Durham students are organising a protest against the University in response to the cost of living and ongoing housing crisis.

The organisers say the protest will be held due to the University having “failed to address the cost of living crisis facing students this year”, despite anticipating the housing crisis would happen.

The protest will gather outside the Billy Bryson Library at 1pm tomorrow (Friday 28th October), with the aim to express student opinion to the University and put forward the protest’s ten outlined demands.

These demands are as follows:

1. No more over subscription – only allow as many students in as there are houses for them to live in.
2. Support students at a council level to pressure landlords into only increasing rent with the level of inflation.
3. A public meeting with the University to discuss our options.
4. Increase the amount of college accommodation available to returners and bring prices down to what they were last year.
5. Provide other subsidies for students so they do not have to work alongside their degree and increase Durham grant to what it was in previous years.
6. Subsidise transport fees on trains and buses for students who have to live further out of town.
7. Increase the roll out of ‘Too Good To Go‘ to every college.
8. Work with local community food banks and charities to ensure that locals affected by the over subscription also have the support they need.
9. Support students’ well-being by increasing mental health resources and providing free sanitary products.
10. Make the Durham University guarantor scheme free and available to international students as well as those from low income backgrounds.

One student took to Twitter to say: “The conditions for signing student housing this year have been abhorrent. Paired with rent increasing by 150% in some cases and students being forced to camp outside estate agents – action must be taken.”

This follows an email sent yesterday afternoon by the University where they admitted that the housing crisis is partly caused by its acceptance of too many students.

The Pro-Vice-Principal Jeremy Cook stated that the University’s attempt to prevent the “anticipated” current situation had failed, as agencies ignored their advice “not to enter into early selling.”

In some cases, students have been forced to sleep on the streets overnight, queueing for 15 hours outside the estate agents to find a house for next year.

See you there!

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• I’m a fresher and the Durham Uni housing crisis is especially frightening for us

• Durham students driven to queuing overnight on the street again amidst housing crisis

• 15 things that are easier to do than signing a student house in Durham