By Katie Lawty, Masters, Environmental Humanities
As students, we require access to affordable short-term accommodation. Buying a house for the (relatively) short period in which we study would, of course, be unthinkable—at least for the majority of the student population. This is where rental accommodation comes in. As such, landlords do, regrettably, need to exist. The rental market is, however, becoming increasingly exploitative, creating significant challenges for students who are already burdened by the cost of their studies and maintenance loan allowances that are often inadequate.
Each year, thousands of students across the country begin their search for affordable temporary accommodation. Unfortunately, we find ourselves facing a myriad of issues when it comes to renting. A stable living space, something that is a human right, has become a commodity in the capitalist society in which we exist. These days, landlords seek to rake in huge profits from their tenants, with rental costs skyrocketing each year. Furthermore, students are faced with parasitic rent bidding wars, waiting lists for both university-provided and private accommodation, substandard housing conditions and, all too often, less-than-reliable landlords. In Bristol, the second most expensive city for students to rent in the U.K. after London, the rental crisis is becoming increasingly concerning. This raises the question: can landlordship ever be ethical?
In theory, ethical landlordship would involve charging rent at a level which does not compete with the overinflated, competitive market rental prices. The price charged would, of course, need to allow landlords to cover essential expenses including mortgage payments and utilities should they be included in the rental cost, but should not be driven by the maximisation of profit. Ideally, the profits of an ethical landlord would be in line with the average salary in the area in which their rental property is located. Should this be the case, and the rent charged is affordable and fair, this is about as ethical as landlordship can be.
In 2023, the BBC published an article highlighting the issue of rent bidding wars in Bristol. This is a challenge that many students, including myself, find themselves up against each year. Rent bidding wars occur when lettings agencies allow, or actively encourage, potential tenants to bid above the advertised rental asking price. For example, all too often a property initially advertised for £600 could end up costing the successful bidder £675, or even more. This practice exacerbates the financial strain on students, forcing them into a competitive and inflated market where they may find themselves needing to pay above the asking price just to secure accommodation. This practice is also extremely discriminatory towards students from a lower socioeconomic background, with lower-income students facing the brunt of inflated rental costs. Those who cannot afford to compete in these parasitic bidding wars are effectively outpriced, either having to find less-than-ideal accommodation further from their campus or, in some instances, being unable to afford to attend university at all. The outlawing of this highly unethical and predatory practice is long overdue.
Though not the topic of this article, the issue of seemingly ever-increasing rental prices is not helped by the disparity between rent costs and the student maintenance loan. The maintenance loan should, in theory, cover most student living expenses, including accommodation. In reality, with rent costs ever on the rise, the maintenance loan is often barely enough to cover accommodation expenditures. This leads many students to take on a part-time job, sometimes two, working additional hours on top of their recommended study time in order to cover their living costs. Balancing studies with paid work, rest and a social life can be extremely stressful and may, for some students, soon lead to burnout.
The practice of being a landlord is largely necessary in student towns, though a higher degree of empathy and morality must be exercised by landlords towards their student market. We are, after all, the most abundant clientele in most university cities. In order for the rental market to become more ethical, it is high time that discriminatory rent bidding wars and over-inflated rental costs ceased and tenant rights were improved.
