Sign our petition and email your councillors to say no to the private, luxury student accommodation developments taking over our city! The property developers Dundee 1881 Limited have asked the council for permission to demolish the Keiller Centre and build student accommodation. This is despite existing accommodation sitting empty in the same small area, and demand for student accommodation in Dundee declining whilst our university struggles to stay afloat. With average private rents rising 44% in Dundee over the last five years, and 8000 people on social housing waiting lists, Dundonians are crying out for more affordable housing, not expensive, cramped student accommodations.The council must listen to the community and use this site, which sits in the heart of our city centre, to build something of benefit to the local community. Sign our petition to demand that Dundee City Council reject the planning permission for this development when the planning committee meets in November.

Today, Living Rent and trade unions have said that the Scottish Government needs to introduce an immediate rent freeze covering all private and mid-market rented homes. Continue reading

The council want to turn the Keiller Centre into student flats. Purpose built student accommodation (PBSA) is wrecking our city centre. Developers know they can make a killing building exclusive student flats, so they won't build affordable housing. These rooms are expensive, small, and poorly built, so they aren't good homes for the students that may live there either. At the moment, developers are walking all over Dundee City Council. We need to come together and tell the council we want good homes for everyone, not expensive student flats. Use our template objection to tell the council that we've had enough of PBSA. We understand the council does not make it easy for residents like us to object. You have to understand planning policy to know what is a 'competent objection' and this takes a lot of time. To make it easier we have written up detailed reasons why you should object. Our template is here. Send the council your objection here. The more people object, the more loudly we can say no to PBSA.  Continue reading

Through coming together with other members of Living Rent, Areej won back £6600 after an illegal rent increase. Areej first came into contact with Living Rent when we knocked on her door and asked what she'd like to change about her housing or local area. Areej and her three children have been living in their flat since 2021. Their problems began in 2023 when the landlord informed her that they wanted to sell the property and asked them to leave. At the time, Areej was nearing the completion of my PhD, a crucial and demanding stage of her studies. The landlord was aware of her circumstances, including the fact that she is a mother of three children and that her husband works outside the UK. Faced with the possibility of losing our home during such a challenging period, Areej tried to find a solution that would allow her family to remain in the property while she completed her PhD and searched for alternative accommodation. The outcome was that they were allowed to stay, but the landlord insisted that Areej pay hundreds of pounds extra every month on top of the rent, outside the tenancy agreement, and to the landlord directly rather than through the agency. Although she immediately began looking for another home, finding suitable housing for a family of four proved extremely difficult. Options were limited for a single mum and full time student. As a result, they remained in the property and continued paying the increased rent. The uncertainty placed significant pressure on the family financially. She struggled to cope with the cost, as well as the stress of not knowing whether we would be able to secure another home. After joining Living Rent, Areej was able to challenge the rent increase by going to the letting agency and making them take action against the landlord. They were able to recover £6600 that had been charged outside the terms of the contract. Areej said "Living Rent’s support made a real difference to my family and helped us stand up for our rights as tenants at a time when we felt vulnerable and uncertain. This experience showed me how easily tenants can find themselves in difficult situations, particularly families with children who are already balancing work, education, and caring responsibilities. It also demonstrated the importance of organisations like Living Rent in helping people understand their rights and take action when those rights are not respected."

Scottish Water found unsafe levels of lead present in our drinking water in October 2024. Unfortunately, the affected pipes were on our side of the property boundary, which makes it the property owners’ responsibility to replace any lead pipes – in our case our landlord, the other flat owners, and the building factor. Our letting agency was initially quite helpful and corresponded with the factor on our behalf as they needed consent from all the flat owners in the building to do any major pipe-replacement works. However, after a few months, we stopped hearing from either of them on any progress made, and it eventually turned out that the factor hadn’t got the consent to do the work and so wasn’t going to do anything, but they failed to tell us about that. In the meantime, we were able to get a meagre rent reduction from the landlord for the increased financial and physical cost of having to buy our own bottled water for drinking and cooking, and filling up empty bottles from taps that we knew were safe, which was also quite mentally draining because our home didn’t feel safe anymore. After a year of inaction from the landlord, agency, and factor, we were exhausted and at a loss of what to do, so we finally joined Living Rent. They helped us confront the landlord and letting agency about the lack of progress in getting safe drinking water for our home. We finally got a filter installed on our drinking water tap which significantly reduced the lead levels and made it safe for consumption. With the help of Living Rent, we also managed to get a further £1000 as compensation for the exposure to lead, as well as their failure to fix it in a timely manner. We wouldn’t have had the strength to stand up to our landlord without our fellow Living Rent members.