Monday 05-10-2020 - 15:26

One of VP Welfare, Amy Merchant’s key manifesto aims was to stop ‘Housing Haste’ in Lancaster and end the trend of students feeling pressured to sign housing contracts within weeks of arriving to University. As a Student Union, we should be leading the way, so on the 1st of October an Emergency Trustee Board meeting unanimously approved Amy’s proposal that delays the release of SU Living contracts for 2021-22 until January 2021. 

This move marks SU Living as the first and only letting agency in Lancaster to give students more time when making decisions on housing, putting student needs, wellbeing and priorities first. According to the National Student Accomodation survey 2020, the biggest problem for students in their accommodation is not getting on with their housemates. This change by SU Living means that students now have the time to find their feet at University, meet the right people and adjust to living away from home, without the added pressure of potentially losing out on good, safe and affordable housing in an already stressful environment.  With COVID-19 restricting student life from operating in its usual way, both socialising with friends and searching for housing is much harder, so this delay couldn’t come at a more vital time.  

Postgraduates also benefit from this, as their confirmed offers for study are often not released until Lent Term and at this point the majority of housing is already off the market. Postgraduates will now have greater choice when it comes to their accommodation arrangements.  

Amy Merchant, VP Welfare says: “I am delighted that the delaying of contracts has been approved by Trustee Board. I was mandated to do this by our student membership back in March as part of my wider ‘Stop Housing Haste’ campaign, and being my manifesto priority, it was so crucial that this decision was passed. It is vital that SU Living set a precedent on an issue that affects every single student at Lancaster.”  

On Saturday as part of the SU Campaigns day, Amy launched her ‘Stop Housing Haste’ campaign alongside the other Full-Time Officers. As part of this, she plans to encourage students to take the time to learn their tenancy rights and read their contracts before they sign them, alongside signposting students to services and tools that they can access if they have housing-related issues or need support throughout the signing process. Amy is also lobbying other accommodation providers and the LU Homes Accreditation Scheme in Lancaster to follow SU Living’s lead and take significant steps to improve student welfare in the letting process, particularly in these unusual circumstances.  

We as a Students' Union are proud to be leading the way by proactively tackling such a key issue in the student housing market, and hope to kickstart a much-needed shift to put students first within the entire sector. 

If you have any queries, please email your VP Welfare, Amy Merchant at su.vp.welfare@lancaster.ac.uk.