I'm Old Gregg! Can't the SU organise meetings between students and complaining residents? If someone sends a sneaky letter to the council about noise then it just winds everyone up and they would benefit from actually talking about it I feel.

Regards,

Old Gregg

Dear old Gregg, that’s a very good suggestion. The University of Brighton has employed a full-time community liaison officer. I attend residents meetings, local action teams meetings and liaise on a regular basis with local councillors and council officials. This has proved an effective way of dealing with complaints at an early stage and has greatly improved partnership working and communications. If the complaint is about University of Brighton students you can contact the university directly at community-team@brigh
ton.ac.uk.

Kevin Mannall, Community Liaison Officer for University of Brighton and Sam Forster

I live on viaduct road in a student house. My room is freezing because my landlord will not fix my broken window. The kitchen and bathroom look very tired. Plus our communal area is tiny, with no table at which to sit and eat food. Why would I look after a place like this? If we, as students, are supposed to behave as normal residents, provide us with a good standard of housing. What are you doing to make sure landlords do so? Are there any standards that they have to abide by?

Josh

The University of Sussex Students’ Union would like to call upon the council and both universities to enforce a compulsory code of standards and accreditation scheme. The current scheme is voluntary. If letting agents and landlords don’t sign up they can’t advertise their properties through the universities. This doesn’t stop them though from advertising through other means, thereby subjecting students, like yourself, to substandard accommodation.

Richa Kaul-Padte

As a council we may be looking to introduce a compulsory accreditation scheme, however, this is dependant on the outcome of the studentification panel. This may have several legal requirements that would need to be considered first and of course consulted upon.

Councillor Anne Meadows

I live next door to a house that is rented to students, and am fortunate in that they (and I believe most students) are a considerate lot, who let me know when they have parties and so on. But it seems there will always be a minority of inconsiderate louts who don't care about their community. What can be done to persuade those people to be a bit more public-spirited?

Norman Parkes

Thanks for your question. You do raise an important point which is that it is a minority of students who are causing problems in the local community and I think it is important that something is done to address this. As a university and Students’ Union we will be looking to increase our publicity with regard to community engagement through campaigns aimed at raising awareness amongst students of how to live harmoniously with their neighbours.

At the moment we run the Silent Students Happy Homes or SSHH Campaign which encourages students to respect their neighbours when returning home from nights out by asking them to be quiet. The campaign also advises students to talk to their neighbours when they’re planning parties to ensure they are aware it will be happening and to take into account their views.

As a union we are looking to add to our campaigns portfolio a new initiative concerning students in the community and we hope to roll this out over the next couple of months.

Sam Forster

I agree some students are bad neighbours, but a lot of residents (like our neighbour) complains about everything we do even though we're quiet. She probably had a bad experience with another group which has prejudiced her against all students. Don't you think some literature or something could be sent out to encourage people to welcome students and be friends with them before they adopt some bigoted view before meeting us?

Thanks, Chris

Hi Chris, I think that’s a really good idea. I think when talking about fostering good community relations, as well as dealing with potentially anti-social behaviour, the same information and awareness should be provided to all members of the community. Without specifically targeting students, I think it would be a really good initiative for the council together with the universities and students’ unions to send out letters welcoming new people into the community and reminding residents of the need to be respectful towards each other.

Richa Kaul-Padte

Over the last few months as a students’ union and a university we have been attending an increasing number of local residents meetings and have seen a number of instances where local residents are being encouraged to introduce themselves to student neighbours. But in the same vein there is nothing to stop students introducing themselves when they move into a new house.

Sam Forster

I read that students were depriving families of homes in some areas of Brighton. Is this really true?

Why have the universities been allowed to expand without any consideration of the impact of extra students on the town? This seems like irresponsible behaviour.

Colbert

Thank you for your question Colbert. Some managing agents and estate agents have directed sellers directly to property developers and this has created a vacuum of family housing as local families were denied the opportunity to purchase. This has been proven in Bevendean and Moulsecoomb. I understand that investment agents are being directed to a new local area and I would wish the council to take account of this in the new housing strategy for the city.

Councillor Anne Meadows

The University of Sussex currently houses all its first year students on campus, apart from those who are already living in the local area. The university are looking to head lease a number of properties in the city, which would allow second and third year students to live in reliable accommodation spread across Brighton.

Richa Kaul-Padte

To Sam Forster, what do suggest landlords should do to change their tenants behaviour?

Jessica

You raise an interesting topic. In my opinion a greater onus needs to be placed upon landlords to make their tenants aware of their responsibilities. I believe that in every tenancy agreement there is a clause relating to anti-social behaviour and noise nuisance, but in a number of instances this part of the contract is not actively monitored. There are a number of absentee landlords who don’t live in the city and manage properties from afar. In these cases students see very little of their landlord and the landlord often has no idea of any problems relating to their property whether these be disrepair or anti-social behaviour.

As student unions, universities and the council we actively investigate complaints and seek to find a resolve, and it shouldn’t be forgotten that students have responsibility for their conduct. But at the end of the day landlords are the ones holding the legally binding contract. Therefore I would like to see landlords take more responsibility for upholding the anti-social behaviour and noise-nuisance clauses in those contracts. This would go a long way towards improving relations between students and the community they live in.

SF

The students in my road are incredibly noisy, and I have complained to the council several times, but to be honest, there isn't much they can do apart from send pointless letters is there? I'm reluctant to get the police involved, but what else can I do?

Eleanor Parsley


Thank you for your question Eleanor. It is a complaint I hear often as a ward councilor for Mouslecoomb and Bevendean. Many residents are asked to complete a diary of noise nuisance and this can be very stressful for a resident as it requires them to wait even longer for a response. One of the ideas that residents suggested at the studentification panel meeting was for the Noise Nuisance Patrol to be extended beyond 3am and also to take account of the fact that a lot of noise is created in the week as well.

The local PCSOs are a useful resource to residents as they can report back to the police without residents feeling fear of reprisals. To find out who your local PCSO is visit the Sussex Police website where that information can be found.

Another resource is of course your local ward councilor. They are very sympathetic and resourceful and will always listen to your concerns.

If you identify which university the students are from then please contact the university direct.

We still have three meetings of the studentification panel and it will be interesting to see what developments will come out of those meetings. I have high hopes we can provide a positive outcome for many residents and their concerns. The three meetings should be listed on the council’s website if you wish to attend and listen to the experts’ accounts. Residents and students are still able to submit their concerns and ideas in writing to the panel care of the council.

AM

Thank you all for your questions and we would like to reassure you that we are working together to try and address your concerns.

Sam Forster, Councillor Anne Meadows, Richa Kaul-Padte and Kevin Mannall

thanks for not answering my question, maybe it did not fit in with your anti landlord agenda.