Brixton’s quiet residential streets are being converted, house by house, into high-occupancy student accommodation, and neighbours are rarely consulted. The result is constant noise, broken sleep and a growing strain on residents’ health and daily lives.

We, the undersigned residents of Brixton, Johannesburg, call on the University of Johannesburg to:

1. Audit accredited student houses in Barnes Road, Caroline Street, Fulham Road, Isleworth against UJ’s own standards, and use its complaints and de-accreditation process where breaches are confirmed.
2. Accredit only properties that can show valid City consent (which includes notifying neighbours), a health permit and compliance with occupant limits.
3. Act on student conduct: remind students in accredited housing of their off-campus code of conduct on noise, parties and public behaviour, apply student discipline for repeated complaints, and give residents a clear contact for reporting problems, with a response time.

We also call on the City of Johannesburg to:

1. Pause approval of new student accommodation (commune) applications in these streets until saturation and infrastructure capacity (water, sewer, electricity, parking, refuse) have been assessed.
2. Audit and enforce consent, health permits, occupant limits, fire safety, parking, a live-in manager with a displayed 24-hour number, and the noise and public-health by-laws, including action on repeat breaches.
3. Require approval before use, not after, with neighbours notified and their objections genuinely considered.
4. Publish a street-by-street register of approved and unapproved student accommodation so residents can see what is lawful.

What residents experience

• Parties several times a week and every weekend, running late into the night.
• Loud music from rooms and parked cars, including Bluetooth speakers played through open windows.
• Groups sitting on porches, pavements and in front of neighbours’ homes, talking loudly at night.
• Groups walking past every few minutes, at all hours.
• Public urination in the street and in front of homes.
• Litter, overflowing bins, cars on pavements.

How it affects our health

Night-time noise disrupts sleep, and ongoing sleep loss and stress take a real toll on residents, whether they are working, studying, caring for children or elderly, or simply trying to rest. Public urination and overflowing bins are also public-health nuisances, which the City’s public health by-laws exist to prevent.

Why we are asking

Houses next to family homes are being filled with tenants without neighbours being notified or consulted. Many appear to be operating without the City approvals required for student communes, and some appear to house more people than allowed. We ask UJ and the City to verify this.

The City’s own draft Commune Policy shows roughly a third of Brixton’s single-residential stands already have commune consent, above the 20% ratio recommended in the earlier policy. 

We are not against students. They deserve safe, affordable, legal and properly managed housing, and many are considerate neighbours. But when whole streets are converted one house at a time, everyone pays for it, including students who need quiet to study.

Please sign to ask UJ and the City to act before Brixton’s residential character is lost.