Housing: Leave Louise Alone

Today I finally chose to sit down and read up about the Student Housing Protest, an increasingly heated topic of conversation in St Andrews. With so much else going on (I don’t know if you noticed, but we have a new Rector, and her name is Catherine Stihler, and she’s great), it’s easy to get distracted, but the housing situation has truly become dire. Students who would usually be bragging about their nice little three-bed on North Street now have nowhere (affordable) to live, and this is genuine cause for concern.

I’m as worried as the next person about this very real issue, but I also have a couple of questions about the direction this protest is taking. The HMO ban is possibly one of the worst things the council could be doing to St Andrews- the town is small enough as it is and unless you’re willing to defy the law to live illegally as your flatmate’s “legal partner”, you aren’t going to get very far. Even more obviously, the crazy housing prices here are driving people into more debt than they ever wished to go. The landlords and letting agents who are using this demand for housing to exploit their tenants really are a cause of student angst. Those who are paying £600 a month for an uncomfortable mattress and share of a kitchen that was installed in the 80’s have the right to be a little infuriated.

However, the angle this particular protest seems to be taking is that one person in particular needs to sort the problem out. This superhero can supposedly stand up, step out onto her balcony at College Gate, and announce to everyone that the HMO ban will be lifted, housing inflation will cease to exist, and that quite coincidentally a new housing development will be built over the summer allowing 1000 students the chance to live in comfortable rooms with views over West Sands for about £200 a month. Why we are expecting this of Louise Richardson is beyond me.

The recent petition which now has over two thirds of it’s target number of signatures does not ask anything of the council, nor the letting agents and landlords who seem to be running students into the ground. Instead it asks for one woman to answer for other people’s actions.

“How are you going to make our accommodation search fairer and easier and the reality of finding good quality, reliable and above all affordable accommodation more tangible? Is anything being done?”

My question is this: what can Louise Richardson really do? Do we really think that she will be able to fix everything? I have the utmost respect for our Principal, but I don’t think she is going to magically create enough space for all the students of St Andrews to live happily ever after.

I would be hugely disappointed if I found out that nothing was being done, but to be honest I don’t believe that that is even a possibility at this stage. The University are aware of the issues we are having. They are also aware that in order to keep ticking over as an institution, an increase in students is necessary. As a student body, we should not be targeting Louise Richardson. Instead we should be working with her, other students, and anyone else who will listen in order to try and solve these problems through sensible actions. We cannot demand answers from someone who will not be able to deliver the response we want.