Coventry University announces students can get an 80 per cent refund on uni halls

Coventry University have confirmed that students who cannot return to university owned accommodation due to lockdown Covid-19 restrictions will be able to request an 80 per cent rebate.

CUSU have since released a statement calling for this to be increased to 100 per cent.

In an email shared to Coventry students, the university confirmed in a statement: “All students who have not returned to university owned accommodation after the 5th of January as a result of government restrictions and have paid their first rent instalment in full as of the 5th of January will be eligible to request an 80 per cent rent rebate for the period 5th of January to 16th of February.

“If you are eligible, the rebate you receive will be dependent on your individual payment schedule. Recipients of accommodation bursary awards will only receive a rebate on the payments you have made”.

Students must send in their applications by the 16th of February with a view for the discount to be credited to student accounts before the April rent scheduled payment.

For students using other accommodation providers, the university has said it will be urging private providers they are in regular contact with to offer a similar option although it cannot directly change payment provisions.

Upon the announcement, CUSU released a statement stating: “We welcome the university’s decision to offer 80% rent rebates on university owned accommodation from the 5th of January to 16th of February. However we have formally asked the university to offer 100% rent rebates in line with many other universities and to defer upcoming payments until students can make use of the facilities.

CUSU have also expressed their support for student tuition fees to be refunded calling on the government to work with universities to make this happen.

“We have submitted papers to the government asking them to support students at this difficult time. We require the government to provide a significant refund to UK based students and to provide funding  to universities to provide the same for international students”.

This comes after students across UK universities went on rent strikes in protest against uni accommodation fees.