A Scottish Government-approved tenancy deposit scheme has received more than £300,000 in student accommodation deposits ahead of the new academic year.

SafeDeposits Scotland, a spin-off of England’s Tenancy Deposit Scheme, which holds more than half of all the deposits in Scotland’s private rental market, has secured in excess of 1,200 new deposits from the student accommodation provider the Student Housing Company.

Much of the deposit money come from students living in three Student Housing Company buildings in Edinburgh serving Edinburgh University, Napier University, Queen Margaret University and Heriot Watt, as well as the new 241-room Ayton House in St Andrews catering for students studying at the nearby St Andrews University.

Jen Paice, chief executive of SafeDeposits Scotland, said the deal with the Student Housing Company was a major endorsement for the business, which currently has over £64m of deposits under protection.

She said: “We’re delighted to be appointed by the Student Housing Company to safeguard these deposits. The student accommodation market is hugely important not just to Scotland’s private rented sector but to our economy in general, so it’s crucial that students are properly looked after and treated fairly as they embark on their academic year.

“The Student Housing Company has since its inception been about improving the standards of the student accommodation market and raising peoples’ expectations of it, so the fact they have chosen to invest such a large chunk of their business with SafeDeposits is a real testament to how far we’ve come in our first three years.”

Stuart Henderson, the Student Housing Company’s general manager in Scotland, said: “We’re delighted to be working with SafeDeposits Scotland and have faith that they will keep our student deposits safe and secure according to the Scottish Government’s tenancy Deposit Schemes.

“It’s of upmost importance that our students have the best experience possible when staying with us and we hope that working with SafeDeposits Scotland will be beneficial to the great service we already provide.”

SafeDeposits Scotland, which was launched in 2012 to accommodate the introduction of the Scottish Government’s Tenancy Deposit Schemes (Scotland) Regulations, is the only not-for-profit of the three approved schemes and the only one based in Scotland.

The business is set to launch a new Trust later this year to invest its profits into the improvement of Scotland’s private rented sector.