Student co-operatives fight back against exploitative landlords
Housing co-operatives give students more control over their standard of living and cheaper rent.
The average weekly rent for students is £69 in the UK, with those studying in London forking out an average of £5,574 per year for dingy box rooms, a figure that dwarfs their £4,968 maintenance loan.
It’s a problem that’s pushing students from low-income backgrounds out of higher education, says James McCash, president of Edinburgh University students’ association. “Housing is becoming the next access issue. Up and down the country, already straddled by debt, students are struggling to pay extortionate rents.” But there may be a solution. Through projects such as Students for Co-operation and the University of London Tenants’ Union, young people are setting up their own housing co-ops. This is an arrangement where a group of people live in and collectively manage their accommodation. Because they’re the co-owners of the business that runs the accommodation, they don’t have to deal with a landlord …