UoM isn’t charging halls rent until the end of lockdown

This will apply to students who are unable to travel back to Manchester due to restrictions


The University of Manchester announced today that “students living in University accommodation who have not returned to that accommodation since the national lockdown announcement on 5 January, will not pay any rent until the end of the current restrictions, or the date that you return to your accommodation in Manchester”.

The existing 30 per cent rent reduction will also continue to apply until the end of this semester (31 January).

The University also said: “Recognising that this is a time of uncertainty and financial challenge, the date of the next installment of your rent (due on 21 January), will be pushed back to give you time to reflect on your decisions for study in Semester 2, and let us know if you are here or not.

“We will write to you as soon as possible and with plenty of notice to confirm the new payment date.

“You will still be able to cancel your license agreement at any point up until 31 March 2021 and will only be charged up to the date you return your key.”

On top of this, they said: “We and the Students’ Union will be writing to private providers to tell them what we are doing for students in our halls and encourage them to consider rent reductions for those of you who aren’t able to use their accommodation.

“However, this is their decision and not one that we can enforce.

“We know that the availability of part-time work or other circumstances might be causing some of you severe financial difficulty, so we have put additional money into our living cost support fund.

“The pandemic has caused enormous disruption this year, so we want to thank you again for continuing to make the most of your experience and for following the rules that help protect everyone in our community.”

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