Local MP Jessica Toale has recently spoken in Parliament about Bournemouth students’ struggles with housing, following conversations with the Students’ Union at Bournemouth University’s (SUBU) VP Welfare & Community, Fatima Farha.
Fatima was invited to meet Jessica Toale in Parliament as part of NUS National Lobby Day in October, where they discussed some of the most pressing issues currently affecting students in Bournemouth including housing. More specifically, they focused on the Renters’ Rights Bill currently under consideration in Parliament.
Earlier this month, Jessica Toale took part in a debate on the Renters’ Bill, where she raised her concerns about the current student housing landscape in Bournemouth. She said:
“I recently met Students’ Union representatives from Bournemouth University and Arts University Bournemouth, who brought to me the struggles that their students face.
“Bournemouth is one of the top ten most expensive places to be a student, 95% of the maintenance loan is eaten up by housing costs, leaving many students with about £4 a week afterwards, so it is not a sustainable situation for them so I’d like to welcome measures to protect student tenancies and also address the upfront costs of students.
“It is my hope in the long run that many students will benefit from these reforms because they fall in love with Bournemouth and they want to stay and they can find appropriate, and affordable places to live.”
At the end of last year, Tom Hayes, MP for Bournemouth East, spoke in Parliament about some of the stories he heard about violence against women during SUBU’s MP Spotlight in November. You can find our more about this here.
This is a great achievement for our students and shows the importance of engaging with your local representatives and how they can make your voice heard in Parliament. Fatima Farha, VP Welfare & Community, has said: “It’s great to see the local MPs engage with our students and take their issues to Parliament. They’re making sure students’ voices are heard and we look forward to continue to work with them on this.”