Emergency accommodation

If you’re a current student and have nowhere to stay, or feel you are in unsafe or insecure housing, we can support you and help you find somewhere to live.

Emergency accommodation

If you don’t have somewhere to spend the night, we will do our best to place you in temporary (usually up to 72 hours), emergency accommodation. Please contact:

The University’s Student Accommodation Team, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm

Email: housingenquiries@ed.ac.uk

Phone: +44 (0)131 651 2042

Outside these hours, you can contact the University’s 24/7 Community Support team:

Email: security24-7@ed.ac.uk

Phone: +44 (0)131 667 1971

Once you have secured emergency accommodation, you will be put in touch with the University’s Student Accommodation Team and the Residence Life team to discuss vacancies and support in University-managed accommodation that might be suitable for you in the long term.

Students currently in temporary accommodation

If you’re currently in temporary, short-term, insecure or unsafe accommodation, please contact the University’s Student Accommodation Team as soon as you can to discuss vacancies in University-managed accommodation that might be suitable for you in the long term.

The University’s Student Accommodation Team, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm

Email: housingenquiries@ed.ac.uk

Phone: +44 (0)131 651 2042

The Students’ Association’s Advice Place can provide advice and support to help you with finding suitable housing, and support you with any issues that may have contributed to your situation.

Advice Place | Edinburgh University Students' Association

What is considered homelessness, insecure, or unsafe housing?

Homelessness, insecure, or unsafe housing can present in a variety of ways. You might:

Have nowhere to sleep or stay tonight
Be staying with friends or family, for example sleeping on their sofa
Be staying in a hostel or other form of temporary or short-term accommodation
Be staying somewhere that is uninhabitable, for example due to damage or disrepair
Be living somewhere where you do not feel safe or secure

There are lots of different reasons why you might be experiencing homelessness, insecure, or unsafe housing. You may have:

Not found a long-term contract in Edinburgh yet
Been the victim of a scam or fraud
Had a dispute with the people you were living with
Experienced intimate partner violence

Further support

The Students’ Association’s Advice Place can offer free, professional, confidential, and impartial advice and support on a wide range of topics. These include housing, finances (including emergency interest-free loans), mental health, and harassment, discrimination, and violence.

Advice Place | Edinburgh University Students' Association

Emergency accommodation