The UT Tenants’ Union held a town hall on Oct. 17, where members recommended a series of changes to improve lease regulations and practices near the University.
The Union hosted the town hall in partnership with city of Austin employees who heard ideas to improve the University Neighborhood Overlay Density Bonus Program. According to the city of Austin, the UNO Density Bonus Program allows developers to build complexes with greater heights and densities in exchange for affordable housing and reductions in parking requirements.
“(Austin is) such a near and dear place to me, but as a student and as a candidate, I noticed people weren’t really giving a damn about student voices and issues (they) were facing,” said Council Member Zo Qadri, who represents District 9. “The student population eats up about 50% of the district’s population, so it’s really important for me … to hear from (them).”
Namratha Thrikutam, chair-elect and external outreach director of the Tenants’ Union, said students are typically expected to look for housing a year in advance, which forces new students to sign a lease within a month of moving to campus. To solve this, the Union recommended that landlords open new leases only five months before the lease begins rather than a year earlier. The Union also recommended landlords approach tenants six months in advance about lease renewals.
“You don’t know anything about housing here, but you are being asked to sign a lease within a month of moving (to campus),” architecture senior Thrikutam said. “You don’t know about co-ops (and) you don’t know about what the affordable housing options are. … No one makes a good decision about something so serious as housing within a month without having all the information that they need.”
To hold developers accountable for delayed move-in dates, the Union recommended the city require them to give renters a 60-day notice that their unit will not be ready by the original move-in date. They also suggested landlords compensate $200 each day the renter cannot move in. Kayla Quilantang, chair and internal director of the Tenants’ Union and architecture senior, said the group formed the ideas from previous student experiences.
“We wanted to hold developers accountable for delayed construction and connect the University of Texas with the city and provide housing support for students. … There’s students that are having to pay out of pocket for their own Airbnbs because their own developers and landlords are not being held accountable,” Quilantang said. “We really want to think about how we could tackle all of these different student experiences in a collaboration with the city and through our connections.”
Alan Pani, a principal planner for the city of Austin, said the planning department expects to have a public review of the city’s proposal to improve the UNO Density Bonus Program by early next year.
Quilantang said the Union is actively collaborating with Qadri and city planners to ensure they can identify solutions to tenant concerns and refine the UNO Density Bonus Program in the upcoming months.
“We’re really excited that they seem to really appreciate the student feedback,” Quilantang said. “They were taking a lot of notes. They asked for this event so that they can refine their language. We’re hopeful that this will be a very positive collaboration rather than a divisive one.”
Editor’s note: A quote was added to this story for further context and clarification.
