We're helping students take action in privately rented accommodation.

Green Impact Student Homes is a scheme developed by Property With Us with the University of Sheffield Students' Union and NUS Students' Green Fund, adapting the usual framework for use in privately rented accommodation, in collaboration between landlords and tenants.

Together, they take action on everything from water to wellbeing, helping to embed sustainability across all aspects of student life and society. Now, we're proud to be able to roll this out across the country, with more and more students and landlords taking part.

In Sheffield, Tony De Simone is a local landlord who got involved after hearing about the idea from the university while he was completely renovating a house.

"I thought it looked like a great scheme and decided to go for Gold so I could give the university and their students the best house I could, especially as at that point the house was a blank canvas", Tony said.

"I realised that not only would I be benefitting from the priority advertising I would receive and the registration fee discount, but my tenants would also be benefitting from having lower living costs and a reduced carbon footprint"

This isn't just about helping students to make their own pro-environmental choices. It's about making sure that landlords do the things which make sustainable living possible. It's about ensuring that students get housing which is decent, comfortable and affordable.

Rachel, a student who lives in Tony's newly renovated house, totally agrees. "We're students who work long hours in the day and it can be stressful at times, so it's great to come back to a lovely warm house, where you can relax", she said.

"We found that the house was a lot more efficient to run and cheaper on our utility bills", she continues. "Due to all the insulation in the house it was so much warmer than our other friends' houses and we managed to turn the heating off a lot sooner in the year".

And it's had positive impacts on her own behaviour too. "We found that we were more aware of saving water, using less energy and turning lights off and we went out and used the garden more."

A house with good insulation is warmer and cheaper to run, while a communal garden brings its tenants together, and helps them to eat healthily. These are just a couple of the benefits you get from an accredited Green Impact Student Homes property, while helping renters to get into positive environmental habits.

"I'm now looking to accredit the rest of my houses", Tony told us, after seeing the difference for himself. "I think more landlords should get involved so we can improve the housing stock from a sustainable view point as this benefits both landlords and students".

Talk to us about Green Impact Student Homes and how you can get involved.