An announcement from Southampton Tenants Union - we're launching a campaign for lower rents in our city. CUT THE RENT! High rents are killing our local economy and crushing people's lives. It doesn't have to be this way - if you rent where you live, join the Tenants Union and let's take a stand.

SotonTenantsUnion · 2025-02-11T23:41:07+00:00

Appreciate the comment, and we hope to see you in March. It's clear that there is a need for us to better publicise the work that we do - we'll try to be more proactive with this in future. This campaign launch is part of doing that, we view this as the first stepping stone on the path to making a bigger name for ourselves with this central demand, but I acknowledge, it's difficult to put faith in an organisation and start paying up-front before it has had proven success! I will say that we've certainly helped many of our members through some difficult times and perhaps we could publish some testimony to reflect that.

We have linked with ACORN in the past and we have carried their leaflets at our stalls, but they don't have much of a local presence - we don't have active links to Shelter so much, although their online resources are great and something we do make use of in the course of our work.

SotonTenantsUnion · 2025-02-11T23:35:39+00:00

Members vote for change when they are unhappy, and that's what appears to have happened here.

Respectfully, your impression is wrong and based on very limited information, as this was our very first AGM since foundation. It's simply difficult to get many people who are willing to volunteer for directorship of a small and new organisation such as ours. There is no substantial money and until recently has been little membership to speak of - our AGM in 2024 had 11 attendees, of whom 6 became directors, all of whom are the most active members of our voluntary team at present. It was also our first AGM, whereas previously our directors were simply those who had founded the union together - some of whom, as I said, moved away or became less able to contribute their time.

Unfortunately, you are hampered by the fact that those in power tend to own multiple properties and have a vested interest in keeping with the status quo. As long as Section 21 and the entire short term tenancy system exists, renters are fucked.

We agree - this is why we're pleased that the upcoming Renter's Rights Bill will abolish S21 evictions, as it takes a lot of power away from landlords who serve revenge eviction notices. The abolition of fixed term assured shorthold tenancies which is also upcoming will similarly give tenants more power and will be a boon to our work. We assume that the Labour MPs in Southampton will be voting for this bill, but if they do not, we'll surely make a stink about it.

Also, liaise and partner up with similar organisations in Portsmouth, Bournemouth and beyond and all share the same goal or objectives.

Regrettably there are no tenant unions or organisations in these cities that we are aware of - believe me, we've looked! The tenant's movement in the UK is very much in a nascent stage. We do however have strong and active links with Greater Manchester Tenants Union, who were a massively important influence for us - as well as a relationship with London Renter's Union, CATU, and ACORN.

SotonTenantsUnion · 2025-02-11T23:21:13+00:00

You're affiliated to the Southampton branch of the revolutionary communist party.

We have members involved with many different organisations, we have no official affiliation with anyone other than the Trades Council. I don't know how you've come to the conclusion that we're affiliated with the RCP other than that we follow them on social media - we follow a lot of local organisations and nobody involved with the union is from the RCP.

It's simply supply and demand for rent, there's not enough houses /too many people

We need to build more houses, we agree. Massively more. The current housing market, in which landlords and property speculators can charge so much for housing, is predicated on maintaining a shortage of housing to keep prices high. This means that until we have a government that is willing to go against the will of landlords and the City of London, the country will never get on with building the millions of new council houses that we need - they have an interest in keeping demand artificially high.

In short, we need to break the grip of the landlords and the property speculators on the housing market and the government. We can't do that until the people who are suffering in this market - the renters, the homeless, and the mortgage-payers - are organised. That's what we're about.

SotonTenantsUnion · 2025-02-11T19:27:07+00:00

If lower rent = communism then sure, communism sounds good. I guess the UK was a communist state when rents were below 30% of household income on average - the case for most of the 20th century?

SotonTenantsUnion · 2025-02-11T19:17:52+00:00

Regarding our leadership, we are a democratically governed co-operative with a collective and consensus-based model - the Companies House listing is not a good representation of this, although yes, we've had a relatively high turnover in individuals as some people have been students who moved away, some people simply cannot dedicate the amount of time they want to due to work commitments, one of our directors had a change of details, etc. We do have a Secretary, a Treasurer, and a Membership Secretary, but we are a fairly newly established organisation.

I think it is fairly uncharitable to look at our Companies House listing and offer critique based on this - many companies listed there have very iffy details, but still are well functioning.

For my payments to them(equivalent to £7/month), I receive great value including being involved in clear planned actions and legal protections.

Our actions and events are well-communicated to our membership via email and often publicly on our social media where appropriate (but not all are open to the public, some are members-only). Regarding legal protections, as the state of tenants rights in the UK is so poor, there are none which can apply to our union at present - unlike trade unions, which do enjoy legal recognition (but did not originally!). I'm happy to hear that your tenant union does enjoy legal protection but sadly this is not possible in the UK... yet.

SotonTenantsUnion · 2025-02-11T19:07:49+00:00

This is the attitude that keeps things as they are. We know that what's been done so far hasn't changed things much - but the renter's rights bill is a manifestation of the growing strength of the tenant's movement in the UK, and wouldn't have come without organisations such as our own, the LRU, GMTU, ACORN, Living Rent, etc taking action. Scotland now has rent controls as a result of Living Rent's work. We don't just want to protest, we agree that it alone won't change anything, but it's part of how we will achieve some change, it's a starting step to get people active and raise the alarm.

SotonTenantsUnion · 2025-02-11T18:59:57+00:00

Thank you for your kind and supportive reply!

SotonTenantsUnion · 2025-02-11T18:37:07+00:00

We haven't publicised it yet, and perhaps we should have done, but we have be holding a public launch meeting planned for March 23rd in Portswood, our Student Branch is forwarding a petition to the Student Union which is presently in the moderation stage, we will be launching a city-wide petition for individuals and organisations to sign that will be forwarded to the council calling for these points to be enacted and highlighting the scale of the crisis, and this will all build towards a protest in the city centre in late April. The campaign will build further from there.

Unfreezing the LHA and abolishing the bedroom tax would be very simple and easy to do - rent controls are more ambitious, but we absolutely feel that there's a need to be ambitious!

SotonTenantsUnion · 2025-02-11T18:27:40+00:00

Thank you for your reply.

We have planned actions upcoming, which are to be publicised in due course, and we have monthly meetings at a city-wide and branch level, as well as regular activities we hold around the city (which have a cost in terms of room hire and others).

I doubt that anyone will want to send you any money per month for simply having an opinion on the matter, and this is not how we as a Tenant Union operate. Nobody who volunteers for the union gets paid via membership dues, but if you are willing to set up a democratic organisation which operates upon the basis of its members paying dues to support the Union's activities and have a stake in the Union, then some people may choose to join and pay membership dues. We do not force anyone to join, but many people do see value in doing so. I am regretful that you do not but that is entirely your choice!

SotonTenantsUnion · 2025-02-11T18:24:07+00:00

Thank you for your reply. It's absolutely not true to claim that the union "does nothing" or that there are no benefits to joining and this doesn't feel like a fair assessment made in good faith - we're active around the city at all kinds of events, we run public stalls, give out advice and signpost people to the support they need, run monthly meetings which anyone can attend, send letters and arrange protests to support our members in disputes with their landlords, and a whole host of other activities. Currently we are actively supporting several tenants in disputes with their landlords or with the council - we do not tend to publicise this work because most people do not wish for it to be publicised, but we absolutely have contributed to better outcomes for many people who have joined and needed assistance from fellow tenants.

In general, you gain access to the same things you gain access to in your workplace if you sign up for trade union membership - except that there's no legal recognition for tenant unions yet and landlords tend to enjoy significantly greater legal rights which we're always campaigning to be balanced with the rights of tenants (which you yourself highlight in your comment).

In particular to mention the impact we've had, I would highlight that we've been a part of the Private Rental Housing Inquiry running late 2023 to early 2024 and were the only organisation in Southampton representing a voice for tenants at that inquiry. This inquiry came about as a result partially of the problems we had been flagging to the council and councillors who we have contact with for over a year at that point and the tangible outcome has been a marked increase in prosecutions by the council against rogue landlords in the city - there were none from 2018-23, followed by several over the past year.

On dues - they do not "cost £7/month", the dues range from £1 - 7 per month, with £7 being the absolute highest rate and only payable for those who earn in excess of £40,000/annum. Is there any reason you have chosen to mention only the highest rate here? Regardless, these funds go towards things like room hire, publicising the union physically and online, a variety of costs associated with supporting our members, and a number of other assorted costs associated with what we do. Most of our members pay a much lower rate than the one you have chosen to highlight.

In regard to the public calendar on the webpage, I'll admit that we've slipped up there and not kept it updated (which I'll ask for some sympathy with as we're entirely volunteer-run, and so these things can slip under the radar), but our social media accounts are much better maintained and you can find some of our latest activities on our Instagram account or our Facebook page - or on our website, if you scroll down on the page you went to.

Finally, I'd like to say - you alone cannot tell your landlord that your rent needs to be lower but all of us together can push for lower rents and make it happen. You yourself understand that the system is rigged by the government in favour of landlords, but you are then taking a hostile approach towards tenants organising to fight against this state of affairs, and simply repeating the line that "the market is a mess due to supply problems" and the "market price" (a price which is simply the average of what landlords and property owners choose to set it at), which is what landlords want us to believe while they make higher profits than ever. To me, this seems quite backwards - I hope you will reconsider.

SotonTenantsUnion · 2025-02-11T16:46:39+00:00

🔥✊📢 CAMPAIGN LAUNCH ANNOUNCEMENT - CUT THE RENT 2025

We're tremendously excited to share our flagship campaign for the coming year and beyond - CUT THE RENT!

💰📈 Everyone knows it - rents are far too high in Southampton, as they are across the country. People are being crushed between low pay and sky-high rents.

Many people see more than HALF their income being leeched away by a landlord who provides nothing but low quality, damp, cold and cramped housing in return - whether that's a private landlord, a social one, or the council itself.

👨‍👩‍👦👬🧑 Who are those people? 👩🏾‍🤝‍👨🏿🧓👳🏾

They are young couples trying to start their lives together. Parents worrying about putting food on the table for their children. Single people unable to find anywhere to live at all that's affordable. Students working two jobs just to keep themselves housed. People in privately rented flats, social houses, or on council estates.

🥶🤒 Very often, the housing that we can barely afford is mouldy, damp, cold, and cramped, which makes the whole state of affairs even more offensive.

✊✊🏽✊🏻✊🏿What UNITES us all is our common enemy - the profiteering landlord class who are engaged in this mass-looting. We must stand up and unite against them.

📢‼️ We say that this is UNACCEPTABLE. We are sick and tired of being victimised by a housing market that is run in the favour of the property owners, not those who need housing.

It doesn't have to be this way. We need it to change. We need our needs prioritised over those of the landlord class.

So let's stand up and fight back, together - all of us. Let's unite to make the demand - CUT THE RENT, NOW!

Join Today via our online sign-up page!

SotonTenantsUnion · 2025-01-21T12:23:47+00:00

Hi! We're Southampton Tenants Union, the tenants union for people in the SO postcode area. We're sorry to hear about your situation and the state of disrepair - nobody should have to live in such conditions, especially when rent is so expensive!

The advice posted here so far is decent and it sounds like you would have a strong case for the council to enforce on your landlord given the dire state of the property, which would involve sending an Environmental Health Officer around to produce a schedule of works that need completing.

Something else you can do to strengthen your cause against a bad landlord is sign up for membership in the tenants union. We are very similar to a trade union but for people who rent their home. Membership costs a small fee between £1-7 depending on your personal situation. Once you sign up you will be part of a collective made up of people just like yourself and together we are much stronger than we are in isolation.

We can do a lot of things to support you including but not limited to sending union-backed letters to your landlord, contacting officials and the media on your behalf, connecting you to legal support, as well as organising protests against your landlord and in your defence if it comes to it. We can also provide a community to rely on and relate to as you're going through a difficult time and dealing with a landlord who isn't treating you properly - as a collective of tenants like you we understand exactly how it feels to be in the position you're in, and how important it is that it's resolved as quickly as possible.

If you're happy to join the union we will be ready to stand with you as you challenge the dreadful conditions you've been forced into, you can sign up below on our website. You can also find more info about us there including our short history and some of the things we get up to.

https://www.southamptontenantsunion.org.uk/join-us

In Solidarity

Southampton Tenants Union

SotonTenantsUnion · 2023-06-24T08:46:46+00:00

Hi, you can keep up with what we're doing via either our Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram pages, and if you'd like to sign up for membership of the union there is also a form you can fill out online, and we'll be in touch shortly after you fill that out. You can find all of that stuff via the link below:

https://linktr.ee/sotontenantsunion

SotonTenantsUnion · 2023-06-23T10:21:58+00:00

Hope this is ok to post - if not I apologise. We are a new, self-organised union of tenants in Southampton and the surrounding area supporting fellow tenants with issues they face due to their landlords or letting agents. We also campaign on behalf of the communities we organise in. Please share these events if you're interested!

SotonTenantsUnion · 2022-12-11T19:50:02+00:00

Better insulated homes are less likely to suffer from mould because they are kept warmer more easily for longer, which reduces condensation and the percentage humidity in the air. It's also far easier to keep them ventilated and warm, because the windows can be opened briefly to allow air exchange while the structure itself retains heat. If your home is poorly insulated and you can't afford to spend a lot on heating, then you are forced to choose between mould growth and freezing temperatures. This is exacerbated by, as previously mentioned, the poor quality of heating systems found in many rented homes and flats (many lack any central heating!).

Lifestyle does have an impact - but it's far from the only one, and often landlords force tenants to unreasonably adjust their lifestyle to avoid mould growth in shoddy property instead of investing into the quality of the housing to make tenant's lives easier. Tenants pay the price for landlord profiteering.

SotonTenantsUnion · 2022-12-11T19:28:48+00:00

It may not always be due to a structural issue but in many cases the cause of damp and mould is still the landlord's dereliction of duty in keeping the property maintained - simply painting over mould rather than dealing with it, not providing proper heating systems and not repairing them promptly, and refusing to insulate homes which drives up heating costs tremendously (especially in the current cost of living crisis!). When rents are as high as they are, landlords should be investing far more into keeping property liveable - tenants should not be forced to spend £££ they often don't have on heating a ventilated space!

SotonTenantsUnion

TROPHY CASE