Friday 25-10-2024 - 12:10

On Wednesday, your Full-Time Officers—Lucy, Linlu, Katie, Bakhtawar, and Ella—went to Westminster for the No More Guarantors: National Union for Students, National Lobby Day!

Their mission? To stand up for Bristol Students and bring awareness to elected MPs around how detrimental the current guarantor scheme can be to student renters 🏡

By attending the lobby your officers aimed to gain support from MPs to abolish guarantor requirements in the Renters Rights Bill.

Requiring a guarantor to secure a rental property is an issue for many students!

Under current legislation, landlords can require new tenants to have a guarantor who lives in the UK and either owns property or meets certain income thresholds. This policy unfairly impacts working-class and international students, as well as students without family support, making it much harder for them to find a new rental.

This is why your officers went to Westminster to advocate for change 📢

Your Full-Time Elected Officers in London for the No More Guarantors: NUS National Lobby Day (From left to right; Ella, Bakhtawar, Lucy, Katie and Linlu)

The full-time officer team also had the chance to meet with Carla Denyer, the Green Party MP for Bristol Central, alongside the elected officers from UWE 🤝

They spoke to her regarding the many issues that students were facing while renting including, guarantor requirements, up front rental payments and ensuring no exemptions for students in no-fault evictions.

Lucy Pears, your Student Living Officer, after the event said; “The new government’s Renters’ Rights Bill presents a crucial opportunity to improve student housing, but we must ensure it addresses students’ needs”

 “This is why we went to London alongside other Student Union Officers from across the country to advocate for change and give Bristol students a voice in this matter”

Bristol SU is committed to advocating for fair housing practices and will continue to promote the rights of student renters across Bristol and the UK!