MORE than 20,000 students are having to rent rooms from tax-dodging firms based in havens such as Jersey, Guernsey, the British Virgin Islands and Luxembourg, a new study shows.

Complex structures allow the overseas investors to rake cash in from high-end rooms without paying HMRC a penny — and it allows buildings to change hands without any stamp duty.

These company arrangements mean firms contribute virtually nothing to government resources while charging students up to £14,000 a year in rent.

Courtrooms, which manages a block in Bristol, collected £2.2 million in rent in 2016 but contributed just £10,000 in tax, because it had paid £2.1m in “charges,” mostly to a Luxembourg-based holding company Unicity XV Bristol Sarl.

The National Union of Students vice-president Izzy Lenga said students were seen as a cash cow by overseas investors, and often had no choice but to take rooms in “overpriced glass towers.”

Blocks of high-end student accommodation have mushroomed in university towns and cities since universities turned to private developers to provide accommodation.

There are more than 100 blocks in England and Wales owned by companies with such tax structures, but that figure is likely to be higher, the Guardian investigation found.