Leeds Uni offers students living in halls refund for the start of Semester 2

The University of Leeds will offer students who have not returned to their university owned accommodation a rent refund for  11th January to 19th February 2021.

Details have just been published regarding The University of Leeds rent refund which was announced on January 5. The University told students that live in university-owned accommodation they will be offered an “appropriate rent refund” for this academic year.

A multitude of reasons have pressured the University into providing a rent refund, as students have been told not to return to The University of Leeds until further notice. CutTheRentLDS was set up to help fight for student rent refunds, arguing that students were left without support and welfare checks during self-isolation.

This led to a petition calling for a 30 per cent rent reduction to be created, which has almost reached 5,000 signatures. Since then, Cut the Rent Leeds have increased their demands to a 40 per cent reduction and a full rebate for the periods where students have been told to remain at home, unable to access their residence.

Students are also growing increasingly frustrated with the University, with many freshers agreeing that ‘We want to know where our money is going.‘

The announcement

The email students received earlier this afternoon

The email, sent to students at 1:30PM today reads:

“If you live in University-allocated accommodation, are not required to be on campus for face-to-face teaching and have decided not to live in your University-allocated accommodation, you will be able to apply for a rent refund (credited to your residence account) for your residential accommodation fee covering the period from the start of the spring term on 11 January until 19 February.”

It states that “We will email affected students with details of how to apply shortly.”

“In the meantime, it is important that you do not cancel your payment plan or direct debit – any further instalments will be adjust accordingly.”

The University reveals that they have not been offered any financial support from the Government, and it comes at a “significant cost to the University, and will affect our ability to invest in other areas.”

Come on Leeds, are you trying to make us feel bad for paying for rooms we can’t access or live in legally?

The University is “working with peer institutions to argue to Government for financial support to fund rent repayments if the lockdown extends beyond the current period.”

But clearly states that “You should not expect that we will carry on funding rent repayments after mid-February if the Government’s position remains unchanged.”

Whilst this is brilliant news for some students, those who have had to return to campus for various reasons may now feel obliged to return home to get the refund, further risking the increased transmission of the virus.

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