ICU President says proposed rent rises “strictly unacceptable.”
Union President Camille Boutrolle has appealed to students to “make some noise” and to lobby “personal tutors”, “halls wardens”, and “teachers” against proposed rent increases for student halls in a blog post on IC Union’s website.
Both Boutrolle and Deputy President (Welfare) Nico Henry have been lobbying Imperial College since late October to reduce the proposed price hike from a mean of 30% down. Since negotiations began, the two Officer Trustees have reduced the rise down to 16% on average.
Last month, Union Council, the democratic body that oversees the policies that the Union enacts, passed amotion calling for Imperial College to be transparent about “costs associated with student halls”, as well as lobbying to prevent the cost of decarbonisation being passed onto students.
As part of its commitment to net zero, Imperial is aiming for all of its estates to reach decarbonise by 2040.
Rents for student halls last increased in 2019, and the pricing model is reviewed every five years. In 2019, student officers helped negotiate a proposed price model from 12.5% to 5.5%.
