Liverpool agrees to largest rent reduction for disadvantaged students ever

University of Liverpool and the Guild of Students have agreed to significantly reduce rent for thousands of students living on campus.

The Guild's successful "Cut the Rent" campaign has been fighting soaring accommodation fees in recent years, which even left some struggling students at risk of being academically sanctioned.

The new agreement means that, as well as cutting rent by £800 for every student who qualifies for a bursary, UoL has agreed to cap future rent increases at 3.5 per cent per year and have put an end to controversial academic sanctions.

The cheapest UoL halls costs £5,399.34 per year

This financial aid has been estimated to total £920,000 for the 2019/2020 academic year, and will be repeated for at least four years. This means the university will cut £3.7 million of rent for the students who most need it.

Rory Hughes, the Guild President who led the "Cut the Rent" campaign, has said the result is "a credit to every student who signed the petition, went door-knocking, attended campaign meetings and supported the Guild's fight for affordable accommodation."

The fight goes on

He added: "I hope that the national campaign for affordable Halls of Residence continues and other universities follow Liverpool’s lead and listen to their students on this critical welfare issue.”

The Pro Vice Chancellor for Education, Professor Gavin Brown, has said the university is "proud to be leading the way with this single largest rent reduction in higher education." He continued by saying "listening and working together to achieve this reduction will ensure affordable accommodation and fair access for every student."

Read Rory's full statement here, and the university's news piece here.

If you want to help support the ongoing fight for even more affordable accommodation, you can still sign the Guild's petition to make your voice heard here.