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IMPACT
Residents and Students Look to Management During Increasingly Hostile Student-Resident Relations It is no secret that, across the country, students and residents have a tenuous relationship, particularly during this last academic year. But why and to what extent have relations deteriorated? Impact’s investigation team explores the growing antagonism in Lenton, surveying both residents and students to ask what can be done, and who is to blame. Sixty percent of the permanent residents Impact surveyed* felt that students were a more disruptive presence in the local Nottingham area last academic year than in previous years. This statistic can likely be explained by the close proximity the two groups were forced into due to the pandemic, with students unable to leave their university accommodation. Confined to student areas such as Lenton, any socialising or partying shifted to the home. This finding was further reflected in our research which showed that one in four of the students surveyed received a noise complaint during this same period. However, our survey results conveyed that the root of rising tensions between students and residents could be attributed to reasons other than open hostility and intolerance between the two parties. Sixty percent of residents surveyed actually felt that University management could have done more to ensure students complied with Covid-19 restrictions. This response comes despite the University of Nottingham handing out more fines in monetary terms in response to Covid-19 rule breaches than any other university in the UK. A University of Nottingham Freedom of Information request revealed that between September 2020 and July 2021, 322 Covid related formal disciplinary outcomes were imposed. This perhaps raises questions about the efficacy of their enforcement methods and suggests a commonality between students and residents, as both feel disillusioned by the University’s response.
Impact’s research also showed that, whilst 76 percent of residents found government regulations easy to understand, only 50 percent of students surveyed** felt government guidance was clear. Although some may claim that there was no ambiguity in rules, there was a widespread feeling amidst university students that government addresses had consistently failed to provide them with tailored advice. It was communicated that guidance did not acknowledge the unique situation many students found themselves in, particularly in regard to their housing ‘bubbles’, which were often far less clear cut than typical family nucleuses.
