Dundee University Students Association is to carry out research to gauge how many of its members have been hit by rogue landlords who refuse to return their full deposits.
DUSA vice-president Navid Gornall said it was not uncommon to hear reports of student households losing out to the tune of four figure sums.
“As a union we have a number of priorities and these are based on member feedback,” he said.
“Significant issues with tenants’ deposits have been brought up time and time again.
“Over the two months we will be quantitatively assessing the issue and, in the process of moving towards a solution, educating the student population about appropriate dispute resolution.”
Mr Gornall said, “We have recognised the issue with landlords taking advantage of students’ rent property deposits. It’s not uncommon to have reports of student households losing four figure sums of money.
“As one of our key objectives we will be working locally with landlords and MSPs to campaign for the implementation of a Deposit Protection Scheme as outlined in the Tenancy Deposit Schemes (Scotland) Regulations 2011.”
As The Courier has reported, the problem is also recognised at Abertay University, where students association president William Mohieddeen backed a deposit protection scheme.
Research by NUS Scotland suggests a third of students believe a landlord at some point has unfairly retained their deposit.
Photo used under Creative Commons licence courtesy of Flickr user Phil Hawksworth.