Dan Lonsdale: Housing Forum
Thursday 15-02-2024 - 15:18
What is your SU doing to tackle the housing crisis in Durham? And how can you get involved?
Two excellent questions. The answers will be provided at our first Housing Forum on Wednesday, 21 February!
At the forum, we will touch on the key pillars of our work this year, including:
- Our co-op campaign in which we seek to build a co-operative housing project here in Durham by buying a house. We want to prove that it is possible for rent to be both affordable and productive, that housing can be more than a commodity and instead a place of community, democracy and sustainable innovation. And, crucially, that Durham University can do more to tackle the escalating crisis of affordability here in the city.
- Our work to secure additional licensing, which involves collecting evidence of poor housing standards across the DH1 postcode to compel Durham County Council to introduce more rigorous and enforceable regulations for privately rented homes.
- Advocate for the University to introduce a free, universal housing guarantor scheme to end the existing exploitative schemes.
- And much more!
For each of these projects, we need student support to make them successful. The co-op needs members interested in sustainable living and radical democratic innovation (as well as a dislike of student landlords, of course!) Additional licensing needs evidence collection. The guarantor scheme needs students to share their experience of the current scheme and why it is bad! If any of this sounds like something you’re interested in, please come along!
Book a free ticket here. Coffee and cake provided!
