Thanks to everyone who joined us for The Horrors Persist, our Term 1 housing support event. Whether you came for advice, solidarity, or simply a place to talk through your housing challenges, we hope you left feeling more informed, supported, and empowered to navigate student housing at UAL.

Why we hosted this event

We organised The Horrors Persist event to help students navigate the private rental sector at a time when the landscape is changing significantly. The Renters Rights Act (2025), previously known as the Renters (Reform) Bill, will reshape how renting works across England.

The new law aims to:

• Give tenants stronger rights and protections
• Improve housing standards
• Make renting more flexible and transparent

With these changes coming into effect, many students may not yet know what their updated rights look like in practice. Our goal was to ensure students feel informed, confident, and prepared, whether they’re renting for the first time or already dealing with issues in their tenancy.

You can read more about these changes and what they mean for you here.

What we achieved

At the event, we spent time speaking directly with students about their renting experiences, the challenges they’ve faced, and any concerns they had about navigating the private rental sector. Throughout the day, we signposted students to the most relevant support services, including the Arts SU Advice Service, and made sure they knew where to get help if issues arise.

To help students learn about the upcoming changes in renters’ rights in an engaging way, we ran a quiz game and shared fact cards highlighting key updates in the Renters Rights Act (2025). We also gave out housing themed freebies to encourage students to take these resources home and continue learning about their rights.

We also encouraged students to take part in the Brick by Brick survey, which helps us better understand student housing experiences and advocate to UAL for improvements.

We also captured valuable feedback that will shape further housing support in Term 2.

Services you can still access

Even though the event has ended, support is available all year round.

• Arts SU Advice – for housing support and guidance
• University of London Housing Services (ULHS) – for legal housing advice, contract checks and resources
• UAL Halls Life – community support, events, wellbeing and housing guidance

Need Help Now?

You can always reach the Arts SU advice team:

📧 Email Us

or

📅 Book an appointment

What’s next

We’ll be hosting more housing workshops and advice sessions in Term 2.

Keep an eye on your UAL email, the SU channels and Halls Life for upcoming dates.

And finally, thank you again to everyone who attended, shared, and contributed. The conversations from The Horrors Persist don’t end here, and neither does the support.