For two days in June and July, the student areas of Leeds descends into chaos. With over 50,000 students across Headingley, Hyde Park, Burley and Kirkstall gearing up to move out of their old homes, many students face a stressful period.
Across Leeds, and the rest of the country, there is an annual changeover period for student tenants. Most student tenancies will end on June 30 with the new ones beginning on July 1.
However, this causes a bit of an issue, the main one being many people are left in limbo for 24 hours until they can collect the keys to their new house. Across these areas today (June 30), many students have been frantically trying to vacate their old properties with vans and cars packed full of their belongings.
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This often leads to traffic disruption, rubbish being left out and some students facing a night being somewhat 'nomadic'. LeedsLive spoke to students who were moving out about their thoughts on the process, with many asking for a change in the system.
Two students, who had just left their property in Burley said the system was 'mad' and that it should be made so that they could do it all in one day.
They said: "I think it's a bit mad that they make everyone move on the same day.
"Don't get me wrong, I understand it works well for the letting agents but for students, it is a massive pain. Headingley, Hyde Park and Burley end up in gridlock with people trying to cram their whole lives into a Fiat 500, it's chaos."
They went on to criticise the 24-hour layover period. Saying it's not environmentally conscious nor an easy process.
"Then there is the 24-hour layover.
"I know people who are having to get their parents to drive up and then drive back down south to get their stuff home for just 24 hours. We are talking hundreds of miles!
"It's not very green and not very good for anyone."
Residents often criticise students for leaving rubbish around the streets. Often they dump stuff they cannot take in the gardens or by the overflowing bins because they cannot carry it around the streets or to their temporary place to stay.
Patryk, a master's graduate at the University of Leeds said: "I think the issue with rubbish being left out comes down to a lot of again, particularly more well off students not respecting the community that is already there in student areas and see it as solely as student area so it doesn't matter what it looks like.
"This means that they just throw away anything they don't need and when you've got a load of people doing that means things just got left in the street and no one is really bothered about clearing it up"
"If you're someone who isn't going back home in between moving in and moving out, which again tends to be more working-class students because they may have to pay rent at home.
"The process is very chaotic because you're frantically having to move everything out in a short space of time to find somewhere to keep it. Some people get storage lockers but that leaves them without somewhere to stay."
Another student, in the Burley area, spoke of the different opportunities some people get compared to others when moving. They said: "I don't have a car, I don't have parents who will drive hundreds of miles to help me move, it's a real struggle.
"Being left without a place to stay means I have to hope I can find some friends or as a last resort a hotel, moving is expensive as it is I can't afford to pay for a hotel or storage so I have to carry my stuff to the next house."
Leeds City Council issued some advice to students moving today and tomorrow, urging them to be aware of leaving waste out and also to avoid anti-social behaviour. They also said they were streamlining the process to assist students.
A spokesperson for LCC said: "As well as keeping noise to a minimum, students and landlords can help by disposing of waste properly and recycling or donating to charities where possible
"Residents can be assured that nightly anti-social behaviour and noise patrols will continue throughout this next period and additional resources will be deployed to ensure any issues are dealt with quickly and efficiently."
LCC has worked with the University of Leeds and Leeds Beckett to try and ensure the process runs smoothly this year. They have arranged charity drives to collect unwanted items and the council has deployed additional resources to keep the streets and bins empty of rubbish.
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