{"id":66,"date":"2020-07-29T10:22:06","date_gmt":"2020-07-29T09:22:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/nelrn\/?p=66"},"modified":"2020-07-29T10:26:50","modified_gmt":"2020-07-29T09:26:50","slug":"the-exploitation-of-student-renters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/nelrn\/2020\/07\/29\/the-exploitation-of-student-renters\/","title":{"rendered":"The Exploitation of Student Renters"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Originally posted on <\/strong>Challenges NI on 30th<\/sup>\nJune 2020<\/strong><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thousands of students across the UK\nrent their accommodation from a private landlord. Lured into signing contracts\nfor a shared student house from only a few months into starting university and\nmeeting your new housemates, this is an exciting time of adulthood, but the\nproblems a shared tenancy can hold are rarely discovered until it is too late.\nIn March of this year when the severity of the global pandemic became clear, many\nstudents requested a reduction or a halt in rent from landlords. There are multiple reports of\nlandlords<\/a> ignoring the requests of these compromises, and rebuffing\nany pleas to give leeway on the cost of rent in unoccupied houses. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Absolutely no practical support has\nbeen given by the UK government for vulnerable student renters during this\ncrisis. Student loans often do not cover the high costs of their accommodation\nand living expenses, and many students juggle more than one part time job along\nwith a full-time degree in order to make ends meet. Already paying extortionate\nmoney for overpriced rooms in a house, student renters have been left feeling\nabandoned, whilst students who live in accommodation that is managed by the\nuniversity or private student corporation flats have had their rent completely\nstopped. How is it just or equal, that one group of students have had their\nrent completely stopped during this global crisis, and thousands of vulnerable\nstudent renters are left being threatened and forced to pay full rent? Many of\nthese overpriced student\nhouses across the UK are barely livable<\/a>, filled with mould,\ndamp and broken beds, with landlords and letting agencies refusing to\nadequately respond to the shocking conditions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore, Northern Irish citizens<\/a> studying in England\nare disadvantaged from the very start of their degree. The maximum available\nloan for those from a low-income family is \u00a33,000 less than English students from the same financial bracket<\/a>. \u00a33,000 makes a\nmassive difference when considering travel costs, accommodation costs, and\ngeneral student living costs. This is an issue which I disputed last year and\ntried to contact MPs, and Ministers for Education and Finance, all of whom\nessentially dismissed this inequality and did little to help. It seems clear to\nme that those whose roles are to listen and fight for the inequalities of local\ncitizens seem to forget the issues facing students, and we are time and time\nagain cast to the bottom of the priority pecking order. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gemma Mainwaring, the Student Union\nWelfare Officer for University of Gloucestershire wrote to local MPs calling\nfor protection for students. In her open letter she stated a key point that \u201cthe business model of housing students is based on university\nphysically occurring. The fact that it has come to an end early this year is\npart of the risk that must be absorbed by accommodation providers – not\nstudents.\u201d<\/a> Students should not be punished by\nbeing trapped in tenancy contracts that offer no leeway for exceptional\ncircumstances when many other contractual agreements such as banks, phone and\ninternet contracts have changed their terms to help customers during this\nfinancially precarious time. A report based on a YouGov survey concluded that 1 in 8 private renters have fallen behind with housing costs since\nthe coronavirus crisis began<\/a>, yet the vast\nmajority of landlords refuse to offer any leeway for rent arrears from tenants\nwho have always before paid full rent exactly on time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Students are an irreplaceable part and\nvital contribution to our economy yet have been left battling against greed and\ninjustice whilst having to complete their degrees in extraordinary\ncircumstances. Shame on the government for throwing us to the side. As the\nfinancial stability and mental health of young, vulnerable renters rapidly\ndeclines, the government should be supporting students through  urging landlords to release students from\ntheir contracts upon request, particularly over the summer months when\nuniversity (pre-Covid) is not occurring. Landlords have been allowed to have\nthe monopoly over the banks of student renters for too long, and it is time for\nchange.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rianna Curran is 21 and a Law student at Newcastle University. She is Co-President of It Happens Here<\/a>, a student lead society that tackles sexual violence and helps empower survivors of sexual assault.<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3730,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[5],"class_list":["post-66","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorised","tag-covid-19-student-voice"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/nelrn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/nelrn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/nelrn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/nelrn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3730"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/nelrn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/nelrn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":67,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/nelrn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66\/revisions\/67"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/nelrn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/nelrn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/nelrn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}