By Romina Treviño, Third Year, Liberal Arts
The dire reality of student housing surprises no one. Almost every student has faced mould, delayed repairs, or the ‘classic Edwardian’ flat that’s really just falling apart. To add insult to injury, the high demand and limited supply of homes means we often pay good money to live surrounded by damp, mouldy walls and sleep on a tired old mattress. Sometimes you'll get a free pet, but for the non-rat lovers that’s hardly a perk. Landlords are responsible for timely repairs including fixing damp and mould, before it reaches dangerous - even harvestable - levels. In reality, this rarely happens.
The most common course of action students are left with is to practice the art of the strongly-worded email. Often, this results in a never ending email chain with landlords deflecting responsibility and delaying action, or even ignoring you outright. The result: students are resigned to live in unsafe homes and left demoralised while landlords receive no consequences for renting out poor quality properties.
Elsie’s student housing story has a familiar beginning. When she moved into her third year flat in Brighton, the problems were immediately apparent. Not only had the flat not been properly cleaned between tenancies, it was also filled with unfinished repairs. Worse of all, there was a still wet, freshly plastered wall in one of the already tiny rooms. After weeks of calls, emails and the plaster refusing to dry, it became clear there was a dampness issue in the flat. All of Elsie’s emails were met with condescending replies, placing blame on the tenants for not ventilating their rooms properly. The constant deflection and inaction rightly left her demoralised. That was until Elsie and her flatmate joined ACORN.
ACORN, a community based union with branches all across the UK, believes every human deserves a dignified and comfortable life. Their goal is simple: to use collective organization and community action to improve living conditions. Unlike most students who obviously have little to no experience with tenant issues, ACORN knows what channels to go through. Elsie was quickly put in contact with an active ACORN member who ran her through a strategy chart. Accompanied by that member and one of her flat mates, Elsie went in person and handed in a letter of demands to Neil Sutherland Estate and Letting Agents, who were responsible for her flat. When this received no response, ACORN helped mobilise its members to picket outside the lettings agency.
The actions started in November and continued until January, when Elsie — joined by dozens of ACORN members — occupied the letting agency and wouldn't leave until something was done. Environmental health had already deemed the dampness in her flat a health risk, and finally, under pressure from ACORN, Neil Sutherland agreed to look into the issue of compensation. For a few weeks after that, Elsie didn't hear back. That was until her flatmate received a letter in the mail from their landlord. Apparently, the landlord knew nothing about the issue until the picket, as Neil Sutherland had failed to properly communicate with him. In this letter he agreed not just to immediately fix the issue and give that flat a dehumidifier, but also to give Elsie’s friend compensation for all the months she had been living in that room.
‘Tens even hundreds of emails, no matter how strongly worded, can be ignored. A group of people coming together to help each other in person can’t.’
Facing issues with your flat, especially as a student, can be extremely isolating. Infantilising responses and a lack of clear channels to go through results in so many of us just accepting mistreatment and deeming it an inconvenience. Bad living standards as a student has become a rite of passage, but what if it didn't have to be? While a landlord can get away with ignoring repairs if the only evidence is hidden in their inbox, a large public action gets attention — from the media, the community and from the landlord themselves.
Sam Brace
James Lewis
In addition, joining a group like ACORN means you don’t have to guess the right steps or face retaliation alone. Organisations like ACORN can connect students with a wider community of people, not just peers, all fighting the same battles. ACORN isn’t a charity - many of the members have had experiences like Elsie’s, showing up because they know exactly how it feels, and how empowering it is to take action together. Tens even hundreds of emails, no matter how strongly worded, can be ignored. A group of people coming together to help each other in person can’t.
Living in Bristol as a student, it’s easy to just stick in student circles. Especially in our era of extreme individualism, we forget that there's a whole community of people out there who want the same things you do. So if you or someone you know is struggling with housing issues, remember: emailing is not your only option. Unions like ACORN offer another path. People want to help each other - and if we organise ourselves, we can.
If you are interested in ACORN, go to https://acorntheunion.org.uk/
Featured Image: Epigram / Romina Treviño
Will you consider joining ACORN?
