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Fair Housing is not just limited to accommodation prices, it goes beyondwhat some may call ‘decent.’ Fair Housing is about getting the Universityand local landlords and letting agents, to guarantee that studentaccommodation is of the highest quality, the highest standard, andallocated in the fairest way.I have two clear manifesto pledges on housing, these are:

•

To lobby the university to

reverse its policy

of not housing returningstudents. We cannot expect students on placements or year’sabroad to sign a contract for houses they haven’t even seen.

•

To produce a detailed rating system of off-campus studentaccommodation landlords and letting agents. To rateaccommodation on the basis of cost, modern utilities, insulation,and value for money. To enable students to make a wise choice onthe kind of accommodation they want to live in.

To name andshame bad landlords

Further pledges include:

•

To put pressure on the University to

guarantee that all

first year university studentshave priority in being housed on campus. The pressure on coming to university isenough; new students shouldn’t have to worry about finding accommodation. It’sdown to the university to guarantee a place to live for all first years.

•

In regards to returning students, those abroad

should get priority

when it comes tobeing housed on campus. Then followed by other placement students, and in turnfollowed by second or third years. This is only right given the difficulty there is inviewing a house and then signing a contract when not in Canterbury, let alone thecountry.

•

In part with the rating system of off-campus accommodation, create a Kent Uniondirectory of the best landlords or letting agents for those students who are on year-placements or abroad who do not wish to live on campus, but want to findaccommodation without the burden of having to sign a contract without ever seeing where they are living. By

working with local landlords

, Kent Union couldguarantee to those students abroad that they have reserved however manyaccommodation places for those students who want a guarantee that they

can getthe best accommodation

they can afford upon return to Canterbury.

Lobbying

I have experience in lobbying at the highest levels, in both the UK Parliament, as well as inthe European Parliament. There is more to lobbying than just talking; there is a skill whichcan only be picked up after several attempts. The first time is nerve-wracking, the secondeven more so, but as you do it more and more often you pick up on the ‘double-speak’that often occurs. You can

start getting bolder

in your approach, and tighter in your execution of points.I believe with lobbying there always has been the bluff of using numbers, in our case, wehave students. Whilst constructive engagement would always be favoured, at times, whenthe other side isn’t conceding, you have to be prepared to make a show of strength by

exerting student pressure

.Accommodation, in both finding it, paying rent, and everything else that goes with it, is aconstant and immediate concern for every student. We probably spend a greater

proportion of our time in university-related conversation talking about accommodationand housing issues than perhaps anything else.This is why the demands for the kind of fair housing students want have got to be clear,concise and forward thinking.

Our Demands?

The demands are simple, and have already been mentioned. All housing must beaffordable. Rent prices are increasing, what we need is to have a City-wide campaign toget landlords to

freeze their accommodation prices

. We’re in a recession; interest rates aregoing down, as are mortgages and house prices. Yet, students are expected to payincreases in rent.

This isn’t fair

. The Union President, along with the rest of the student body,must respond to this by being bold and assertive.We also want

decent accommodation

. What do we mean by decent? We mean clean atthe time of moving in, modern utilities, utilities that work, modern insulation, well maintainedhomes, shower-equipped, etc. We mean accommodation to actually be homes, toresemble a

home-like atmosphere

, rather than dodgy holiday hotels. Some people dohave good landlords, and good homes, but others have had a bad, and in some casestragic, experience of renting. We must carry out a full-survey of every landlord and studentaccommodation in Canterbury. We must

help enable students

to make a wise choice onthe kind of accommodation they want to live in by having a

detailed rating system

ofletting agents and landlords. This would also help enable landlords to pay full-attention totheir properties, and to improve if it is clear that their student tenants are unhappy with thestate of their accommodation. This in turn would create a

healthier and more productive

landlord-tenant relationship, which is workable for all parties.For students studying abroad the demand is that they must be given priority in beinghoused by the university, or if desired, to work through Kent Union in finding suitable off-campus

accommodation that guarantees fairness

. The similar applies to placementstudents still in the UK; they too cannot be expected to sign a contract without viewing theaccommodation.

Conclusion

I know some of this reads as common sense, but

common sense is lacking in this studentunion.

We should already have a campaign underway to get the university to reverse its