A disabled student is being forced to live out of a hotel due to a lack of available accommodation in Glasgow.
Aishwarya Balasubramanian is currently in Glasgow on placement from Bournemouth University but has been living in a hotel room with her mum for the last two weeks.
The 20-year-old media and communication student has cerebral palsy and uses a tri-walker to get around. Her mum Usha has said letting agents and landlords have been reluctant to rent them a flat due to the condition.
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Usha has travelled from India to support her daughter as she undertakes her work placement at Glasgow Women's Library.
The pair are currently staying at Smiths Hotel on Sauchiehall Street after a stint at the easyHotel.
Usha, 52, told Glasgow Live: "My daughter can't walk independently so uses the tri-walker to get around. I currently take her and pick her up from her place of work at the Glasgow Women's Library.
"She'll be in Glasgow on placement for up to nine months but we've so far been unable to get anywhere to live. Usha is able to get upstairs so we need somewhere with just one floor.
"When I've spoken to letting agents, they seem quite hesitant due to her condition. There is a lot of compliance that needs to be undertaken but I will be staying with her so she will have assistance.
"I feel that disability itself is a challenge. When I mention it, I get a reply saying that the home isn't suitable. We as parents are taking all her responsibility, physically, financially, and mentally.
"We've now been in this hotel since September 30 and could now be forced to extend that since we've not been able to get anywhere."
Usha has left the rest of her family at home in India to support her daughter in Glasgow. She will have to return home to apply for another visa when her current one runs out.
During that time, Aishwarya will be alone in the city. Luckily for the pair, they have already made friends in Glasgow who are keen to help.
Usha added: "The people at Glasgow Women's Library have been a great help and I've made a lot of friends since being in Glasgow.
"It's not that my daughter can't manage herself, it's just that she walks with the support of the tri-walker.
"She is a bright student, at Bournemouth University she received an award for being the best-engaged student.
"We have lost our courage and patience in looking for accommodation. There are lots of wellwishers in Glasgow and in India are trying to help but we have found nothing yet."
We previously reported how hundreds of applicants are currently battling to get flats in Glasgow. In one case, a one-bedroom flat in the city costing nearly £900 a month was inundated with 500 applicants from students in 24 hours.
John O'Malley, chief executive of letting agents Pacitti Jones, 49, said the situation was a "crisis" and was the worst this year it had ever been - and that staff were regularly taking phone calls from crying students fearing they would be homeless.
One Kuwaiti student spent three weeks staying in Airbnbs facing the prospect of having to pay £350 for one night, before his dad came over to help, still with no luck - and Mr O'Malley said overseas students were treated as "cashcows" by Scottish unis.
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