Open Day March forces UCL to offer Rent Cut
The concession comes after six months of rent strike
Rent strikers have been offered a rent freeze and cut said to be worth £850,000 from UCL. The offer came from an email sent by UCL to rent-strikers last week prior to the Open day March that took place on Saturday.
The basis of the offer means that accommodation fees will be cut by £350,000 for new students in 2016 and by £500,000 for students in 2017, a 2.5 per cent reduction in UCL rent over two years
The March, originally intended by UCL Cut the Rent to act as an ultimatum to UCL would “shut down” the University unless administration met their demands.
Following the offer, the Open Day March was used as a celebration for rent-strikers, who marched around UCL in a victory lap.
Students who have been on rent-strike since January, have withheld an estimated £1 million in rent, arguing that it had been “extortionate”.
There has also been criticism over the quality of some UCL accommodation- in May this year, two ceilings collapsed.
For many rent-strikers, this concession marks the first step in the campaign for lowering rents at UCL and other London Universities.