A landmark case recently that saw students of UCL go on “rent strike” against university accommodation, resulted in a victory for the students who brought the case in March and much criticism for the university in question.
On Thursday 15th October, 87 students of University College London were awarded £100,000 in compensation following a seven month long campaign against the prestigious university. The award was made by the UCL complaints panel and is the result of a process that began in November 2014 when the students first raised the problems with accommodation management.
The issue first came to light in March when the group decided to go on rent strike (refusing to pay rent to the accommodation provider –in this case the university) due to a number of problems with the facilities. They reported rats, constant building work due to demolitions and restructure around the property. They said that the noise had left them unable to study and that the rodent infestation was unacceptable.
The panel agreed and made the award to the students who had been residents of the Campbell House West student digs.
Legal Information – Where Did The Students & University Stand?
Jamal Rizvi, who was one of the main complainants, recounted details of constant shaking of the building, hanging objects falling off walls, furniture moving and much more disturbance that affected their quality of life. He argued that it affected both sleep and study patterns, putting their degree efforts in jeopardy.
Furthermore, Rizvi had documented many times when he had been woken up before 8am – council building regulations of Camden where the accommodation is located, states that building work cannot start before 8am. After several months of complaints and nothing being done, the students decided as a group to begin withholding rent payments. The university initially responded that this was against the terms of being a student at the university and threatened academic sanctions.
That was when the students decided to refer the case to a university panel.
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The Decision
Commenting after the decision, the panel stated that UCL had demonstrated a distinct lack of empathy on behalf of university management and had been disingenuous to the students affected by the building work and rodent infestation. The accommodation officers for the NUS board and other student protestors welcomed the decision. Further, UCL were accused of paying undue care and attention or warning the students of the potential impact that it would have on their daily life at the accommodation.
This is not the end of the matter though; UCL are also involved in a similar case concerning Hawkridge House – another of their student accommodation facilities.