85 per cent of Cardiff students say it’s cold in their uni accommodation, according to poll

‘You could literally see your breath in my house in the evenings’


85 per cent of students living in Cardiff claim that they feel cold in their university accommodation, whether that be privately rented or university-owned.

Sophie, a final-year journalism and english literature student said: “You could literally see your breath in my house in the evening.”

Another student also told us that they were trying “not to get hypothermia in [their] room”.

Charlotte, a final-year politics and spanish student said: “I choose to study in the uni as it’s heated, I literally slept with two duvets, a blanket, six pillows, full pjs, a jumper, socks, and two blinds on my window to try and keep the heat in.”

Andrea, a media and communications student, who has also been affected by the cold weather noted that her and her housemates have been advised to keep the heating on all the time due to the mould in their student house. However, she explained that due to the cost of living crisis, they can’t afford to do this. She says: “It means that we literally have to choose between mould or money.”

She added: “Plus we find that it’s much colder upstairs than downstairs in our house – I’m in an upstairs room and I have to stay under my covers in bed all day just to try to stay warm.”

Cardiff has been experiencing cold weather with temperatures dropping to one degree during the day and minus six at night.  However although recently, it has been warmer, student houses remain freezing cold late at night.

To tackle the heating problem during the cost of living crisis, Cardiff University offered to keep its libraries open 24/7 so that students can stay for as long as they need. Libraries across the city have also opened as “heating hubs” which allow people to come in and warm up whilst enjoying a hoy drink.

Cardiff Met and Aberystwyth University have also offered 24- hour heated study areas for their students.

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