Student campaigners today declared “a major win” after a five-month rent strike in protest over costly accommodation prices came to an end.
The protest group UCL Cut the Rent has reached a deal with the university after 200 students withheld their rents – which range from £154 to £276 a week.
The group has accepted an offer by the university to freeze its lowest rents for 2017/18. UCL Accommodation has also pledged to increase its accommodation bursary for less well-off students to £600,000 in the 2017/18 academic year and the same amount for the next year.
UCL Accommodation had previously offered the group £350,000 toward bursaries for 2016/2017, meaning the concessions amount to around £1.4m in total.
Jack Kershaw, a first-year classics student and a campaign organiser, said: “I went on rent strike so that in future a wider range of students can study at UCL.
“The only reason the university froze rents and started to offer an accommodation bursary last year was due to the rent strike. This shows that UCL management need to be pressured by their own students into taking action.”
The campaign’s success follows a strike victory at Goldsmiths, University of London last year, where halls of residence prices were cut by 35%.
Shelly Asquith, former vice president of the National Union of Students (NUS) and a supporter of the action, hailed the campaign’s “historic victory”. She said: “UCL Cut the Rent played a blinder during negotiations, and this three-year action has resulted in concessions worth millions of pounds. We expect this to be replicated elsewhere, and will continue to support students on rent strike.”
A UCL spokesperson said: “We welcome this resolution which is a positive outcome of engagement with our student body and UCLU. UCL is committed to keeping rents as low as possible for its residents.
“These commitments reflect UCL’s undertaking to ensure affordable accommodation and fair access for every student.”
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