Record breaking RAG week brings total to more than £85,000 News, page 7
C OURIER THE
Rogue landlords leave students out in the cold
Issue 1226 Monday 28 February 2011 www.thecourieronline.co.uk
Elliot Bentley
Students are increasingly falling victim to rogue landlords, leaving students homeless with little or no warning, The Courier has learned as the result of an in-depth investigation. Scores of students have been evicted, as landlords fail to keep up their mortgage repayments, leaving houses to be repossessed. The Student Advice Centre and the University Accommodation Service stress that the phenomenon has become a growing problem within recent years. There is speculation that, with banks having reduced the number of mortgages provided in the wake of the credit crunch, landlords are being forced to turn to sub-prime lenders. These sub-prime mortgage lenders tend to demand higher interest and are more aggressive when repossessing properties from borrowers who have failed to keep up their payments. Sebastian Forbes, a third-year Biology student, was threatened with eviction twice. He told The Courier
how he and his housemates became “worried and stressed” when they received their eviction notice, and had to take a week off to look for a new home. “I literally do not trust landlords at all now,” he said. “It was something I didn’t really need,” said Megan ThompsonGreen, a second-year English Literature student who received a notice of eviction in November. “We called the estate agent but were told the landlord was out of the country.” Sebastian and Megan are not alone. The Courier has spoken to several students evicted with little warning, or in the case of one student, none at all, within the last six months. The charity Shelter said: “Sometimes the first a tenant may know of this is when the bailiffs turn up on the doorstep. This is obviously unjust when tenants have paid their rent regularly. It can also be deeply distressing because people are left facing homelessness. “Tenants can also lose out financially. Some lose their deposit, others lose the rent that they have paid Continued on page 4 and 5
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‘Banter’ culture of RAG week exposed after claims of sexism Jonathan Offredo
Nowhere to call home: second-year student Becky Hair and her housemates were threatened with eviction after their landlord failed to keep up his mortgage payments
The Students’ Union has launched an investigation into the ‘banter’ culture within Raising and Giving week after multiple claims of sexism and discriminatory behaviour were reported during one of the most successful fundraising campaigns in recent years. The inquest began after two anonymous emails sent to Union Sabbatical Officers following RAG Roller Disco night at Sam Jacks where RAG officers on the door used permanent pen to mark attendees hands with numbers one through to 10, later found out to be ratings of attractiveness. According to those close to the situation, the numbers were given by organisers to all 136 people, both male and female volunteers who were unaware of the significance until later. One crew member dropped out of RAG as a result of the incident. An official statement from RAG apologised for any offence that was caused and said the group understood the Union’s decision to investigate and was cooperating fully with it. “It was never our intention to hurt anyone’s feelings and we really regret that this has been the consequence of our thoughts and actions,” the statement said. One RAG supervisor who was involved deeply regretted the action, saying that they personally should have taken a step back and said: “This is not what we should be doing.” “We thought it would be funny if the people you knew found out, a bit of a laugh about that, but didn’t think about the people we didn’t know and the issues they might have and the impact they would have on them - it was probably naïve but I don’t think it was malicious in the slightest,” one person added. The investigation is being led by Sarah Fearns, the Union’s Welfare and Equality officer, who is herself a former RAG organiser. “I think it’s a really horrible thing Continued on page 5