• Disrupting Power Since 2015
  • Donate
  • Login
Monday, May 12, 2025
  • Login
  • Register
Canary
MEDIA THAT DISRUPTS
  • News
    • UK
    • Global
    • Analysis
    • Trending
  • Editorial
  • Features
    • Features
    • Environment
    • Lifestyle
    • Health
    • Money
    • Science
    • Business
    • Tech
    • Travel
    • Sport & Gaming
  • Media
    • Video
    • Cartoons
  • Opinion
No Result
View All Result
MANAGE SUBSCRIPTION
SUPPORT
  • News
    • UK
    • Global
    • Analysis
    • Trending
  • Editorial
  • Features
    • Features
    • Environment
    • Lifestyle
    • Health
    • Money
    • Science
    • Business
    • Tech
    • Travel
    • Sport & Gaming
  • Media
    • Video
    • Cartoons
  • Opinion
No Result
View All Result
Canary
No Result
View All Result

A nationwide university rent strike is sweeping the country as more students join the movement

Eliza Egret by Eliza Egret
27 November 2020
in Analysis, UK
Reading Time: 3 mins read
160 12
A A
0
Home UK Analysis
320
SHARES
2.5k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Cambridge and Nottingham university students have joined students in Bristol and Manchester in declaring that they’re on rent strike. And as other students from campuses across the UK threaten to take the same action, the movement could soon become massive.

Since September, universities have been accepting new students and charging them money for accommodation, while putting the lives of students, lecturers and cleaners at risk of contracting and spreading coronavirus (Covid-19).

More than 1,400 students at the University of Bristol are taking part in the rent strike. They argue that:

Students were goaded into halls under the illusion of a normal university experience, with the promise of in person teaching and socialising with other new students. As the year has unfolded, it’s become abundantly clear that this promise was a blatant lie that the university could never fulfill. As such, it’s only fair that students’ rent reflects this disparity.

Over the course of the first semester, over 1,500 students have contracted coronavirus at Bristol university alone.

Disgraceful conditions

Bristol Rent Strike argues that self-isolating students are being treated absolutely appallingly. It says that:

many [students are] left waiting days for food boxes that don’t always reflect dietary requirements and often contain no fresh food at all. Strikers have also had to push the university to provide sanitary products as, initially, the university didn’t offer them to isolating students at all. Isolating students also have to face two weeks with no access to fresh air, which has understandably taken a toll on many students’ mental health.

Rejecting students’ demands

On 20 November, Bristol university’s Board of Trustees rejected the students’ very reasonable demands. The students are asking for:

a 30% rent cut, no penalty contract releases, and refunding international students’ £800 deposits for their room if they cannot take them up.

Bristol Rent Strike argues that the university has a duty of care to its students. The group says that this is “a duty they have been rejecting”. The students go on to say:

By voting to reject the demands put forth, the university has essentially refused to take any accountability for the situation students in halls are left to deal with.

Victory in Manchester as more universities join the rent strike

On 25 November, University of Manchester students finally scored a victory, getting a 30% rent reduction for the first semester. The students are continuing to strike, demanding that they get the same reduction for the second term. Bristol Rent Strike argues that “this deal sets a precedent for other universities”.

Meanwhile, also on 25 November, Nottingham students declared a rent strike. They are demanding a 40% reduction on rent for every student.

The strikers told the Nottingham Tab:

We’ve been cheated and scammed by halls and the University of Nottingham. All of this has been hugely damaging to our mental health as a whole, and we need to take action.

On 23 November, Cambridge University students also declared a rent strike, demanding a:

30 per cent rent reduction for the 2020-2021 academic year, and a permanent 10 per cent rent reduction across all colleges.

“We won’t stop agitating”

Bristol Rent Strike says that, inspired by the victory in Manchester, strikers are planning on escalating action. They say:

We won’t stop agitating until the University makes clear that it’s willing to listen to students, and take their welfare seriously.

As universities continue to put profits over the wellbeing and safety of students and staff, we can expect to see a massive student rent strike movement sweep across the country. It’s high time students’ demands were met.

Featured image via Bristol Rent Strike

Share128Tweet80
Previous Post

National Trust & Forestry England will be complicit in criminal violence if they don’t ban hunting for good

Next Post

Tier 3 areas will reach breaking point without extra financial help, says Labour

Next Post
Anneliese Dodds

Tier 3 areas will reach breaking point without extra financial help, says Labour

Scotland ‘a nation on the cusp of history’, Sturgeon to tell SNP conference

Health experts fear rapid tests may distract from vaccine work

Fox hunters on horseback

‘No plans’ to change Hunting Act despite trail-hunting row

Yankees go home written on US flag and Joe Biden

Biden's administration picks show that he has no intention of moving US foreign policy in a more progressive direction

Please login to join discussion
ICE agents attempt to abduct mother and child, neighbours response goes viral
Trending

Neighbours resist police and ICE attack on mother and her child

by Ed Sykes
12 May 2025
Cranswick-owned pig farm: piglets in crates.
News

Shocking violence against piglets uncovered at farm operated by major supermarket supplier Cranswick

by The Canary
12 May 2025
Recovery in the Sun: How the Canary Islands are Becoming a Wellness Tourism Hub
Lifestyle

Recovery in the Sun: How the Canary Islands are Becoming a Wellness Tourism Hub

by Nathan Spears
12 May 2025
Steel companies ArcelorMittal and Ternium continue to run roughshod over Global South communities
News

Steel companies ArcelorMittal and Ternium continue to ride roughshod over Global South communities

by The Canary
12 May 2025
Jenu Kuruba families begin their long-awaited re-occupation of their ancestral homes inside the Nagarhole National Park. They carried photos of loved ones who had died after the village was evicted, so they too can return to the forest.
Analysis

An Indigenous community in India just faced down 130 police to return to their ancestral lands

by The Canary
12 May 2025
  • Contact
  • About & FAQ
  • Get our Daily News Email
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy

The Canary
PO Box 71199
LONDON
SE20 9EX

Canary Media Ltd – registered in England. Company registration number 09788095.

For guest posting, contact [email protected]

For other enquiries, contact: [email protected]

The Canary is owned and run by independent journalists and volunteers, NOT offshore billionaires.

You can write for us, or support us by making a regular or one-off donation.

© Canary Media Ltd 2024, all rights reserved | Website by Monster | Hosted by Krystal | Privacy Settings

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • UK
    • Global
    • Analysis
    • Trending
  • Editorial
  • Features
    • Features
    • Environment
    • Lifestyle
    • Health
    • Money
    • Science
    • Business
    • Tech
    • Travel
    • Sport & Gaming
  • Media
    • Video
    • Cartoons
  • Opinion

© 2023 Canary - Worker's co-op.

Before you go, have you seen...?

ICE agents attempt to abduct mother and child, neighbours response goes viral
Trending
Ed Sykes

Neighbours resist police and ICE attack on mother and her child

Cranswick-owned pig farm: piglets in crates.
News
The Canary

Shocking violence against piglets uncovered at farm operated by major supermarket supplier Cranswick

Lifestyle
Nathan Spears

Recovery in the Sun: How the Canary Islands are Becoming a Wellness Tourism Hub

Steel companies ArcelorMittal and Ternium continue to run roughshod over Global South communities
News
The Canary

Steel companies ArcelorMittal and Ternium continue to ride roughshod over Global South communities

ADVERTISEMENT
Lifestyle
Nathan Spears

Recovery in the Sun: How the Canary Islands are Becoming a Wellness Tourism Hub

Lifestyle
Nathan Spears

Why More People Are Seeking Legal Advice When Separating

Travel
Nathan Spears

Hungary Vignette Adventures: Discovering Hidden Gems by Car