Durham University students and staff protest for better housing

This comes after weeks of panic saw hundreds of students sleeping on the street to try to secure accommodation for the 2023/24 academic year. 

Protestors demanded action from the university and county council to ensure enough high-quality and affordable housing for students and full-time residents in the city.

Read more: City parish chair 'shocked' to see queues to secure student house places in Durham

The well-attended protest was organized by student body members and saw the speakers representing the Student Union, the Tenants' Union, the Labour Club, the People of Colour Association, and the University and College Union. 

According to data published by the Parish Council, 28 per cent of houses in the City of Durham were let to students in April 2022. 

Among many residents, the feeling is that the city is very much at capacity, with individuals telling The Northern Echo feeling as though they are being pushed out of their homes and away from families by increasing rent. 

Frustrated protestors demanded changes in the city's housing market. Picture: Sarah Caldecott (Image: Sarah Caldecott)

Many of the students we spoke to understand the negative impact that their presence can have on permanent residents - and believe that the leadership at the university is at fault for this unsustainable expansion. 

The feeling amongst protestors and local bodies, such as the City of Durham Parish Council, is that "profiteering" university leadership has allowed unsustainable expansion, which has created a system where "everybody loses" whilst the university takes home an increasing profit. 

In a statement, the City of Durham Parish Council said they believed that: "This issue is caused primarily as a result of landlords releasing their properties into the market almost immediately and the University’s obsession with an unsustainable expansion policy, which is driving permanent long-term residents out of the City."

Though Durham University has claimed that there has been a current crisis has been caused by a reduction in privately rented accommodation in the city, the Parish Council has said that this has "no basis in fact". 

Protestors have called for an end to Durham University's unsustainable expansion. Picture: Sarah Caldecott (Image: Sarah Caldecott)

Protestors demanded a face-to-face meeting with university leadership, where their complaints and suggestions are heard out - and hope to find a solution where neither students nor residents are detrimentally impacted by the city's housing market. 

Read more: What it was like queuing for student lets in Durham City

Many protestors felt that letting agents were taking advantage of the situation - a spokesperson for Durham Tenants' Union spokesperson said: "Letting agents are handing out multiple contracts for the same property - so students are having to race each other to sign for a room.

"Students are only able to skim-read contracts, allowing landlords to take advantage of students. Our protest is a message for landlords, estate agents, the council and the university."

Hundreds of students gathered to send a message about the state of the rental market. Picture: Sarah Caldecott. (Image: Sarah Caldecott)

Additionally, Palatinate, the university's newspaper, found that staff from letting agent Loc8me admitted to discussing rent prices for the 2023/24 academic year, as part of a justification for why rent prices have increased. 

A spokesperson for the 93% Club, a student-run society dedicated to improving the experience of state school students at Durham University, said: "this is not the end, this is just the beginning", promising to escalate matters until a solution beneficial to all is reached. 

Regarding the housing crisis, a statement on Durham University's website said: "We have reassured all our students that we will support them in finding suitable accommodation either in College or elsewhere. We cannot exert control over the private rental market.

"We have seen some deplorable behaviour by letting agents and landlords in Durham, putting up prices above inflation and releasing properties much earlier than usual.

The university also established that they are looking into the housing crisis: 

"Working with Durham Students’ Union, we have invested significantly in extra measures to support students who are under financial pressure.  These include increases in our Durham Grant Scheme and our Student Support Fund.  

"We have also established a housing group, chaired by our Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Colleges and Student Experience, which will include our student leaders. This will ensure that we plan early and carefully for next academic year while continuing to address the current issues related to student housing."

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