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Stuka
Joined: 27 Aug 2012 Posts: 237
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Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2016 11:01 pm Post subject: UCL students refuse to pay rent and demand 40% cut |
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http://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/jan/25/london-students-refuse-to-pay-rent-and-demand-40-cut
More evidence that a university education is fast becoming too expensive for your average British student these days. It's not just about exorbitant tuition fees, but also the other stuff like rented accommodation that is taking its toll. Chances are that the degree that these students are working towards will have no market value later and the only thing students will have to look forward to is years of trying to pay off a mountain of debt. Is the game really worth the candle? |
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Dedicated
Joined: 18 May 2007 Posts: 972 Location: UK
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Posted: Sun Jan 31, 2016 9:16 am Post subject: |
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I think this is more a reflection of the forbidding costs of living in London generally for everybody, not just students.
London is by far the most expensive area in the UK in which to live. In 2015 -16, at 226 GB pounds, the highest average weekly rent was in London , which is 69% more than the average rent for the rest of the country. This compares with 118 pounds in Wales. Driven by the expensive Edinburgh and Aberdeen markets, Scotland is second at 150 pounds per week.
UCL is situated in the centre of one of the most expensive cities in the world. According to the NUS Unipol Accommodation Cost Survey 2014-2016, freedom of information shows that overall UCL has spent a greater sum of money on residences than it has generated by way of income from the same source.
Given the cost of housing in central London, UCL has actually been more successful, albeit with higher rents overall, in keeping a significant proportion of its accommodation within the 120-150 pound band and not being drawn into developing very high cost accommodation. At UCL, 20% of hall rentals are between 120-150 pounds and 50% between 150-200 pounds. In contrast, at Exeter University, lower cost accommodation has been squeezed below the 20% level, while a significant proportion of its accommodation is in the high 200-250 pound band.
At UCL, there are currently 37,000 students but only 4,340 bed spaces, so students are lucky to get hall accommodation at all. The hall where the students are protesting is a catered hall (Ramsay Hall) where they get cooked breakfast and dinner 5 days out of seven for about 150 pounds a week. They signed a contract in September 2015 for the academic year. I seriously doubt the likelihood of getting a 40% discount as there is a 12.4% annual rise in house rental prices in London.
For the 2015-2016 academic year, new students are eligible for the maximum amount of maintenance loan available at 5,740 pounds a year, and subject to parliamentary approval, students starting in 2016-17 will receive up to 10,702 in London maintenance. |
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Stuka
Joined: 27 Aug 2012 Posts: 237
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Posted: Sun Jan 31, 2016 3:24 pm Post subject: |
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Dedicated wrote: |
I think this is more a reflection of the forbidding costs of living in London generally for everybody, not just students. |
True, but students from poorer backgrounds are particularly vulnerable here in London. Already they're working every hour that God sends to get money just to live while their studies suffer. Some even drop out. And then there's the psychological worry of getting a job to pay back loans upon graduation. If you ask me it's not really worth it unless you're loaded. The great irony here of course is that those that have the least money are paying the highest price. The rich of course don't need to take out loans and don't have to struggle with high rents and don't have to work like Trojans for a pittance and don't have to worry about getting a job, and so on ad infinitum. An article in the Guardian hits the target:
Perhaps that will have as little impact on young people’s desire to reach university as the tripling of tuition fees did a few years ago. But no one knows for certain. And there is one crucial difference here: everyone pays the same tuition fees – typically £9,000 – whatever their background. In contrast, because the maintenance grant system is means-tested, its abolition means the poorest students will emerge with the biggest debts.
The last time maintenance grants were abolished, between 1998 and 2004, it was a failure and had to be reversed. The government says things will be different this time around. Perhaps, but ministers must have their fingers crossed behind their backs because the spending review also included a £120m cut in the funds paid directly to institutions, meaning much less public spending on widening participation initiatives.
So while students take on more of the cost of their education, pensioners’ incomes continue to be very well protected. Part of the explanation for that, as our recent work on the weakness of the student vote proves, is that older people are a much more powerful electoral force than younger people. They turn out to vote in much bigger numbers. But younger people eventually grow old too, and one day the tables may turn.
http://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/2015/nov/26/universities-got-off-lightly-but-will-poorest-students-pay-the-price
And the outcome is likely to get worse for poorer students as the government relaxes the cap that universities charge students and tuition fees go through the roof:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/universityeducation/12013303/University-students-in-England-pay-the-highest-tuition-fees-in-the-world.html |
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Dedicated
Joined: 18 May 2007 Posts: 972 Location: UK
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Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2016 7:35 am Post subject: |
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deleted
Last edited by Dedicated on Tue Mar 08, 2016 9:50 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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grahamb
Joined: 30 Apr 2003 Posts: 1945
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Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2016 6:43 pm Post subject: The Guardian - Comment is free |
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The link appears to be dead. |
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Dedicated
Joined: 18 May 2007 Posts: 972 Location: UK
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grahamb
Joined: 30 Apr 2003 Posts: 1945
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Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2016 10:11 pm Post subject: Back from the dead |
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Thanks.
When I was a student in the early 80s my catered accommodation cost around £400 a term. Those were the good old days of student grants. Education is once more becoming the preserve of the rich. |
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Dedicated
Joined: 18 May 2007 Posts: 972 Location: UK
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Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2016 11:41 am Post subject: |
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A little bit of progress has been made which will not solve the problem but is definitely a step in the right direction.
There are about 5,000 students currently in UCL accommodation and 37 students who have taken part in the rent strike are still withholding rent. Contrary to reports, UCL has not begun any formal proceedings against them, but just requested payment.
As from 2016/2017 the rents are either being reduced or frozen for 1,224 rooms, representing around 30% of the accommodation owned by UCL.
* Rent has been reduced by 21 pounds per week for 186 smaller rooms in 5 halls of residence.
*Rents have been frozen for 536 of the cheapest rooms.
*Rents have been reduced for 502 rooms at Ramsay Hall, which is fully catered.
* UCL has increased the number of twin rooms at Hawkridge House to offer the cheapest rate across all of UCL accommodation |
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