By Will White, News Investigations Editor
On Monday 3rd February, students from Epigram gathered outside of Senate House for the launch of their ‘Break the Mould’ campaign, a movement aimed at forcing stronger action against mould in student housing by lobbying the Student Union into introducing a landlord accreditation system.
Campaigners were joined by the SU Housing Officer in handing out a special ‘Break the Mould’ edition of Epigram and collected signatures from students and staff in order to gather support for the ‘Rent Review’ system, wherein students can anonymously review their landlords. Other students would be able to access this information to make informed decisions about their rental choices.
'When we began planning for Break the Mould, it was because I felt like mould wasn’t addressed enough in discussions about housing,' said Annie McNamee, Editor-in-Chief of Epigram. 'In the past month and a bit, I’ve heard stories from students of mould in shoes, on bags, mushrooms growing on window sills, entire ceilings falling in, and landlords being at best negligent, and at worst, actively antagonistic.'
According to a 2023 survey conducted by charity Students Organising for Sustainability UK, mould is a growing issue in student housing, with instances of mould in student houses up from 31% of houses in 2022 to 54% in 2023.
Similar survey data collected by Epigram suggests that 93% of students have experienced mould or damp in their house. A Student Union survey in 2015 calculated the figure at around 75%.
In the Epigram survey, 38% of students said their mould problem is yet to be addressed by their landlord, and 80% of students rated the quality of action taken as poor or very poor. 60% of affected students faced health issues as a result of mould at university.
Health issues from mould can be severe, even fatal, such as in the tragic case of toddler Awaab Ishak, who died from a severe respiratory condition caused by black mould in his home.
'Students, like everyone, deserve the basic dignity of homes which keep them safe, not infect their bodies,' said McNamee. 'That is why we are fighting to Break the Mould, and we are certain that the community will be behind us.'
The campaign passed its goal of 100 signatures on the day of the launch.
'It’s fantastic to see Bristol students leading the charge in such an important issue,’ said Lucy Pears, SU student living officer. 'I regularly hear from students struggling with persistent mould problems. But you don't need to be in this role to know how widespread and damaging this issue is for students.'
If you would like to get involved, the petition for the Break the Mould campaign can be accessed here.
Do you think students should be able to hold landlords to account?
