The rent for university halls has been steadily rising over the past few years. This has resulted in student leadership in collaboration with rent action to demand action to be taken by universities to address this problem. They have also organized a strike action on Thursday calling for universities to intervene.
Universities have not done enough to address the rising cost of school housing. This is a consensus being held by the majority of UK students who believe that they are on the receiving end of school administrations who have refused to negotiate better terms for them. The rising cost of housing has increased significantly over the past few years, something that has put students on edge.
Effect of rising rent of university halls
For comparison, in academic 2011/2012, the school rent accounted for about 58 percent of the total student loans. Last year, the rent accounted for over 73 percent of the total school loans.
A catered room in university is currently costing £ 7,772, the maximum amount of student loan is £8,700 and the average student loan debt is £6,108. This means that for an average student, the amount granted will not be able to cover the cost of housing.
The rising cost of university halls has led to student leaders across the country calling for strike action and calling on the universities to take action on the rising cost of living in universities.
Caitlin Ghibout, a second-year anthropology student at Durham, along with other student leaders across the country is launching a cut the rent campaign that will address the challenges these students are facing on their day to day life.
Ghibout is quoted saying,
Rents have been rising significantly every year since 2010, It’s got to the point where, if you were looking at which university to go to but didn’t have much money, you wouldn’t be able to come to Durham.
Multiple actions by the organization
Students will be protesting on Thursday as part of a national day of strike action which has been organized by Rent Strike. These strikes are seen as necessary by both the students and the organizers.
For instance, Liverpool University bowed to the students’ demands after multiple actions by the organization, student leadership, and students at large. Before actions were taken, the cost of living in university was almost twice the cost of living in a private residence.
Ghibout and her fellow students want to make sure that the standards of living for students is considerate. They also want to make sure that the rent is not exploitive and the school is using the profits from the university halls to advance students’ welfare.
They have said that they are committed to fighting for students rights across the country until a solution is found
