All 400 freshers in Newark Hall are being made to move out

All students currently living in Newark Halls have been told that they must move out of the accommodation just weeks after moving in, so that builders can make the halls fire safe.

UoN emailed the roughly 400 students who live in the accommodation informing them that they will be transferred to another accommodation within the following weeks, and will need to stay there for at least the remainder of the semester.

Although Newark Halls is a catered hall, students may be moved to halls with self-catered meal plans.

Construction work has already begun outside the JCR

The students were given a list of six accommodation choices to choose from, with varying locations on different campuses, private residences and catering options.

Newark Hall, currently only one of two halls on Jubilee campus, offers students a catered meal plan, which has already been pre-paid for.

Sherief Gad, a first year student currently living in the halls told the Nottingham Tab that one of his biggest concerns was about the food. He said, “I’m entirely dependent on catering for my food, and if I was given a non-catered option I’d really struggle.”

He also said that the move could negatively impact his daily schedule, as the majority of his teaching takes place on Jubilee Campus.

Despite these changes, students have not been informed of any refund or compensation, only that there will be no further cost for moving and that they will receive a “welcome gift” upon arrival at their new accommodation.

Sherief said that although he acknowledges that the University can’t control the need for these works, he would be “extremely frustrated” if he was moved off to the opposite side of uni with different accommodation arrangements to what he’s already paying for.

Construction outside the accommodation

Jessica*, another student currently living in the halls told the Nottingham Tab, “I’ve only just got settled in and it was massively hard to make friends in this environment anyway. Now that I finally have, it’s more than likely that I’m now going to be split up from all of them, it’s incredibly frustrating and I don’t know why it wasn’t done sooner!”

Faiza Mir added that the situation is particularly “annoying” given the additional coronavirus situation. “So many people are already isolating in our halls because of a number of positive cases. Now it’s like we’ve literally been paying to be stuck in our rooms. It’s all a bit of a joke.”

Despite the inconvenience caused to students, the email sent out from the university informed students that this decision was necessary. It read: “During a recent survey, a number of fire safety issues were raised. This relates to passive measures that stop the spread of fire through a building.

“Both the University and the fire service are satisfied that students can safely remain in the halls at present but a programme of essential safety works needs to begin as soon as possible.”

They continued that because of the disruption and noise, they decided that it would be best to evict students as soon as possible.

“We are very sorry. We know that this is inconvenient, particularly as you have just moved into your new home but your health and safety is our priority. The move will also ensure you have the quiet space you need to study, socialise and relax while the work takes place.

“We know that this is not the start of the year you wanted. However, the safety and comfort of our students and staff is our priority, and must take this essential action to ensure this.”

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