Sinclair Properties are offering £200 refunds to their York student tenants

Yesterday York Vision reported that Sinclair Properties will be giving partial refunds to their tenants. Students will still be expected to keep up with their agreed rent payments but if they have had a contract with Sinclair Properties since the summer of 2019 then they will be eligible for a £200 refund.

Many students cannot currently return to their student properties due to lock down rules, but are still paying full rent for them. University of York students were already on their Easter break when the new travel restrictions came in, meaning many are still at home for the next online academic term.

For those students with Sinclair property contracts, this will provide some financial relief in the current climate. Yet other major student accommodation providers are yet to implement similar measures, despite pleas and petitions from students. Online petitions have amassed thousands of signatures and student rent strikes have taken place across the UK, one of the most notable involving the withholding of 120 students’ rent payments in Bristol.

Some MPs have also sympathised with students and taken an active role in lobbying accommodation providers, the York Press has reported. For example, Stephen Morgan, Labour MP for Portsmouth South declared: “If we are all in this together, then student accommodation providers have a responsibility to put public health, student safety and financial stability first.”

Although most major accommodation providers have not provided a good will gesture, there has been some goodwill shown towards students during this time. York Vision reported on one private landlord’s reduction of rent payments for University of York student Brooke Davies, who is with Adam Bennett.

Also, the University of York have announced that a second round of funding will be made available to those in need as part of the Emergency Student Support Fund. Applications for this will close at 5pm on Wednesday 22 April, more details on this can be found here.