Rents through the roof
Massive rent hikes proposed for the coming academic year have been met with outrage by JCRs across the University.
The plans will see the increase of rents at many colleges including St Catherine's and Magdalen, who face rises of 35 per cent and 34 per cent over the next three years. From October Balliol freshers face a 30 per cent hike, with all three of these falling on top of the 5.93 per cent Van Noorden inflation index.
Colleges blame the increases on the removal of College subsidies, a removal prescribed by the Estate Bursars' Committee in a move to recoup a greater proportion of the full cost of providing a room to each student. However, this is a move that will leave students across the University struggling to afford to live and study in Oxford.
OUSU this week expressed its disappointment and dissatisfaction at the measures, which it feels will also have detrimental effects on Oxford's attempts to broaden access.
President of OUSU Helena Puig Larrauri urged the Government to change the student loan system in line with these increases to Oxford College rents.
Puig Larrauri told The OxStu: "The Government should implement regional weighting of loans to cater for the different costs faced by students. Unlike students in London, where the rents are the highest in the country, loans for Oxford students are not indexed to accommodate this."
Elizabeth Crawford, domestic bursar at University College and Chairperson of the Domestic Bursars' Committee, claims colleges are increasing rents to target larger subsidies at poorer students, forcing richer students to pay higher rates: "At Univ we are seeking to move away from a universal subsidy to a more targeted subsidy to aid people from lower income families."
However JCR Presidents and OUSU remain unconvinced. Emma Norris, JCR President of Somerville, where students face a 12 per cent rise, told The OxStu: "Bursary and hardship systems only work if they are there to aid a minority of students. If rents are increased, more people will seek financial assistance, thus making bursary schemes redundant."
She added: "It is not reasonable to ask JCRs to find other ways to fund a deficit." This has been the case at several colleges, including Balliol.
JCR Presidents throughout the University are united on fighting rent increases, with many asserting they will take action if the rent negotiations, many of which are ongoing, come to an unsatisfactory conclusion.
Pete Dale, Catz JCR President, told The OxStu: "The feeling is strong enough within the student body at Catz to protest against [large rises]."
University College JCR President Ally Arnall also expressed her support for protesting JCRs: "If any colleges were undergoing measures that seemed completely unacceptable, we would definitely be willing to support them."
Loiuse McMullan, OUSU Vice President for Access and Academic Affairs, is concerned about the access implications of the continuing rise in rents. "Oxford claims to need more money to maintain its world-class status," she said. "This status can only be maintained if Oxford continues to attract world-class students, which it will fail to do if rents make Oxford unaffordable."
6th May 2004