Student officers will be gathering in Westminster on 23rd October 2024 as part of NUS’s National Lobby Day for No More Guarantors.
The campaign is bringing together student union representatives to meet with their MPs in order to ask them to back NUS’s call for an end to guarantor requirements.
The National Union of Students has released data from over 1100 international students that shows that 29% have experienced homelessness whilst studying in the UK, and are over twice as likely as home students to experience homelessness.
The survey also found that:
- 70% of international students have jobs alongside their studies.
- Three fifths of international students would like the 20-hour working limit removed. Respondents claimed that it prohibits their ability to support themselves and that it limits the work available to them, making it harder for them to get work experience in their field.
- Two thirds of international students have seen an increase in housing costs. Over a third have been unable to pay rent and a similar proportion have been unable to pay bills.
- The cost-of-living crisis is having a major impact on the income of 63% of international students, while 51% have seen a major impact on the income of someone who supports them financially.
The union is calling for the new government to end the hostile environment policies that make life more difficult for international students. In particular, they are hosting a National Lobby Day for No More Guarantors in which officers from over 50 students’ unions have arranged meetings with their MPs to ask them to back the call to make it illegal for landlords to be able to require tenants to have a UK-based guarantor who either owns property or earns over a certain amount of money.
As international students often do not know anyone who owns property in the UK, they can be asked to pay up to a year’s worth of rent up front. This can make it extremely hard for international students to access housing, and contributes to their high rates of homelessness.
Commenting, Saranya Thambirajah, NUS UK Vice President Liberation and Equality, said:
“These figures are a clear indictment of our immigration system. No one should be homeless in one of the richest countries in the world, certainly not 30% of international students who have come here to seek a world class education – and certainly not for a small price.
“It’s beyond time we stop vilifying international students and start recognising the value they bring. Not only do international students contribute £42 billion to our economy every year, they enrich everyone’s university experience. They are our classmates and our friends, and we would all suffer for their absence at our universities.
“If we want to continue to have a leading and aspirational education system, we need to keep attracting great minds from across the world – this won’t happen if we make them feel unwelcome here.
“Hostile environment policies continue to heavily impact international students, for instance, tenants being required to have a UK-based homeowner as a guarantor often leaves these students in impossible positions – it is hardly surprising that some have ended up homeless when the other option is often paying 6 months+ rent up front.
“Alongside the government, universities have a role to play in minimising international student homelessness. We are calling on them to work with local authorities to ensure that there are enough affordable beds and homes in the local area for every student they recruit.
“Education is a right. No one should be forced into homelessness just for pursuing it.”
