PALATINATE The UK and Ireland’s Best Student Publication, 2021
Thursday 27th October 2022 | No. 854
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Loc8me admits discussing house prices with other letting agencies Daniel Hodgson News Editor Letting agent Loc8me has admitted to speaking to other lettings agents regarding increasing their rent prices for the 2023/24 year, in an audio recording made by a Palatinate reporter. The dialogue that took place was between one of the Loc8me agents and the reporter, surrounding next year’s student housing arrangements and the justification for rises in rent on a large number of properties. During the conversation, the member of the Loc8me team said: “So what you’ll see is that, you know most agents advertise with bills included, the prices are going up to try and compensate for the, obviously the prices are going up and it’s basically to try and compensate for that.” This justification for increasing prices was furthered by the following statement: “So our prices are going up to kind of reflect that, you know, we spoke to the other agents and they are as well.” Given its contents, the recording raised concerns as to whether this behaviour was in the spirit of the law. Any agreement between the agencies would be in breach of the 1998 Competition Act, whereby anticompetitive agreements between businesses are prohibited. This aims to ensure that business remains competitive to maintain consumer choice. The Chartered Trading Standard Institute was consulted regarding the legality of this behaviour, however the Institute was unable to give a firm answer on whether Loc8me’s actions as described in the recording were legal. Loc8me were contacted for comment regarding their admission on talking to other letting agents regarding price increases. They declined to do so. Following this, they were asked about their view on the Chartered Trading Standards Institute’s comments. They had not responded at the time of going to print.
Students waited in line for over 15 hours at Harrington’s, with similar queues elsewhere as lists were released (Emily Doughty)
“There’s not enough space in this tiny city”: students queue overnight to secure housing Emily Doughty and Holly Barry News Editor and News Reporter Students have felt “forced” to queue outside housing agencies overnight to secure housing for the next academic year as chaos continues to surround accommodation, with anger at Durham University over the situation growing. Students who spoke to Palatinate described how they “missed lectures” to queue outside Frampton and Roebuck’s office to secure their houses for next year in fear they would have to pay higher prices, with one student saying that the situation was so desperate that they “didn’t want to to be left having to pay extortionate prices or be homeless.”
One group, who had queued from midnight to secure a five-bedroom house, had said they felt if they had not queued their only other option was to pay upwards of £200 per person per week to live somewhere else. They also said those down the line were unable to secure the house they wanted, and were forced to pay more than they wanted forcing some members of their group to pull out. Another said that they were “forced to sign documents on the actual pavement or against the shop windows” after being told by the letting agency that they “had to do it right then.” This panic has meant that many students have signed for houses earlier than previous years, with houses being signed during the first
week of term. One student who signed early in term said they had “to rush as soon as I got back” to secure their housing for next year. University accommodation is also becoming some students’ only option, with one saying that if they are unable to get into college accommodation this year they will be priced out of Durham. This sentiment was shared by many, with another student saying that “college accommodation is the only option if I get it, if not I don’t know what I’ll do.” However, for some college accommodation is too expensive to be a viable alternative. One student, who is on the maximum maintenance loan, says that at the current level “college accommodation is costing £3,023,
leaving me with £6 a term.” The price of college accommodation for the 2023/2024 academic year has not been released, with the price rise being announced in November. Students have voiced their anger at the situation to Palatinate, with one saying that “students should be able to settle into their academic studies and have the opportunity to make friends to live with for their future years.” Other students have turned to social media as a means of voicing their frustration with the current crisis; second year student Katerina made a TikTok on the situation which gained nearly 7,000 likes on the app. Continued on page 4