Balliol accommodation in crisis
Students have complained that accommodation is substandard, with leaking toilets and ill-equipped kitchens
Balliol College is facing a housing emergency after students have refused to apply to live in, protesting against rent hikes and poor room quality. The ballot for places in college accommodation was to have taken place last Thursday, and in previous years all college-owned rooms have been filled. However, last week the ballot was abandoned after not enough first and second years signed up, leaving the college with 38 empty rooms.
JCR President Jack Hawkins said students were protesting against high rents. “In the last two years, rents in college have increased by over 45 per cent, yet in the same period student loans have only gone up by 2.5 per cent a year. By 2009, rents will have more than doubled from their 2003 level,” he said. Two years ago Balliol increased their rents by 30 per cent. “The committee that passed the rent increases had no student representation.
Previous JCR committees warned the college that the current situation would be the result, but they were convinced it would be fine,” said Hawkins. To compound the pricing complaints, students are very unhappy with the quality of accommodation being provided for these increased rents.
JCR Welfare and Housing Rep Lee Moore said: “many typical third year staircases have only one or two showers and some don’t even have a shower at all, meaning a student living on this staircase has to walk to another staircase come rain or shine to wash! Kitchenettes are also sparse in college...they’re small and in a bad state of repair.
Hawkins has received numerous emails from frustrated students complaining about poor room quality, together with photographs of damp walls, cracked windows and decaying furniture. “There are cases of broken windows that have remained broken for weeks, despite students informing college authorities,” he told The Oxford Student. “It’s actually cheaper to pay for a 12-month lease on a private property.
On Sunday night an informal meeting was held by the JCR to discuss the situation, in which students expressed their concerns to the committee. College authorities have extended the ballot deadline in the hope that more students will apply, but Hawkins said most people have now put down deposits on private houses. “This problem can’t be solved simply by getting a few more second years to move into college. This involves 10 per cent of the student body.
It needs to be solved deeper down, by analyzing room rents, and the reasons they were raised.” Hawkins is adamant this matter is a serious one, but said he had no illusions about the likelihood of an easy solution to the problem. “I am only in a situation to hope, and do my best for the JCR. I’m looking forward to working with the college on it. Hopefully I’ll be involved in the final decision, and we’ll try to come to some sort of solution.” The college declined to comment.
2nd Feb 2006