Housing shortage leaves students homeless National Union warns
Student financial anxieties revealed by exclusive @NUSuk research
- Fewer than one in six students trust the UK Government to act in their best interests on Covid-19.
- At least 63% of students are concerned about their long-term career prospects.
- Students cite the lack of job opportunities in general (45%) as the biggest factor in their career search.
In the midst of an ongoing cost of living crisis, brand new research from NUS has revealed that students are feeling apprehensive about their finances. This data is made all the more newsworthy following reports that the Government is planning to cut the repayment threshold on student loans from £27,295 to £23,000, and after a month in which the Government increased National Insurance contributions and confirmed cuts to Universal Credit of £1,040 per year.
Even before the Government began abandoning its manifesto commitments, students were feeling bleak about their future. Exclusive research from NUS reveals that 63% of students surveyed between 20th July and 19th August were concerned about their long-term career prospects, with 62% concerned about immediate job opportunities. Students explained the biggest impact on their career search was the lack of job opportunities in general (45%) or in their specific field (41%).
And student confidence that the Government will represent them is astonishingly low. Just 15% of students felt they had considered the difficulties Covid-19 has presented to them, and only 16% felt confident that the Government is acting in students’ best interests. Disabled students and those with caring responsibilities reported the lowest levels of confidence.
Students aren’t just worrying about the future; they’re struggling now. More than two in three (70%) students are concerned about their ability to manage financially, whilst just 24% of students say they haven’t had to cut back on their spending since the Covid-19 outbreak.
Furthermore, it’s likely that financial burdens are weighing more heavily on students’ now than they did one and a half months ago when NUS’ survey closed; the Office of National Statistics has since confirmed that real wages are continuing to fall, and recent Government announcements will target the incomes of younger graduates on low and middling incomes.
Faced with new evidence on the scale of the financial crisis hitting students, and after last week NUS research exposed how badly the pandemic has hit the mental health of students, NUS is calling on the Government to act. They’re calling that they U-turn on plans to cut the repayment threshold on student loans and hike national insurance, get their priorities right and stop running education like competitive businesses, and re-envision it as a right for all, not an economic product that can be bought and sold for individual gain. Rather than risk the votes of young people at the next election, they need to immediately act and restore student confidence.
Hillary Gyebi-Ababio, NUS UK Vice President for Higher Education, commented:
“It is such a shame that students feel so anxious about their current and future financial situation. But sadly, it’s hardly a surprise – this Government has treated students appallingly throughout the past 18 months, so I’m not shocked that the vast majority simply don’t trust them to act in their interests. As well as being deeply unfair, this is a truly damning verdict.
“Coupled with the Government’s campaign targeting those on the lowest incomes through hikes to National Insurance and changes to student loan repayments, I imagine even more students will feel deceived by this callous Government. Rather than let down students once more, they should work with us to build the student movement’s vision of a fully- funded, accessible, lifelong, and democratised higher education system”.
A student housing shortage has left hundreds of students in Scotland with nowhere to live for the first few weeks of their degree.
The National Union of Students for Scotland has highlighted that students are being forced to pay sky high rents, experience homelessness, drop out or defer because they cannot find adequate housing.
Students in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Stirling are among those worst affected, with some landlords increasing rent to profit from demand.
NUS Scotland has called on the Scottish Government to urgently intervene, working with students’ associations and institutions to ensure every student has a home. Long term, the students’ union is calling for a student housing strategy and rent controls to improve student tenancy rights.
Commenting on the shortages Matt Crilly, NUS Scotland President said:
“There are hundreds of students who’ve returned to college and university only to find they don’t have a place to live. Landlords are pricing students out of education with sky high rents.
“It’s deeply concerning that students are being forced to stay in hostels, commute for hours or sofa surf to access their education. The Scottish Government must urgently intervene to address the student housing crisis and provide support to students, students’ associations and institutions to ensure no student has to experience homelessness.
“For years students have had to put up with expensive, sub-standard housing dominated by intimidating landlords and without any real rights. We need a student housing strategy for Scotland that ensures all students have access to safe, affordable accommodation.”
Methodology: 5173 students from across the whole of the UK, so including England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland took part in the latest Covid survey, which was in field from 20th July to 19th August 2021.
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