News / University of Bristol
University of Bristol makes U-turn over student halls rent payment
Students at the University of Bristol have celebrated the reversal of a ‘classist’ decision to use bursaries to pay rent arrears.
On November 19 the university sent an email to students involved in a campus rent strike, explaining that they would have to pay off their rent arrears or the money would be deducted from their December bursary payment. To be entitled to a bursary, a student must have a household income of less than £42,875.
The following day, the university reversed their decision after coming under pressure from students, staff and a Labour MP.
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The U-turn has been hailed as a victory for students’ ongoing rent strike campaign, in which they demand a 30 per cent reduction in rent across the academic year, due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on teaching.
Bristol, Cut The Rent expressed their outrage over the decision to use bursaries to pay the rent arrears, and their determination to continue the rent strike despite the U-turn, in a statement on their Facebook page:
“The university’s attempt to make students with bursaries pay up has highlighted the classism of their rent arrears policy.
“The use of bursaries as guarantees of outstanding student debt singles out students from low-income backgrounds and decreases their agency over how they use their money. Despite the U-turn, this policy is still on the books, but we hope that this will change now the university has realised its error.
“This has been a huge victory which has assured us that the strike remains as strong as possible, and that the strikers who are most in need of rent rebates can continue to participate in this protest. There is still a lot to be won, but the uni’s U-turn shows us how we will win all our demands.”
University of Bristol students have made demands and called a rent strike while teaching has been affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Image courtesy of @RentStrikeBristol on Twitter
Students living in University of Bristol halls of residence have been on rent strike since October 24, after being told by the university they would be doing blended learning (a mixture of online and face-to-face learning). Upon arriving in Bristol, they say they discovered that most of their learning would be online.
In a document called Bristol Halls Lockdown Rent Strike, students say they feel they have been misled by the university, and explain that they would never have signed the rental agreements if they had known the majority of learning would be online.
“We are essentially paying thousands of pounds in rent for a room we wished we’d never signed for,” the document states. “Many of us are being locked in our flats without decent and timely access to food, which the uni knew would happen.
“This is affecting all of us and we think that the uni should reduce the rent for all students in halls. We cannot access the blended learning we were promised, nor all the halls facilities we are paying thousands for.”
On November 16, the university told students that they could get a 10-day rent rebate for the first term, following an open letter directed at the university’s vice chancellor, Hugh Brady. The letter was signed by almost 50 members of university staff, and Labour MP John McDonnell.
For the students, the offer was insufficient: “They cannot give us a tiny concession and expect us to give in,” Rent Strike Bristol tweeted.
Similar rent strikes have been taking place in Manchester and Cambridge.
A spokesperson for the University of Bristol said: “In light of the current circumstances and following discussion with Bristol Students’ Union, we have decided we will not offset any bursary payments made in December against student debt.
“We apologise for the uncertainty this has caused and can confirm instalments will be paid in full to all bursary recipients on December 2.”
Main image by Jess Connett
Read more: Students confined to ‘small rooms’ slam accommodation provider
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