Landlord concessions not enough – Cancel the full rent

Oisin Duncan, Glasgow Young Socialists and Socialist Students

After last week’s statement from Glasgow Young Socialists in support of the student-residents in NIDO, the company has replied with an email to residents seeking to bring any rent strike to a swift end. 

Their email states that the “health, safety and wellbeing” of residents “continue to be a priority” for the company. Yet their measures fall far short of answering all the fears outlined in the NIDO Student Residents Committee’s initial statement and their later Five Points of Grievance. 

The limited concessions from NIDO include the waiving of ‘License Fees’ (rent payments) for students who have left their halls and a one-third reduction in rent for students who remain. Even these limited measures would not have come without the organisation of the residents at Boyce House, and if further gains (i.e. the cancellation of all rent) are to be won then other NIDO residents all over the UK should follow their lead.

The crucial point here though is that both the reduction and the waiving of rent take place from the 11th April, almost a full three weeks since the lockdown measures were imposed. This just does not give residents who have been forced into incredibly difficult situations enough support, situations which we emphasise began on the 23rd March or before, when many residents saw their workplaces close and thus their income significantly reduced if not eliminated. 

It is also questionable whether a reduction of a third in rent is truly “all we [NIDO] can do” as stated in the email. Young Socialists is calling for the company’s finances to be subject to independent oversight from residents’ committees, and this is precisely the reason why. NIDO own buildings in 9 UK cities, housing thousands of students and thus easily making millions of pounds a year. While we, of course, understand that some of that money must be spent on the wages of their staff and the maintenance of the buildings, why is the company not being totally transparent in this exceptional circumstance?

Their books must be opened so that their residents, and any trade unionists representing the workforce of the company, can play an active role in the critical decisions that could push them into poverty. We stand for a full cancellation of all rent, and this can only come through demands being placed on the company by elected representatives of the residents. 

But the most glaring example of NIDO’s negligence in their correspondence to their residents has been the total absence of addressing any of the key issues outlined by the NIDO Student Resident Committee in their Five Points of Grievance. 

Vitally important issues like the security of the building (as recently a games console was simply lifted from the building in broad daylight), the lack of an adequate fire safety procedure in Boyce House, and the ignoring of previous complaints on these issues were raised by the residents. In a meek effort to appear ‘progressive’ by promoting mental health among young people, the closest NIDO go to addressing student safety in their email was plugging their social media posts on “yoga, meditation, cookery and art lessons”, hardly more important things than basic fire safety!

It’s unclear at this stage whether those residents organised in Glasgow will accept these concessions or if their initiative to withhold rent will be replicated by NIDO residents and other students in private halls nationally. However Young Socialists will continue to publish updates on this as it develops, and we welcome the increased involvement of student union reps in coming out against the continued demands for rent payments by corporate landlords. Our demands on this include;

• NIDO, open the books! Give residents and trade unionists oversight into the company’s finances and let them decide whether a one-third rent reduction is fair!

• Cancel the full rent! This is not the time for corporate landlords to continue their exploitation of students and young workers. 

• Invest in PPE for staff and Student Ambassadors now! If the company can afford a massive social media campaign then they can fork out for gloves and face masks as well!

• Help if needed for students with grocery deliveries or safe travel to and from the shops! Residents need concrete measures during the lockdown, not empty promises.