Student Exec Blog

Keep up to date with your Student Exec and what they’re doing to represent you and make sure you love your time at Leeds.

Hi everyone!

With Welcome Week upon us we wanted to welcome back our student community – and welcome thousands of new faces, too. We also want to introduce ourselves – we are your LUU Student Exec, and last spring students elected us to represent their voices and interests at the University, Union and beyond.

Over the next few weeks you’ll be seeing lots of ways to engage in student communities, and we wanted to take the time to update you on the work we have been doing on community cohesion following the tensions we saw in the last academic year – on campus and off it. As you’ll know, the conflict we are still seeing in the Middle East has deeply impacted our student community. We have all witnessed the horror of the war and are personally devastated by the loss of innocent lives, and the impact on countless families. Last term, we saw protests and vigils on campus to recognise the loss of life and the grief that so many of us are united in.

We have been in discussions over the summer with the University, LUU society PSG (Palestine Solidarity Group) and student campaigners in working groups around the University’s Chaplaincy functions and their industrial and educational partnerships. This also actively includes student leaders from our JSoc (Jewish Society). We are looking forward to working with the University as they progress this into real action and support for students affected by the devastation across the Middle East. You can read the University’s updates here. As your Student Exec, we are committed to updating you all on developments as they arise via this blog.

As part of our induction over the summer, we took part in training on antisemitism, Islamophobia and dealing with hate crimes, to make sure we have the tools we need to support and protect our diverse community. Sadly, many of our communities, especially Muslim and Jewish students have felt unsafe due to the conflict abroad, and recently, the Islamophobic and racist far-right riots here in the UK. Our priority is to ensure a safe and secure campus for all, and representatives across LUU are engaging with the University’s Antisemitism Working Group and Islamophobia Working Group to help achieve this.

We know many students want to join in and stand in solidarity with global movements. We work closely with our clubs and societies to make sure that their events, campaigns, protests and vigils are as safe and effective for all involved as possible. If you would like to make your voice heard about any of the issues mentioned in this blog, check out our list of authorised LUU groups to join in their activities, or submit a policy idea.

Our Help & Support service is available to any students who have been affected by these events. Hate crimes, including acts of Islamophobia and antisemitism should never be tolerated and should be reported via the University’s Student Information Service. Downloading the Safe Zone App can also be a useful tool for important and accurate safety updates.

Working for a peaceful and unified campus community will be our focus all-year around, and we know all students who come to Leeds deserve this to be a time you love. We hope you all have a great start to the new term and look forward to meeting as many of you as possible throughout the year ahead.

Best wishes,

Your LUU Student Executive 24/25

Your Exec Officer Team has been busy over the last month collaborating with the National Union of Students (NUS) on an impactful initiative—the “No More Guarantors” campaign. This campaign, designed to alleviate housing pressures on students, ties in with the new government’s proposed Renters’ Rights Bill. By engaging local Members of Parliament (MPs) and Student’s Unions, this campaign advocates for reforms that could profoundly improve the student rental experience across the UK.

Here’s what Union Affairs and Communications Officer Lucy has to say about what she’s been up to while working on this campaign:

Working alongside the Leeds Beckett Student Union in a newly formed alliance called Leeds Working Together, we have reached out to numerous MPs in support of our campaign. This united front amplifies our voice, signalling a growing consensus that student housing policies need reform to better support students’ rights.

Your Education Officer Shivani and I, partnered with Leeds Beckett Student Officers to meet with local MP Alex Sobel, a key advocate for the campaign in Parliament. MP Sobel has proposed three pivotal amendments to the Renters’ Rights Bill:

Regulating the Starting Date of Lettings: Preventing early-season starts to give students fair access to housing.

Capping Deposit Time Limits to Three Months: Reducing the financial burden of holding deposits.

Abolishing Guarantor Requirements: Eliminating the need for guarantors, a major barrier for many students, especially those from low-income backgrounds or without access to UK-based guarantors.

Following this meeting, we reached out to student officers across the country involved in the NUS campaign, to encourage their MPs to vote for Alex’s amendments to the Renter’s Rights Bill.

Lobbying Day at Parliament: Voices of Change

On October 23, Felix, our International and Postgraduate Officer, joined the NUS in a landmark lobbying day at Parliament, where nearly 50 student representatives from across the UK gathered at Westminster’s Methodist Hall to bring attention to the campaign. Here’s what he has to say about what he got up to:

On 22 October, as a member of the LUU Exec, I travelled to London as part of the NUS advocacy team to meet MPs regarding the issue of abolishing guarantor fees, particularly for students. As you may be aware, guarantor fees have been a major barrier for students in accessing accommodation that is both healthy and safe.

Many of our students, especially international students, those from low-income backgrounds, and estranged students have been disproportionately affected by guarantor fees and related costs. This has led to students sharing single rooms, staying in hotels, and using guarantorship services.

I met with MP Imran Hussain and MP Samantha Kate Dixon, the Government Deputy Whip, who both showed support for the campaign and acknowledged its importance. They committed to ensuring that legislation would not disadvantage any student group, promising to carry the conversation forward in Parliament.

What’s happening as a result?

As part of the campaign’s ongoing efforts, MPs asked MP Alex Sobel to share the details of his amendment proposals for the Renters’ Rights Bill so that they can vote for the amendment if it’s selected.  As we look ahead, your Exec Team will keep working to champion safe, affordable housing for all students, supporting a vision where no student is left struggling to secure a place to live.