Originally posted on Challenges NI on 30th June 2020
Thousands of students across the UK rent their accommodation from a private landlord. Lured into signing contracts for a shared student house from only a few months into starting university and meeting your new housemates, this is an exciting time of adulthood, but the problems a shared tenancy can hold are rarely discovered until it is too late. In March of this year when the severity of the global pandemic became clear, many students requested a reduction or a halt in rent from landlords. There are multiple reports of landlords ignoring the requests of these compromises, and rebuffing any pleas to give leeway on the cost of rent in unoccupied houses.
Absolutely no practical support has been given by the UK government for vulnerable student renters during this crisis. Student loans often do not cover the high costs of their accommodation and living expenses, and many students juggle more than one part time job along with a full-time degree in order to make ends meet. Already paying extortionate money for overpriced rooms in a house, student renters have been left feeling abandoned, whilst students who live in accommodation that is managed by the university or private student corporation flats have had their rent completely stopped. How is it just or equal, that one group of students have had their rent completely stopped during this global crisis, and thousands of vulnerable student renters are left being threatened and forced to pay full rent? Many of these overpriced student houses across the UK are barely livable, filled with mould, damp and broken beds, with landlords and letting agencies refusing to adequately respond to the shocking conditions.
Furthermore, Northern Irish citizens studying in England are disadvantaged from the very start of their degree. The maximum available loan for those from a low-income family is £3,000 less than English students from the same financial bracket. £3,000 makes a massive difference when considering travel costs, accommodation costs, and general student living costs. This is an issue which I disputed last year and tried to contact MPs, and Ministers for Education and Finance, all of whom essentially dismissed this inequality and did little to help. It seems clear to me that those whose roles are to listen and fight for the inequalities of local citizens seem to forget the issues facing students, and we are time and time again cast to the bottom of the priority pecking order.
Gemma Mainwaring, the Student Union Welfare Officer for University of Gloucestershire wrote to local MPs calling for protection for students. In her open letter she stated a key point that “the business model of housing students is based on university physically occurring. The fact that it has come to an end early this year is part of the risk that must be absorbed by accommodation providers – not students.” Students should not be punished by being trapped in tenancy contracts that offer no leeway for exceptional circumstances when many other contractual agreements such as banks, phone and internet contracts have changed their terms to help customers during this financially precarious time. A report based on a YouGov survey concluded that 1 in 8 private renters have fallen behind with housing costs since the coronavirus crisis began, yet the vast majority of landlords refuse to offer any leeway for rent arrears from tenants who have always before paid full rent exactly on time.
Students are an irreplaceable part and vital contribution to our economy yet have been left battling against greed and injustice whilst having to complete their degrees in extraordinary circumstances. Shame on the government for throwing us to the side. As the financial stability and mental health of young, vulnerable renters rapidly declines, the government should be supporting students through urging landlords to release students from their contracts upon request, particularly over the summer months when university (pre-Covid) is not occurring. Landlords have been allowed to have the monopoly over the banks of student renters for too long, and it is time for change.