This petition is calling for the cancellation of rent and provision of refunds for all students in University halls, private halls, privately rented properties for this academic year.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, everyone is struggling, especially when it comes to finances. This is no different for students, who usually work part time in the retail and hospitality sectors, which have been among the hardest hit during this time. 

Without these jobs, there are many students are unable to afford their rent, as their maintenance loans are not enough on their own.While we are sympathetic to landlords who may be also financially struggling, no one is receiving their full income at the moment and students are finding it harder to find the money to pay their rent. This is even more dire for international students, who do not receive any student loan whatsoever. There is also no longer the option of asking your parents to lend you, as many people are on lower incomes or are unemployed due to the pandemic.

We are asking for a 70% reduction in rent, and while we understand that there are contracts and clauses that normally wouldn’t allow this, this is not a normal year. At the time of signing these contracts, no one could have anticipated a situation where some students would be paying for rooms they legally cannot return to live in, or some will be paying money they simply cannot afford in a time where so many of them are unable to work. 

Students should not have to suffer a huge loss of money, which they will have to pay back due to it being a loan, just because they are following government guidelines. They should not be under huge amounts of mental stress worrying about where the money for the next months rent will come from, at a time where they need to be trying to focus on their education.

We are asking our university, who have a general duty of care towards us to advocate on behalf of us to the parties who rent to us and reduce our rent by 70%.