Have your say on student housing

Added on 24/06/2009

Dear all,

As you may know, the Government published two consultations last month in response to pieces of research carried out by ECOTEC and Julie Rugg respectively. These consultations addressed issues and concerns about student housing, and in particular whether planning legislation should be used to restrict where students can and can not live. You can read more on the research and subsequent consultations in our social policy briefing on the reports.

NUS will be responding to both consultations in the coming weeks. However, we need your help in responding to the consultation, 'HMOs and possible planning responses'. We are encouraging students’ unions to respond individually by providing their own experiences and how you have worked together in partnership with the institution, local authority and resident groups to address some of the problems that exist.

Background

In 2008, the Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) commissioned ECOTEC to carry out a piece of research looking into the issues around high concentrations of Homes of Multiple Occupancy (HMOs) with a particular focus on student housing.

This was the result of fierce lobbying by the HMO Lobby, an association of community groups campaigning for action on the impact of HMOs, and the All Party Parliamentary Group for Balanced and Sustainable Communities.

The purpose of this research was to explore whether planning could be used to control the numbers of HMOs and student houses, available to rent, in particular areas in order to limit their expansion.

The Government has considered this research and opened a consultation on the future of HMOs. The outcomes of this consultation will have an impact on students’ lives: from where they live, to the cost of their rent to the type of property they live in. Therefore, we would encourage all students’ unions and other student groups to consider responding to this consultation to ensure that the views of students are heard.

Responding to the consultation

You can access NUS's consultation walkthrough here! This looks at the consultation in-depth and looks at all the issues of debate.

The deadline for consultations is 7th August 2009.

If you are looking to respond to this consultation please get in touch with us. We’ll be able to offer you advice and guidance if required.

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Further reading:

Don’t plan us out of our neighbourhoods - Why you should fight against proposals to restrict HMOs in communities.

Register now for students in the community event 11 June 2009

Added on 18/05/2009

NUS has teamed up with Unipol once again to run a students in the community one-day event on 11 June 2009. This will offer incoming and outgoing community officers - or those with community issues in their remit - to share ideas, discuss handover and plan for the coming year.

This event draws on the success of last year's event, and will be of particular interest to those officers that cover community issues as part of their remit as well as community liaison officers and students' union staff. The day offers a great opportunity for outgoing officers to talk about their experiences and incoming officers to develop their plans and ideas as part of their handover.

During the day, participants will look at recent developments in student-led community partnerships and share best practice from the sector. This will be a great opportunity to meet with those in similar roles and posts to discuss the issues and new policy developments, and share ideas to develop campaigns.

We do hope you can make it to the event, there is more information on the agenda and booking details here.

Faith on campus

Added on 21/05/2009

NUS is pleased to announce a two-year project which will focus on improving the experiences of students of faith in Further and Higher Education. The main focus of the project will be to work with individual students’ unions in order to develop a bank of resources for them to use.

Over the last few years NUS has frequently been asked to provide students’ unions with guidance on both supporting students of faith on campus and resolving inter-faith tension on campuses.

There has also been an increase of reported dissatisfaction from students of faith with regards to both the structure of the academic timetable and the nature of pastoral and social support that is available on campuses across the UK.

Over the last eighteen months NUS has been exploring various ways of meeting these requests from our members. We have also been looking at ways of providing a space in which there can be meaningful inter-faith dialogue at a national level.

In spring 2008, we received a small amount of funding from the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) to bring together student faith leaders to discuss options for Student-led Interfaith Collaboration. Following these discussions, we produced a report outlining our recommendations for future work in this area.

Inter-faith project

We have now secured funding for a two-year project. With this funding, we will bring together student leaders from a wide range of faiths to consider Inter-faith collaboration.

The project aims to improve the experiences of students of faith in further and higher education by increasing students’ unions awareness of students of faith and provide support, training and resources with regards to students of faith.

It will also provide support, training resources and information for local student faith leaders to develop strong local inter-faith collaboration.

Work on this project is anticipated to start fully from September 2009. We are currently recruiting for a Student Inter-Faith Coordinator to lead this project.

Your views

In order to ensure that this project meets the needs of NUS members please identify someone in your union who can spare 15 minutes filling out the following survey. The results of this survey will be used to shape the direction of this project.

The survey will be open until 12 noon on Friday 29 May.

Consultations published on student housing

Added on 18/05/2009

Last week, the Government published two consultation documents that concern student housing which can both be downloaded here.

The first, The private rented sector: professionalism and quality - The Government response to the Rugg Review Consultation, is the Government's response to the Rugg review of October last year, as well as recommendations made by the Law Commission in Renting Homes, Proportionate Dispute Resolution and Encouraging Responsible Letting.

In summary, we were broadly in favour of the recommendations made in the Rugg Review, and indeed by the Law Commission. We are particularly pleased to see that our campaign to lift the threshold from £25,000 has been taken up in this response. As well as issues around registering landlords, licensing for letting agents, and model tenancies.

The second, Houses in Mulitple Occupation and possible planning responses, looks specifically at the issues around high concentrations of HMOs and is a direct response to the research carried out by ECOTEC last year.

As you may remember, NUS had grave concerns about the suggestion of using planning legislation to control where students can and cannot live, and how this problematises student houses and students as tenants.

The deadline for these consultations is 7th August 2009.

NUS will be responding fully to both consultations and would like to hear your thoughts on the issues. These are public consultations, and so any individual or organisation can respond which we would strongly encourage any students' unions, officers or students to do. For more information on these issues, check out our neighbourhood pages, or get in touch with the neighbourhood team.

Meet the Parents

Added on 01/05/2009

NUS has launched a major report into life as a student parent.

Meet the Parents, a first hand account of life as a student parent, was launched at the House of Commons today.

The report reveals that, despite the benefits education can offer to those with children, there is still a lack of information and funding available. Constant struggle

Find out more and download the report.