The report confirms problems in the current system that NUS Scotland highlighted following a survey of students in 2007, which revealed average rents of over £300 per month, and a third of students having deposits withheld by landlords.
"Students are frustrated that the debate on rent deposits has effectively been shelved for over a year in anticipation of this report, while more students have lost money to unscrupulous landlords," said NUS Scotland Depute President, Liam Burns.
"The government has now confirmed that over 13 per cent of all tenants have lost part or all of their deposits. Unfortunately, this report does not give us a demographic breakdown of those losing deposits. We believe this masks the more concerning issue of rogue landlords targeting students, migrants and young people when it comes to unfairly withholding deposits.
“We look forward to the Minister bringing forward plans for a mandatory deposit scheme, as is already in place in England, to reduce the £6m currently being lost by some of the most vulnerable people in society.”