The Generation Rent activist group has made a striking attack on the National Residential Landlords Association.
The attack comes in a statement claiming that some students will not see what the campaign describes as the “benefits” of the Renters Rights Bill when it becomes law.
The activists say that whereas the Bill will provide help for many students – through a ban on Section 21 evictions, an end to pre-letting competitive bidding and the advent of periodic tenancies – other students will not have such elaborate protection.
A statement from the campaigners says: “Landlords will be able to evict students in HMOs at any point between June and September. This will affect around 300,000 students. At the very least, this is annoying for students who don’t want to move home in the middle of their course. But many students need to work over summer, are estranged from their families, or want to stay in their home after finishing their degree.
“And the kicker is that the National Residential Landlords Association wants even more students to be at risk of eviction. They’ve been pushing for this new eviction ground to apply to those in two-student house-shares, as well as those living on their own.”
Generation Rent claims another group of students set to miss out on Bill’s benefits is those living in student halls. Most university-owned halls are already exempt as the students living in them do so with licence agreements, rather than assured shorthold tenancies.
The campaigners say: “While universities should be signed up to a national code of practice for how these halls are run, students in them are afforded far less security. Fixed terms will continue, for example, while universities still won’t be required to protect students’ deposits or give more than a month’s notice of eviction.”
The statement goes on to claim:” In its current form, the Renters Rights Bill will make students in private halls (often called Purpose-built Student Accommodation or PBSA) lose out on new protections, too. This is because their tenancies will become licences, rather than assured periodic tenancies, just like those in uni-owned halls. According to the Census, there are 433,000 students in halls who will have fewer rights than other renters, although the figure is likely higher as the Census took place during the COVID-19 pandemic, while student numbers have also since grown.”
Generation Rent paints a bleak picture of how students live, blaming much of the plight on landlords in the private rental sector.
It says that housing costs, in particular, have spiralled in recent years, and it alleges that this means “more of students’ dwindling money is being spent on poor-quality homes. And they are poor-quality. The NUS’s recent accommodation survey found that half of students have experienced mouldy homes, while a fifth had had pest infestations. Overall, 84% of student renters reported issues with their housing.”
And it concludes by saying: “We need to be strengthening the rights of renters and stopping landlords profiting from cold, mouldy homes, not eroding protections. The Renters’ Rights Bill recognises this and is set to make things better for many tenants; it should be doing the same for students.”
This article is taken from Landlord Today