National Student Stories: Durham college raises accommodation fees to £8,000

Next academic year, Durham University’s St Aidan’s College will charge finalists up to £8,119 for accommodation in the college. This will be the first time that undergraduate accommodation at the University has exceeded £8,000.

St Aidan’s students were informed of this price increase via an email sent on November 10, which summarised the price of college accommodation for the 2018-19 academic year.

A fully catered single room without an ensuite bathroom will cost £7,420, the same room with the addition of an ensuite will cost £7,883, whilst a fully catered room with an ensuite and a double bed will cost £8,119.

This increase comes despite the fact that final year students often receive less student finance.

This will unfortunately have a big impact on colleges in terms of pricing out students from low and middle-income backgrounds… an issue which the University appears to be indifferent to.
Luke Hollander

For students who are not in their final year of study, a single bed room will cost £7,183, a double bed room will cost £7,643, whilst a fully catered room with an ensuite and a double bed will cost £7,879.

Luke Hollander, the JCR President of St Aidan’s College, has stated: “Not so long ago, during my undergraduate studies, students were shocked to see fees go above the £7,000 threshold, so to see it reach £8,000 in such a short space of time is very concerning.”

“This will unfortunately have a big impact on colleges in terms of pricing out students from low and middle-income backgrounds from living in, an issue which the University appears to be indifferent to.”

However, it is not just St Aidan’s College that has seen a rise in accommodation fees. On October 18 Durham announced a 3.5% increase in all accommodation fees, prompting the university’s Student Union to launch its #RippedOff campaign, which calls for the university to lower the prices. By November 2, the campaign had already earned over 2,000 signatures.

In regard to the rising price of living in college accommodation, Owen Adams, Durham’s Pro-Vice-Chancellor, has said: “The cost of providing our College residence’s rises year on year and we have to review prices on an annual basis to ensure we can continue to provide a high standard of accommodation and services.”

“In consultation with student representatives, the University has agreed that residence charges will increase by 3.5% for the 2018/19 academic year.”

The rising price of university accommodation is a nationwide issue that was highlighted last year when a study by the National Union of Students (NUS) found that accommodation prices had increased by an average of 25% between 2012 and 2015, forcing 40% of students to borrow beyond their maintenance loan in order to cover the price of accommodation.

It is essential that students from lower-income backgrounds have access to a range of accommodation options, and that no student is ever priced-out of taking up a place at Warwick.
Warwick SU

This story also comes just days after Warwick Accommodation agreed to freeze the price of rent for on-campus accommodation in Westwood and lower it for Whitefields and Redfern for the 2018-19 academic year, following negotiations with Warwick Student Union’s sabbatical officers.

Additionally, the negotiations resulted in the University agreeing to maintain the number of undergraduate rents which can be paid for entirely by the minimum maintenance loan and to reduce the planned increase of next year’s rent from 3% to 2.59%.

In a Facebook post on the Warwick SU page, the team stated: “It is essential that students from lower-income backgrounds across all years of study have access to a range of accommodation options, and that no student is ever priced-out of taking up a place at Warwick.”

“We are therefore very pleased that the University has proactively taken on board all of our concerns within their proposals, and will be easing the financial burden on students for whom staying in more expensive accommodation blocks is not always an option.”