NUS is calling for the government to enact a rent and utility holiday for at least three-months.
The National Union of Students (NUS) has called on the government to enact a three-month rent and utility holiday as it warned that young people are being disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 crisis.
The government has already provided a facility to provide three-month mortgage holidays for both residential and buy-to-let borrowers.
This has been coupled with a series of stimulus packages aimed at protecting businesses, employees and the self-employed.
Zamzam Ibrahim (pictured), NUS national president, said: "We know that young people, students and apprentices are often financially burdened due to costs associated with education, they are also disproportionately renters and we need immediate government action to ensure student tenants are not taking out commercial debt to pay rent for properties in which they cannot or should not be living in as a result of the crisis.
"Furthermore, it is clear that rent obligations must be waived for those who are financially struggling and not just kicked into the long grass as unpayable rent arrears.
“NUS is calling for the government to enact a rent and utility holiday for at least three-months, a suspension of rent rises and evictions for all tenants including those in student accommodation, state guaranteed living income for all workers who cannot attend work, including precarious and gig-economy workers, and for those made redundant as a result of the pandemic, the SSP threshold to be lowered and the rate of SSP increased as businesses are affected.”
