was approved in November 2024 despite 60 complaints from neighbors who said it was too high and that the city center already had too many student flats.

A study supporting the proposal indicated that Glasgow has a “major supply shortage” of student housing.

Glasgow University planning and urban design professor James White said the additional apartments will have “broadly positive benefits” for the city core.

He said: “Many student complexes are on Glasgow’s perimeter, where residential population is sparse.

“These developments attract commerce and young people to these regions, which is why I believe they are beneficial for the neighborhoods.”

The Glasgow City Council started their city center living plan in 2019. Their goal is to have 40,000 people living in the city center by 2035.

Prof. White said these student projects met a demand for extra housing, but if the student housing market declines, they may not last.

He stated, “From a sustainability standpoint, it is problematic to be entirely dependent on students.”

We need a mix of housing in the city center—right now, it’s geared toward students, and how simple will it be to modify those buildings?

“Families will find it difficult to relocate if we do not also construct parks and schools, and if we subsequently need to alter the use of these buildings, as they will not have the necessary amenities.”