As students queued overnight for a chance to secure housing for next year, feelings of resentment spurred action as students demand the end of the housing troubles at Durham university. Despite promises from the university to "reassure students it will support them in finding a suitable home", students have been left queueing overnight for housing a year in advance and still being unable to find suitable living standards for a reasonable budget.
Students have been left queueing overnight for housing a year in advance and still being unable to find suitable living standards for a reasonable budget
The demonstration organised by the Durham University Labour Club, Durham Against Rough Sleeping and Durham Tenants' Union was attended by second-year Rachel Lawrence who stated, "I am currently living in a house that we are paying £145 a week - originally they tried to put it up to £209 which is ridiculous… My room is mouldy, has damp, so we are here today out to protest trying to show the university, and show the estate agents that we are not having it."
Many students had stories like Rachel’s as housing not only became unaffordable, but conditions worsened; despite the rising cost of living maintenance loans for students have only risen 2% since 2020.
Realistically, this should have been foreseen and dealt with by the government, the fact that there are more 18-year-olds than there have ever been and the effect of the coronavirus on universities (many taking all the students they offered places to and overprescribing courses) are affecting these institutions. However, we’ve been aware of these issues for the past 2 years and nothing has been or is being done to help these students who have nowhere to live.
Another cause of the unreasonable housing situation comes from landlords raising rents as they’ve got a cornered market. Most students have to live where they’re studying as they don’t have enough money to commute every day, especially as rail fares soar and buses are not particularly cheap at the moment either. Students don’t have another option but to live where they study and are being taken advantage of because of it. Maddie Turner, a second-year psychology student who joined the queue for housing at 2 am, commented, "They know that students need this accommodation in certain areas, and they have this captive audience."
Spokesperson for the National Union of Students (NUS) Chloe Field, NUS vice-president for higher education, said those in higher education could be forced to drop out if the shortage of housing in some cities is not addressed and "Universities really need to take a look at their huge focus on increasing student intake… It's going up exponentially and the fact is there's just not enough accommodation for students provided."
All of this has led to students with no stable housing, sofa surfing and essentially homeless as they try to secure housing with rising bills as well as increasing costs of living. This story, however, is not unique to Durham as students across the country report having issues with housing. For example, York university housed students in Hull for the last two years as they tried to finish their own accommodation remodeling. Durham, however, have offered no practical support for students and appears to be okay with their students, for whom they have a duty of care, sleeping on friend's sofas and on the streets in order to try and secure a safe home.
