The Tenant Oral History Project: pilot a rampART 2.2

The Tenant Oral History Project

The Tenant Oral History Project is an initiative aiming to document experiences of people living in rented accommodation, using audio recordings and making it available to the public via the internet and the British Library. The project will be conducted in the most open way, publishing all our materials and themes we aim to cover. Anybody can download our guidelines and conduct their own interviews. Via the internet teams across the UK can contribute and upload their own interviews.

Interviewees will talk chronologically about their experiences, starting with the time when they got their first own place, through to today or until they left rented accommodation.

Interviews will be conducted as a conversation between one interviewer and the interviewee. The interviewer will ask occasional questions, trying to keep the interview on track and on topic.

Themes aiming to be covered:

• finding a place

• viewing properties

• making a decision/choosing a place

• estate agents before the contract

• being interviewed as a tenant

• references/guarrantors

• the tenancy contract

• paying the deposit

• inventory

• pre-existing furniture

• moving in

• making it your own

• estate agents after signing the contract

• initial snags/promises made

• repairs

• management of the property

• paying the rent

• interacting with the landlord

• bills

• former tenants

• giving notice

• moving out

• getting the deposit back

All interviews will be uploaded to the internet unedited. At regular intervals the interviews will be recorded on CD and submitted to the British Library’s Life Story collection. All interviews will be released on a Creative Commons license. All contributors have to complete a release form. Contributions without release form can not be considered.

Interview Deposit: www.archive.org

Website: flashradio.wordpress.com

E-mail: drone@riseup.net