vent-rent-results

Vent About Your Rent: The Results 2012 - 2013 1

THE RESULTSA report on students’ views of

housing and halls

2012-2013

2 Vent About Your Rent: The Results 2012 - 2013

CONTENTS

Chloe’s Introduction

The Objectives

Vital Statistics

Who Responded?

Summary of Key Findings

Students’ Comments

Appendix

3

5

6

7

8

13

19


OF ALL THE FUN CAMPAIGNS A VP WELFARE COULD

RUN, WHY ON EARTH WOULD I OPT FOR A FAIRLY

STRAIGHTFORWARD, NO FRILLS HOUSING SURVEY?

Surveys are boring. Spending hours trawling through data is hardly my

idea of a good time. But all too often I hear students’ horror stories about

their private rented property. Slugs, exploding ovens, court cases, no hot

water, no keys… no rights. And what am I to do about it? As much as I’d

love to go to your landlord’s house and bend their ear o� , I don’t think

that’s all too sustainable (or would yield results). All I can do is encourage

fellow students to make the right decisions based upon gaining as much

information as you can get your hands on. And that’s where VAYR comes

into play.

Across the country, the dangerous combination of poor housing conditions and rogue landlords mix with swaths of students who don’t fully understand their rights as tenants. Surveys

like this, often called ‘Rate Your Landlord’ or ‘Rate Your Rent’, have

become increasingly popular over the last few years in Students’ Unions

and act as a welcome remedy to legal restrictions put on personally

naming landlords or letting agencies to reveal the cowboys amongst

the pack. I particularly thank the University of Sussex Students’ Union

and Aberystwyth University Students’ Union for their excellent work and

guidance.

Just over 1 out of every 50 students studying at University of Southampton fi lled out this survey. For a fi rst time e� ort, that’s not


half bad. It has also been noted that some people answered the survey

on behalf of their house, meaning that these results may represent the

experiences of entire households. My aspiration is that VAYR becomes a

recognised brand and an annual endeavour, which will see our response

rates rocket and the political leverage it has also rise. I’d also love to see

VAYR extend to Solent University, so that a bigger view of Southampton’s

housing market can be recorded annually.

This report does not seek to misinform students, disgrace landlords or scaremonger: it is simply a collection of anonymous student opinions which we can publish and distribute

to empower students to make excellent choices. We can also use it to

lobby stakeholders: the letting agencies themselves, local councillors and

MPs, the university and us here at SUSU too. Students’ Unions are great

advocates for fair housing rights; if this information is shared far and

wide, the impact it could have is huge.

So on that note: share a link to this document on Facebook, pick up a copy and put it through your neighbour’s post box, and

ask people you meet in seminars or labs if they’ve seen the results. It’s

taken us weeks to compile this bad boy, it’s the least you could do!

Chloe GreenVP Welfare and Communities 2012-13


OBJECTIVESWhat was Vent About Your Rent trying to achieve?

TO UNDERSTAND HOW HIGHLY STUDENTS RATE THE

QUALITY OF THEIR LANDLORD/LETTING AGENCY

TO UNDERSTAND HOW HIGHLY STUDENTS RATE THE

QUALITY OF THEIR HOUSE

TO MONITOR THE AVERAGE RENT PRICES, HOW

MUCH STUDENTS PAY IN FEES AND HOW MUCH OF

THIS IS REFUNDABLE

TO FIND OUT WHETHER STUDENTS FEEL PRESSURE TO

SIGN A CONTRACT FOR PRIVATE RENTED PROPERTY

AND WHERE THAT PRESSURE COMES FROM

TO FIND OUT WHETHER THE ‘DON’T SETTLE’ HOUSING

CAMPAIGN HAD BEEN SEEN BY STUDENTS, AND

WHETHER IT CHANGED THEIR BEHAVIOURS


TARGET AUDIENCE

All students, particularly those who have lived in private rented property.

SURVEY DATES

08/02/2013 – 12/03/2013

METHODOLOGY

On-line at surveymonkey Facebook event which links to survey

METHOD OF PROMOTION

Regular social media updates & Facebook event Welfare committee promoting through social media and word of mouth

Feature in residences support monthly newsletter

TOTAL NUMBER OF RESPONDENTS

632INCENTIVE: Being a part of social change (and £300 towards rent)

RESPONDENT DEMOGRAPHICS: 22,000 (fi gures for total student population based on December snapshot 2011. 2012-13 report not yet

published).


WHO ANSWERED THE SURVEY?*

Number of respondents

Percentage of participants

Percentage total of student

area against entire student

population (22,000)

Overall 632 100% N/A

Female 374 59% 53.90%

Male 258 41% 46.10%

5th year 6 1% 2.89%

4th year 51 8% 8.17%

3rd year 208 32% 22.45%

2nd year 245 39% 27.69%

1st year 121 20% 36.76%

UK 551 87% 69.32%

Europe 36 5.50% 6.97%

Overseas 35 5.50% 3.35%

*See appendix for validity of statistics


SUMMARY OF KEY FINDINGS

RESPONDENTS WHO CURRENTLY LIVE IN HALLS

47% had started looking for a house by November

“The large letting agencies start letting early deliberatly to put pressure

on students, particularly first years”

Over 85% of respondents had already signed a contract for a house next

year having only been at University for 5 months.

58% went with a

letting agency over a

private landlord

3%17%

36%

70%86%

14%

Chose to wait

October November December January February

6% of those are staying in halls next year

% of people

committed to a

contract


“leafleting to halls from letting agents definitely has to

stop! We were sucked into the “housing rush” and signed for a

house for 84 quid a week with no double glazing”

40% of those who had not signed a contract yet said they intended on

looking for a house in February

36.4% of those who have not signed for a house yet

wanted to take their time over making the decision.

“i learnt from last year not to rush!”

26%

paid a holding fee

with highest being £200

55%

paid admin fees

with the highest being £150

28%

paid a deposit protection fee

with the highest being £420

59% saw the housing campaign “DON’T SETTLE”


TOP 10 LOWEST SCORING LETTING AGENCIES

(AVERAGE SCORES OUT OF 10):

Elliots (1.5)South Lettings (2)

Beals Lettings | Morris Dibben | Personal Homefi nders (3)Cryers | Repulink | Homelife Lettings (3.5)

Marques | Pearsons (4)

Letting agents Private landlords

£79The average price charged for

rent

£73The average price charged for

rent

5/10The average score of service

7.5/10The average score of service

5.5/10The average score of home

quality

7.5/10The average score of home

quality

RESPONDENTS WHO CURRENTLY LIVE IN PRIVATE

RENTED ACCOMMODATION

53.9% went with a letting agency over a private landlord

VS


HAVE YOU FELT PRESSURED ONE WAY OR THE OTHER,

TO SIGN A CONTRACT ON YOUR RESIDENCE NEXT

YEAR?

40.2% said YES

THE FOLLOWING ARE SOME OF THE COMMENTS

PROVIDED BY RESPONDENTS.

“Very happy with what I’ve got, we found this

place in April”

“Its terrible the way they (letting agents) panic students in october, especially

freshers”

“Never rush into signing anything! All students

should know by now not to sign or rush,

anything before January”


They said all the good

houses will be gone

after Christmas! How

ridiculous.

We were asked to confirm we

wanted to live in the same house

next year in early November and

given about 2 weeks to confirm

We felt pressured and

slightly bullied into

buying as soon as we had

viewed the house

The large lettings agencies

start letting early deliberately

to put pressure on students,

particularly first years.

Letting agencies Private landlords Friends Family Halls

WHERE DID THIS PRESSURE COME FROM?Multiple choice question

“Know your rights. Don’t be a coward and

speak up if your landlord is messing you

around!"


“It’s common for landlords/letting agencies to say things like ‘This house

goes very quickly so you’ll have to sign a contract soon’ which pressures

you into choosing a house instead of looking around more.”

“We felt pressured and slightly bullied into buying as soon as we had

viewed the house”

“We were asked to confi rm we wanted to live in the same house next year

in early November and given about 2 weeks to confi rm”

“They said all the good houses will be gone after Christmas! How

ridiculous.”

“The large lettings agencies start letting early deliberately to put pressure

on students, particularly 1st years.”

“Seriously great landlords, everything is sorted right away (on the rare

occasion we have a small issue). The house is top quality, no damp, and at

a great price”

“I think SUSU should do more to ensure that students are not being

ripped o� . The advice centre and SASSH is very good but I would like to

see these services expanded.”

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS FROM RESPONDENTS


“Know your rights. Don’t be a coward and speak up if your landlord is

messing you around.”

“In October just after uni had started they were already pressurizing us

to resign for next year. Wouldn’t even hold our house for a week while

we got money together, 100 pounds is a lot of money for admin which

we won’t get back. Still showed people around our house when we had

resigned !”

“Many letting agencies used pressurising tactics, such as calling us up and

saying unless we decided to sign for a house that day it would be taken

o� the market.”

“I pay £78 a week for a house that had damp when we moved in and

wasn’t cleaned. We had 2 months with no washing machine (despite it

included on the contract). When our back door was smashed open it

took the landlord 2 weeks to come and take a look and get his men to

take measurements, by January nothing had still been fi xed, despite

his son promising he was chasing the fi tters daily. When we called the

landlord again he said that he wasn’t fi xing it and that we knew it was our

responsibility all along. This was not the case, we knew we would pay for

the repair but not have to organise it.”

“The housing campaign helped us to make our decision to leave our

current house (fi rst year rushed mistake) and we waited for the SASSH list

and got this loooovely house for next year :)”



“Should be a warning about signing up to houses without knowing the

landlord. Vibe signed us into a deal with a shocking landlord.”

“Leafl eting to halls from letting agents defi nitely needs to stop! We were

sucked into the ‘housing rush’, and signed for a house for £84 a week,

with no double glazing. My room is the smallest, 6ft by 11ft, and was

advertised as a double room when it really shouldn’t have been. I’ve had

mould on and o� all year round in it (bed is against two outside walls and

a bathroom) and each time I’ve rung posh pads they’ve told me to move

the bed away from the wall, when there is absolutely no space to do this.

They also take on average 3-5 days to come and sort out a problem.”

“On the “Student No Fees” right outside university, they present on the

window by saying that we need to “beat the rush” which is completely

untrue. I remember fi rst to second year completely falling for the hype

about houses and getting a really skanky one!”

“Letting Agencies take absolute liberties with students. We found a house

for next year and asked if we could pay the deposit in January when our

student loan came through, it was November at the time. This time we

went with Tenant Direct and they said it was absolutely fi ne, the lady who

saw to us even asked her supervisor who said it was fi ne. We all signed

the contract on the basis that we could pay after our loans came through

and were then told we had 2 weeks to pay the fi rst months rent. We

challenged the same people that said we could pay in January and they

said to us “That’s what it says in the contract”. Absolutely disgusting!

Safer, easier, cheaper to go with Private landlords rather than agencies.”



“Many more student rooms than students, no rush necessary”

“I’ve had a broken window for 3 months now of which the letting

agency have been aware of and reminded several times. The landlords

themselves are lovely people but the letting agencies seem to not

communicate greatly unless they want something (i.e. to allow viewings

to our house)”

“Last year student, very happy with landlord, always sorts out any issues

we have right away, wouldn’t hesitate in recommending him to anyone.”

“Very happy with what I’ve got, we found this place in April”

“No issues with my landlord at all. No fees charged, same house two

years and no increase in rent. All problems such as broken boiler, mould,

fl ooring were fi xed promptly.”

“Felt if we didnt sign of this house it would be let to someone else before

we really had a lot of chance to look at other properties”

“Learnt from last year not to rush!”

“I would give the landloard a rating of 10, and the agency a rating of 1”

“We are very very happy with the house we have found, and the landlord

is excellent!”



“Everyone seems to be renting earlier and earlier every year and if you

haven’t found people to move in with it puts a massive stress on you to

fi nd a place some people i know signed houses in October and November

and i hadn’t really found a group of people i would be willing to share a

house with.”

“We have had serious issues with our landlord, who seems to be a very

devious character. For 18 months we were paying the electricity bill of

an adjoining property (owned by the same landlord) as their electricity

supply was connected to our meter, whilst the landlord charged them

£20 a week for bills - none of which reached us.”

“Think its disgusting that most houses in Southampton are let through

estate agents that in my experience have constantly lets us down

promising us houses that have already gone, not showing up to meetings

or viewings, lying about price and rooms/ size and at an extortionate

price. They only get away with it because we are students, at the bottom

of the housing food chain.”

“I know the freshers seem to always want to sign for houses in sem1

which is ridiculously early. This then puts pressure on other students to

sign. Ideally I would not want to be thinking about housing until after Jan

exams.”

“Housing signs go up way too early and many landlords or letting agents

sign contracts in halls bars/backs of cars- random places because they



convince you that it must be done asap. Letting agent this year never

notifi es us about anything (your move) and we end up hearing things

straight from the landlord when he asks “have the letting agents told you

this?”. Presumably this is because the letting agents don’t regard students

as high priority and so just don’t bother giving us any decent service.”

“Its terrible the way they panic students in October, especially freshers.”

“Thanks to SUSU for their amazing campaign :)”

“Some lettings agents can be incredibly pushy. One agent told us that

another group he was showing round had already signed a contract

that same day. I am fairly certain he was lying. He was incredibly rude

to us, and attempted to make us feel as though all the good housing in

Southampton was being snapped up already. This was NOT the agency

we eventually went through. The fees we paid were ridiculously high.

Students need to be reassured that they DON’T have to sign up for

the fi rst house that they see, that there is an abundance of housing in

Southampton, and that they should be able to get their deposits back

(advice on this & on landlords delaying this should be given by SUSU, I

think.)”

“MOULD! I didn’t realise my student house would have so much. They

defi nitely hid that well when I signed my contract!”

“In the fi rst year of fi nding private rented accommodation, there was a lot



of emphasis to get a house as quickly as possible (before Christmas), but

since then I have realised that was not necessary and we were too hasty

in fi nding a house - there are still plenty of houses available later in the

year.”

“Some of the letting agencies are terribly unprofessional . There a terrible

notion of houses that are acceptable for students but not normal tenants.

Whilst looking at houses some are at an unacceptable standard for

anyone to live in.”

“This year I felt somewhat pressured as there was so much ‘THIS HOUSE

GOES SO QUICKLY’ talk that made us panic and sign without taking time

to look at other, perhaps better options.”

“Sassh list was very helpful”


*’Who answered the survey’

Confi dence in sample: ±1.6 at 95% (so we can be 95% sure that any percentages given

in the summary are within ±1.6% of the true fi gure for entire student population)

N.B. Respondents living in halls have a confi dence in sample of 90% due to a smaller

population.

APPENDIX


Documents

vent-rent-results