Students petition Parliament over College rent hikes
Rent rises have prompted OUSU to present a petition to parliament
The Student Union has this week launched a petition demanding government action to be taken over the rising cost of Oxford college accommodation. The petition will be presented to Parliament in fourth week, in a move planned to coincide with OUSUorganised student protests, including silent halls, a poster campaign and governing body protests.
OUSU are calling on the Department for Education and Skills to ‘consider the plight of students in Oxford and henceforth allow students to live and work, free from the burden of unreasonable accommodation costs’. Students at London universities are entitled to loans of up to £1,300 more than the standard loan, a concession designed to account for the cost of student living in the capital.
However, according to the recent NUS rent and accommodation survey Oxford college accommodation is more expensive than rooms at Kings College London, University College London and the London School of Economics, and is the most expensive in England outside London. Accommodation costs in Oxford colleges have risen by 35% in the last five years, compared with 8.6% in London and 3.5% regionally. At the same time, student loans have increased by only 2% per year.
This leaves students struggling to pay for much higher yearly increases in rent for college-owned property. The Student Loans Company said, “This is a subject which is beyond our reach, I’m afraid, as it is entirely a matter of policy and therefore belongs with the Department for Education and Skills. Please don’t take this to mean that no-one at the Student Loans Company cares about what you have identified as an issue of concern.
The committee of JCR Presidents, PresComm, has yet to come to agreement over how they should take action. St Hugh’s JCR President, Martin McCluskey, was instrumental in persuading OUSU Council to launch the petition. He said, “Our focus should be on tackling student poverty, with the cost of living at its core. Students need to take part in action that will draw attention to the problem of student rent.
JCR Presidents need to agree to go back to college and encourage student involvement”. Balliol JCR President Jack Hawkins was more wary. “JCRs do need to stick together to support each other in negotiating better rents, but each JCR must be left to take the approach which best suits them.” Student Union President Emma Norris told The Oxford Student, “This year common rooms are uniting to question the basis of rent rises, and to oppose further rises without weighted loans.
“Rents are getting so high, that students are under considerable stress financially - in some colleges students are beginning to live out, as it is cheaper. The community created through the college system is very important to students and tutors alike; if we want to preserve it, colleges will have to make living in affordable.
Andrew Smith, the MP for Oxford East, said, “I back OUSU and JCRs’ rents campaign and I’ve offered to present their petition to Parliament to highlight how seriously battles rises affect students. “Obviously colleges have to meet their expenditure, but they’ve put rents up 35% in the last five years. It’s way above inflation so I’m asking Parliamentary Questions to get more on this for the campaign.”
27th Apr 2006