Housing Review
Methodology • As a starting point for the Housing Project, and to develop a better understanding of related issues facing students, the Insight Team have attempted to collate all research relating to student housing in the city A tracking sheet of 32 documents was compiled, consisting of research from • Nottingham & Nottingham Trent Students’ Union, documents from local and national government, Unipol publications, externally commissioned research and a host of other miscellaneous publications • Using the data analysis software Nvivo, a review of the literature was undertaken and emergent themes tracked, manifesting (in part) what will be fed back today
Information Sources The following documents have been used for this presentation: • Love your home 2014 (UoN) • Homes fit for study (Nottingham) • Savill documents (x3) • Essential House hunting Guide 13/14 (Unipol with UoN) Assessment of Student Residence and Housing Market Conditions in Nottingham (Unipol) • • Making Student Housing Better 2012-2015 (Unipol) • House Hunting Guide 14/15 (Unipol) • Student experience project (UoN) • Housing Preferences for students at Nottingham University (UoN) • The Housing Nottingham Plan 2013-15 (NCC) Accommodation Costs (NUS) • • How can we Help 2013/2014 (UoN) All research compiled is available in SU>Communications>Research>Community>Housing Project
What is a literature review? • A process of scoping out all information we can find about student living, particularly in Nottingham, and then reviewing this secondary evidence Purpose of Literature Review: Map all possible housing related research at the disposal of the Students’ Union • • Map findings of research • Identify gaps • Identify key issues • Clarify focus for any future research
What are the pros & cons of a literature review? Pros - It gives a wide overview of what’s going on - Provides a largely balanced argument - Enables you to map what information we currently have, and what areas need to be explored in more detail Cons • - It’s often time consuming, hard to cover all research, and not that specific • - There will always be ‘one stone left unturned’ • - Often, more questions emerge than when you first started! (This is why the lit review is linked to actions, demographic insight AND questions)
How has the literature been divided? • The research has initially been divided thematically - covering a wide variety of housing topics. These range from the condition of properties, to the house hunting process, location and the merits of accreditation schemes • In addition, the research has also been split into three colour coded subcategories: Green = change needed Blue = demographic/specific information to help target communications Yellow = Questions that we may wish to explore in the future
Awareness of rights • Students are most confident of their legal rights in relation to deposits – with 58.26% stating that they were well informed about their deposit being returned • Just under a fifth of respondents challenged deductions but had to pay them anyway • 46.63% stated that they aware of their legal rights in relation to repairs, and 40.70% aware of their legal rights relating to eviction • Very few students are using dispute resolution services Worryingly - 8.4% of respondents stated that they or others in their household had • been threatened by the landlord
Awareness of rights • What are students defining as ‘threatening behaviour’? - Is this in relation to one landlord or a range of landlords? - What form does such behaviour take - verbal or physical? • What is the dispute resolution service, and are we promoting it? - Do students know about it/how to access it? Is it suitable for the student market? • Those students that are confident about their rights – how did they learn/hear about them – Hearsay? Internet research?
Access to support systems • No first or fourth year students stated that their institution/SU had influenced their decision to start house hunting - such advice appears to have more traction with second and third year students • The overwhelming majority of respondents (99.1%) had their contract checked in some capacity, compared with 97% nationally (Homes fit for study) 20.5% had their contract checked by the SU/institution • What are the barriers that prevent more first and fourth years using support services, and the wider student body? Are they receiving support elsewhere – or not at all? • If they don’t need the support – how are they finding their living arrangements – hassle free?
Finances • 17% fall in the number of UK applicants during the first year of £9,000 fees (2012-13) • Demand from outside of Europe has grown quickly, but also decreased by 1% for the same period* • PGs can no longer access a subsidised loan system, required to pay fees upfront, private bank loans now popular option (Career Development Loan) Housing discounts: • Decreasing student numbers = private landlords discounting their empty rooms – halls have not followed suit • 2/3rds of students didn’t negotiate discounts – either didn’t feel they needed to or didn’t know they could • 50% would have negotiated if they had felt more confident to do so
Finances - Deposits • On average, the following amounts were paid to secure properties: - Nottingham: £483.11 - Lenton & Dunkirk: £467.65 - Beeston: £446.25 • This is increasing nationally (increase of 21% between 2009-2011) • The number of students having their deposit fully withheld in Nottingham is lower than the national average: 1.2% compared to 8% nationally • 38.5% agreed with the reductions made by the landlord/letting agent (national average = 23%) • 22.9% were unsure whether their deposit had been protected - Landlords/letting agents need to effectively communicate information about the deposit protection scheme
Finances – Hidden Fees • 43% of accommodation providers charge admin fees/booking fees 2012/13 - Private rental market (65%) Institutional market (37%) • Letting agents/landlords need to improve the support they give to tenants if they are to charge admin fees – 1/3rd stated that they had received some help, just under 1/3rd had no help at all • The average booking/signing fee nationally is £131 for private rentals and £109 for institutions - this has decreased over the last 4 years • Now that online booking is increasing, students would like to know where their admin fee is going despite not using a face to face service • Admin and booking fees should only cover work actually undertaken ‘ We had to pay a 'reservation fee' even though we didn't need to reserve we were ready to put down the deposit and that's when they told us it's actually an 'admin fee' and we had to pay it either way’
Finances – Rent • The most common rental bracket is £71-80 (excluding bills) • Rent has gone up by an average of 25% (2009-2012) - this substantially exceeds inflation. - Student loans/borrowed finance have not increased at same rate • Living in the community allows for cheaper rent and reduced ‘hidden fees’ • Half of respondents used their student loan to finance the initial payments required for securing accommodation Almost ½ of Nottingham respondents (45.23%) had taken on some form of additional debt to • finance initial tenancy costs (37% nationally) • Respondents living in halls say that the food they received was poor quality and represented poor value for money
House Hunting • 75% of students did not experience any problems whilst house hunting, and felt they were making an informed choice - 47% strongly agreed that they had made the right choice of where to live - 46% think that their accommodation feels like home Methods: • Students engage in both ‘structured’ & ‘unstructured’ searches online • Usually supplemented by informal sources of support – NB: this form of networking is often missed by international students • The most frequently given responses for choosing a particular type of accommodation were: - value for money, in a good convenient location and in good condition • Students are viewing a lot of properties before signing for them - 27.4% viewing 6+ properties in Nottingham • Students who spent longer searching for their accommodation were more likely say that they were satisfied with their property
House Hunting – Feeling Rushed Almost 1/3 rd of students started their house-hunting in January - just over a fifth started in • December, with another fifth starting in November • Some landlords/letting agents are adopting unprofessional/irresponsible selling techniques, 30% of respondents stated that they were pressured to sign by the landlord/letting agent (this pressure is most felt in third years) According to the Love Your Home research (UoNSU 2014), 1/3 rd of respondents experienced • problems with landlords/agents when searching for accommodation. These problems included: - Landlord/agent dishonesty - Pressure to sign contracts immediately - Unclear contracts - Landlords/agents not turning up for viewings - Landlords/agents being difficult for those who wish to stay in the property for more than one year - Landlords/agents loosing data
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