Hi everyone!

I’m Hanna, your Community Officer. I just wanted to tell you about a really exciting event that I attended last week, along with Bath Spa SU President Jaz and Bath Spa Welfare Rep Laura. We headed to the B&NES council meeting at the Guildhall, where one of the first items on the agenda was a section where locals are welcomed to come and discuss any issues they have.

Eight locals stood to discuss various topics, before Jaz and I took the stand to speak about the quality and price of student housing in Bath, specifically regarding private housing. Some of the key points and issues that we highlighted was the amount of mould that is often found in student housing, houses being cold and drafty, high rent prices and bills and the effects these different factors can have on the mental and physical wellbeing of students. We also discussed how this can have an ongoing impact on their academic performance.

 Although we were both nervous to begin with, we felt that our speech was well received and we got a number of great questions and comments, some of which centred around asking for more details about the duty of care of the university for student housing and what the average rent price students pay nowadays. I thought that having these questions was a really good sign that we were being listened to, and reinforced our belief that this is a relevant issue that those who sit on the council don’t necessarily know the full extent of.

After our speech, we had the chance to speak to some local residents, who gave us some useful tips about different housing organisations and their living situations.

I am so pleased that we had the chance to speak at this event (even though it was a little nerve wracking!) as I feel we had a chance to make a real impact and have the voices of the student body heard.

This even got picked up by BBC news. View the BBC write-up.

I’ll keep you up to date with any other events I attend and let you know if there are any updates on the current housing situation!

Speak soon,

Hanna