By Sofia Lambis, News Investigations Editor
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Bristol SU's Housing Officer has expressed her support for Epigram’s ‘Break the Mould’ campaign.
Lucy Pears is the elected Student Living Officer for the 24/25 academic year and is involved with housing, sustainability and student welfare. Working with the SU, the University, and the wider community. She advocates for students and ensures their voices are heard.
Launched earlier this month, Epigram’s campaign aims to empower tenants and raise awareness about the growing mould crisis in Bristol’s student homes.
Aiming to increase transparency and incentivise landlords to be more responsive Epigram is proposing a ‘Rent Review’ system. This TripAdvisor-style platform would let students review the condition of their accommodation, share any issues they faced and rate how well their landlord or letting agent communicated with them. They are calling on Bristol SU to help create this and to establish a landlord accreditation system based partly on these reviews.
Currently the SU provides information on Bristol’s student rental market through the ‘My Rent, My Rights’ campaign and housing-related legal advice via Bristol SU Lettings and The Law Clinic. Epigram's goal is to improve these existing measures with an increased focus on the condition of Bristol’s student properties.
In a statement Pears said: ‘I'm very happy to support the work that Epigram is doing with the ‘Break the Mould’ campaign and I'm looking forward to working with them moving forwards.
'In my role as Student Living officer I hear about the persistent mould issues that our students face - but it doesn't take being in this job to know how damaging and widespread the issues with mould are . A Bristol SU survey found that 75% of students have problems with mould - and this finding is from 10 years ago!
'The situation is terrible, and it hasn't been getting any better, so I'm pleased to see the ‘Break the Mould’ campaign tackling this head on. I'm eager to point students in your direction and to see some change!'
If you would like to support Epigram’s ‘Break the Mould’ campaign and hold bad landlords accountable, sign the petition here.
