Glasgow '˜swamped' by student accommodation, MSP warns

Scotland's biggest city risks becoming a 'ghost town' outwith university term times due to the influx of student accommodation, according to an MSP.

Students make up around 13% of Glasgow's population. Picture: John Devlin

The SNP’s Sandra White has called for a public meeting to discuss the prevalence of student accommodation in Glasgow. With several planning applications under consideration for hundreds of units in the city’s Trongate and west end, she warned “every single piece of spare land” is being given over to student flats. She said: “We are being swamped. What do we want Glasgow to turn into? Do we want Glasgow to end up like St Andrews, which is like a ghost town at the end of semesters?”

Students make up around 13 per cent of Glasgow’s population and Glasgow City Council said the demographic makes a “great contribution” to the city’s economy.

A spokesman for the local authority said: “These students make a great contribution to our civic and economic life, and the increasing number of purpose-built student accommodation developments reflect their growing numbers.”