As an officer team, we participated in the NUS Lobby Day in October. As a result of our (and other Students' Union's) efforts, we have scored some big wins for students living in accommodation!
During October, we were given an opportunity as an officer team to get involved with a national campaign ran by NUS (National Union of Students). The lobbying we’ve done representing our cohort has now led to national change, with possibly more to come!
NUS has been running a campaign around student housing, and with the changeover in government decided it was the right time to lobby for important change. The Renters Rights Bill, which you may have already heard about, aims to change renting regulations to ensure tenants are more protected. NUS wants to, as part of this bill, push for a ban on guarantors. This is because guarantors are a major barrier for some students, whether its because they are from a different country, a background (working class, estranged etc.) which has made it difficult to access a guarantor or even just current issues that have made it impossible to get someone to sign off. To further ensure student renters are protected, they also lobbied for a lower cap on the amount of upfront rent landlords can charge before a tenancy and other protections for tenants (currently, they can charge up to 6 months’ worth upfront).
I travelled down to London and met with Joseph to go to Parliament for the NUS Lobby Day. As a part of it, we (and many other Students Unions across the country) met with local MPs to ensure the student voice has been represented. We personally lobbied Gareth Snell (Stoke-on-Trent Central MP) around the guarantor issue as well as for a cap on upfront rent/deposits that lowers the accessibility bar for students. He was happy to agree and support, and we even got an opportunity to talk about issues that affect students who live in his constituency! This hopefully puts us in a good position to have an open conversation with Gareth about student issues in the future as well!
Now we’re in January, the Renters’ Rights Bill has now passed its third reading and has moved onto the House of Lords. As a result of this – we can now confirm two amendments have been added to the bill (one which we personally lobbied for) have been added to the bill! Firstly, a rule has been added which restricts landlords from pressuring students into early housing leases. This should give students more time to decide where they want to live. Secondly, tying into one of the main issues we lobbied around, an amendment has been introduced which will reduce the amount of rent allowed to be charged upfront by landlords! The cap will be reduced to 1 month – which should remove a huge barrier for students who can’t get a guarantor!
The guarantor ban hasn’t been added as an amendment but has notably continuously been discussed as the bill continues to move through Parliament. We will continue to be involved with this campaign going forward, and are so unbelievably happy that we have been able to get involved with national change for not just students, but all renters!