Liverpool students may face rent increase
The council will vote this Wednesday
A new legislation proposed by Liverpool City Council could mean that Liverpool students will see their rent increase, to subsidise the £9m grant that the Government have sworn to abolish by 2020. The motion will be debated this Wednesday 14th September.
At present, Landlords are exempt from paying council tax on student accommodation, but cuts to Liverpool Council’s budget mean that they will now be paying out significantly more money to cover everyday services such as road maintenance and bin collection.
Liverpool Labour councillor Nick Small has previously defended the motion to charge landlords a business rate Council Tax, saying that “student landlords need to contribute more”, but there are worries that instead of landlords taking a cut in profits, it will be up to students to cough up the extra cash on top of rent.
In a statement published on their website, The Liverpool Guild of Students said that they were “disappointed” by the motion, which they feel will place an even greater financial strain on students who are already worse off as a results of axed maintenance grants and increased fees, stating that “it is the poorest students who will suffer” the most.
Nicki Gwyer echoes the thoughts of countless other Liverpool students, branding the motion as a “sick joke”. She argues that she is left with no maintenance loan “after paying rent and forking out for a bus pass and now they expect us to pay council tax too on top of food and other day to day essentials”.
Student Alex Bagnall sees this as yet another way that the Conservative government is punishing students: “People wonder why a lot of Corbyn supporters are students and this is why, he’s the only viable PM-candidate that doesn’t want to penalise people for wanting to get a higher education”.
The general consensus amongst students is that they are being penalised yet again, with further financial burdens putting an even greater strainer on their emotional, and indeed physical, well-being.