PROPERTY Week magazine has been forced to abandon one of their awards for student accommodation after judges revolted.

The publication had tasked 10 students, handpicked from across the UK, with choosing the halls that “tangibly enhanced student life” from “academic and educational, to social integration and general wellbeing”.

In an open letter, shared by Aberdeen University student Jenny Killin, the judges say none of the entrants “could demonstrate that they are meeting the urgent need of students to live in accommodation that will not force them into poverty”.

Many of those who entered, the judges said, charged more than £300 per week, with one putting “shareholder satisfaction above students’ satisfaction”.

The judges go on to argue that “high rents are driving the social cleansing of education. Working class students are being priced out, unable to access higher education altogether, or forced to work long hours, disadvantaging the poorest.”

They explained “we are not ‘satisfied’ knowing our student debt is lining the pockets of millionaire shareholders”.

According to research by the National Union of Students, the average rent in student accommodation in the UK is £146 per week, a rise of 18 per cent in just two years is largely due to the growth in private providers. Killin, who is the Welfare Officer at the University of Aberdeen Students’ Association said: “It is time the student accommodation sector got a wake up call: students are not happy about their despicable exploitation.

“The real ‘student experience’ is too often a choice between paying bills or buying food. We are getting into huge levels of debt, only so private businesses can make huge profits.

“Asking us to hand out an award when so many students are being pushed into poverty makes a mockery of what is a very real crisis.”

Laura Lunn, from Sheffield Hallam university, said the judges had never previously met, but that the decision was unanimous. “We couldn’t give the prize to anyone because when you’re charging students over £146 per week it’s extortionate,” she explained to the BBC.

“These companies year-on-year are charging more and more and boasting about their profits.

“They’re profiting from students and students are getting further and further into debt.

“It’s leading to this social change where only the few can go to university.”

Lunn said one of the entrants wasn’t fully accessible for disabled people, while others charged high administration fees.

A spokesperson for the Student Accommodation Awards said: “Our student judges have sent a clear message that the industry needs to do better. In light of this, we have taken the decision to remove this category for this, our inaugural event, and review it for 2017.

“We will continue to encourage the industry to raise its game and put the student experience at the centre of everything it does.”

Meanwhile, students at Aberdeen have launched a campaign asking the university-run halls of residence to look again at their prices.

In a petition to the Principal, Sir Ian Diamond, Aberdeen University students claim that the cost of staying in the cheapest halls available for the academic year has increased by over £1,150.

“To stay in halls here at the University can cost in excess of £650 a month, and the average cost of halls is 102 per cent of the standard student loan,” the petition says.

They call on the university to cap the rent at 50 per cent of the maximum student loan of £6,750 provided by SAAS.

They argue that under these demands, all halls would cost no more than £86.50 per week based on a 39-week contract, and the cheapest three halls would cost no more than £60 per week based on the same length of contract.


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