Meeting of the Parliament 23 September 2025 [Draft]
I thank the member for that intervention—maybe. Later in the bill process—probably not today, but tomorrow or next week—we will come to comment specifically on how to deal with such situations. However, today, I am talking about international student renters. The fact that the member seeks to derail my comments on international students, who are—to be frank—left to the wolves of the private rented sector, speaks to his concern, or lack thereof, for their wellbeing and welfare.
My amendment 220 simply asks for a review of the deposits for which international students are asked—nothing more. I would have liked to go further—as I did in my proposed amendments at stage 2—and restrict the level of the deposit demand possible. However, I think that this amendment would represent a middle ground, and I hope that the Scottish Government will recognise the value of having the information that such a review would provide.
Amendment 222 would require the establishment of a guarantor body for international students. We know that the vast majority of students pay their rents on time, and it is not fair that a section of the student population has limited access to guarantors simply because they are not from this country. We can, and should, be doing better to support our international students in Scotland.
I will let Ross Greer and others speak to their amendments in this group. Finally, I state that we will not support amendments that would remove students from the bill.