NUS says students' living conditions are "second class"

Siân Knight Nottingham

Sixteen per cent of students live in vermin infested houses, according to a survey by the National Union of Students (NUS). The findings, published as part of the NUS Housing and Health Survey 2001, showed that half of students live in houses which have damp and 40% reported mould growing in bedrooms, bathrooms, and kitchens. Basic safety precautions were often neglected by landlords: 20% cent of students lived in houses without smoke detectors, and half of the students surveyed did not have locks fitted on their doors and windows.

When you're laid in bed at night watching roaches climb the wall

Most worryingly, nearly half the students had never seen a gas safety certificate, a document which landlords are legally obliged to display. According to the government's Health and Safety Executive (HSE), at least 30 people die from carbon monoxide poisoning in the Britain each year, with students and the elderly being particularly at risk. "No matter how low the total seems compared to the 20 million households who use gas, each fatal accident is an individual tragedy which could have been avoided by simple preventative measures," said Jane Willis of the HSE's safety policy directorate. "Don't think that carbon monoxide poisoning is an accident that can't happen to you. It can and will if you don't act to keep yourself safe."

The NUS vice president for welfare, Claire Kober, agrees. "The conditions revealed by our survey shows that students are being treated as second class citizens. Students have enough to worry about with increased hardship and debt, working part time to fund their studies and trying to maintain academic standards. Up to 80% of their student loan is spent on rent -the least they deserve is safe and secure housing, conducive to study. The NUS is calling for legislation that enforces a scheme of licensing for houses in multiple occupation which protects all vulnerable people in society, including students."




studentBMJ 2001;09:443-486 December ISSN 0966-6494