Next year’s university accommodation rent prices are set to see a price rise of 8.6 per cent in some blocks, with others rising by 5.6 per cent, increasing student living costs alongside the new £9,000 education fees, having been recommended by the Student Services Committee.
Whilst the 5.6 per cent price increase is in line with inflation, the 8.6 per cent increase represents, to Vice-Chancellor for Students Jane Grenville said “last year the catered services were subsidised. To pay for the ongoing accommodation renovations on Heslington West campus, we have to stop subsidising the food service, which is why the prices have gone up above inflation.”
The new pricing levels would see a standard refurbished room in Derwent priced at almost £120 a week from October 2012, whilst prices for rooms in the new Langwith college buildings on Heslington East are yet to be announced.
YUSU President Tim Ellis told Vision, “Myself and Bob [Hughes, YUSU Welfare Officer] both sit on Student Services Committee and made our views very clear, but we were obviously in a minority.”
The price increase is also coupled with the uncertainty of the recent Article 4 Direction that was passed by York City Council as reported by Vision. Residents had complained about University students beginning to take over local areas as more houses were being converted into multiple occupancy homes.
The University has been criticised for not offering enough accommodation for the growing number of students, forcing them out into local communities such as Badger Hill and Heslington Village. Ellis stated, “We [the University] should be encouraging affordable rooms on campus, for all first years, and some second and third years, not pricing them out. I would urge the Senior Management Group to reconsider the implications of such a price rise.”
The decision to increase the price of on-campus accommodation comes coupled with the increase in house prices as a whole in York, which, again coupled with the Article 4 Direction will see student rent prices rise this year.
However, in future, representation for students may be more prominent, with Ellis stating that, “We have managed to secure a student seat on the Rents Group which makes the proposal to Student Services Committee so next year students will have an input much earlier on.”
Whilst the decisions on accommodation pricing are not yet final, they look almost certain to go through unless YUSU can convince senior management to change their minds.