Union Council calls for hall rents to remain affordable
Paper calls for College to be transparent about operational costs for halls, release operational costs, and to introduce rents for wardens.
Imperial College Union Council has voted 37–1 on a paper that calls for Imperial College to be “transparent about costs associated with student halls”, as well as lobbying to prevent the cost of decarbonisation being “paid for by students”. There was only a single abstention. The paper also supports hall seniors receiving fair compensation for “their time and contributions” and introducing discounted rents for hall wardens and sub–wardens.
Additionally, the paper calls for the Union:
• “To take the stance that all profits from student hall summer rentals should be reinvested into student accommodation, and subsidising rents in the event there are surpluses.”
• “To take the stance that no Imperial halls should make a profit from student rental income (i.e. students should only be charged the cost to run and maintain the halls).”
The motion was brought forward by Union President Camille Boutrolle, and Deputy President (Welfare) Nico Henry, and was seconded by the three other Officer Trustees. According to the paper, Imperial’s initial proposal for rent featured an average rent increase of 30%. People familiar with the matter have said Imperial has already amended the increase to 25%. However, 35% of rooms are facing a proposed increase of 58%.
Rents are organised under three categories: affordable pricing, which is 55% of the maximum maintenance loan students can currently receive and is set by the Mayor of London; peer, which are rents below the rents offered by competing London universities, and market, which are rents set 10% below market rate. Currently, 71% of affordable rooms are twin rooms. Only 15% of single rooms within Imperial’s portfolio are classed as affordable.
Imperial’s decarbonisation plan, produced as part of their “Our journey to a net zero estate”, was released earlier this year.
The plan, a joint venture between Imperial’s Property and Major Projects team and consultancy firm ARUP, aims for all buildings including residential buildings to fall in line with net zero legal requirements by 2040.
