Rent prices for Stirling University’s premium accommodation will rise next year, but a freeze will remain in place for the majority of heritage buildings.
The new accommodation buildings – Willow, Beech and Juniper Courts – will see a 2.5% rise in their rents.
Due to financial obligations, the rent costs of these halls will continue to rise annually – with the yearly cost surpassing £6,000 a year by 2021/22.
Most of the university’s ‘heritage’ accommodation will also have their rents frozen for a second consecutive year.
These buildings include on-campus accommodation such as Alexander Court, as well as off-campus halls such as John Forty’s.
But students living in Polwarth House will see a 1% reduction in rent prices for the next academic year.
However, students based in Andrew Stewart Hall – whose rent was frozen this academic year – will have to face a 1% rise next year.
This amounts to largely the same deal on rent prices as then-Union President Andrew Kinnell struck last year.
Keenan, who conceded earlier this year that he would not be able to achieve the wholesale rent reductions he pledged to fight for while he was a candidate, has focused most of his attention on establishing a new ‘Accommodation Enhancement Fund’ to help the poorest students living in university accommodation.
As part of the deal, the university granted £125,000 to start the new fund, which will help students struggling to pay their rent by means-testing them at the start of the accommodation application process and functioning as a kind of ‘housing benefit’,
The Union President hailed the agreement as a “massive victory for students”, stating: “The deal we have struck with the university is the biggest victory on rent we have had to date and the Enhancement Fund will make lasting changes to those who need it.”
“It will make the university more accessible to poorer students and it is the first step on our way to securing further rent subsidies.”
You can read more about this new fund here.
Stirling Students’ Union has also announced that the university has agreed to map out a ‘long-term Accommodation Strategy’, with more details to be announced soon.
[…] The Big Rent Campaign kicked off after the findings of the Big Rent Survey showed that many students didn’t feel the prices of accommodation were affordable. Findings obtained from this led to the creation of the ‘Accommodation Enhancement Fund’, which Union President Dave Keenan describes as being like a “housing benefit.” This deal has also seen the university agreeing to freezing the rent prices of certain accommodation… […]
[…] A new rent deal has been struck, we’ve written about it extensively, so check those articles out here and here. […]