Skip to main content

Day: 27 September 2016

Research shows 10 per cent increase in student rent on last year

New statistics show that student rents have risen by as much as 10 per cent in some areas, as the controversy surrounding student accommodation continues.

The research from SpareRoom reveals an upward trend in the average monthly rent paid by students studying in thirty locations across the country, including Manchester and other Russell Group universities including UCL and Durham.

The average cost of renting a room in a Manchester student house has risen by 7 per cent over the past year; this increase is one of the highest recorded across all of the cities included in the research. This year’s Manchester students can therefore expect to pay a monthly average of £414, in comparison with £385 in the year 2015-16, resulting in a potential additional cost of almost £350 per year.

The statistics identify the issue of supply and demand as a key cause of increasing rent. Rental costs fell by 1 per cent in Durham, where the percentage of rooms available to students is one of the highest, at 92 per cent, whilst the ratio of house-hunting students to rooms available is among the lowest, at 0.91. By contrast, in Oxford, which has seen the highest increase on last year with a mean rise in rents of 10 per cent, only 64 per cent of rooms are available to students, of whom there are 3.2 for every available room.

Matt Hutchinson, director of SpareRoom, commented on the geographical divide reflected in the research, and the impact this could have on the many decisions students face regarding their education. “The difference between rents for students at Imperial College in London, compared to those studying at St. Andrew’s in Scotland, is a massive £792 a month. Over a three-year course the difference is eye watering.”

He went on to add that “even choosing Durham over Oxford could save you more than £7,000 in rent over three years”.

This research adds fuel to the fire of the growing issue of sky-high student rents. UCL’s Cut The Rent campaign, which has 1,000 activists to its name and is backed by the NUS, claimed victory in July when the university agreed to introduce new bursaries. UCL also agreed to the freezing and reduction of some rents, at a total cost of £1 million, following 5 months of rental strikes which saw the activists withholding payments.

Shelley Asquith, deputy president of the NUS, has called for “an end to the exploitative profits from university accommodation. We fully support the actions of rent strikers, and urge universities to urgently engage in negotiations to ensure future rates are set at a level which students can afford to pay”.

Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell’s disrespect for the student body

Last week, The Mancunion intended to publish an interview with the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell. As has been covered this week, this article was pulled less than 45 minutes before the paper went to print, leaving the Features section of the paper with just two pages of adverts. We didn’t even get to print an explanation of the situation.

The Students’ Union was threatened with a lawsuit. That this was thought to be acceptable is insane. If the university had actually sued, the fallout—for the University’s reputation in particular—would have been catastrophic. It appears that the root of the situation was that Professor Rothwell was not happy with her own words in our interview, and felt it could be retrospectively changed to suit her own ends. If she did not want an honest interview, she should not have agreed to one.

But then, this sort of behavior is now commonplace. For example, the other day my friend gave me a beer. I drank it, only to be told that actually he wanted it after all, and if I could excrete it out into the nearest cup pronto that would be great. And, come to think of it, if I didn’t do it right now, he would accuse me of theft and call the police.

Indeed, last semester I got assigned an essay on Chinese politics, emailed the question and a deadline, and told to get on with it. I finished it and submitted it with plenty of time, only to get an e-mail saying I’d answered the wrong question, and that the actual one was on Russia. If I didn’t send a quality essay in the next hour I’d fail the module. When I complained, I was told that the lecturer had deleted their copy of the original email, and so there was clearly no proof that the question I’d answered was the right one.

Except neither of those things actually happened—they would have been silly occurrences.

And yet Professor Rothwell and her staff feel that it is acceptable to send such transparent nonsense to any student publication that has the misfortune of interviewing her. It is pure arrogance, and shows contempt not just for student media, but also of the entire student body of the University of Manchester.

In the interview the Vice-Chancellor said, “freedom of speech is one of our core values.” And yet, when Professor Rothwell forgets to mention the sponsor for the business school, and can’t remember how many of her own staff she’s got rid of over the last few years, this freedom of speech flies out of the window to be replaced with what appears to be attempts at turning the interview into a PR stunt. The Vice-Chancellor has made herself look like she doesn’t have the slightest interest in the truth, instead looking to tend carefully to her image as presented to the student body and third party investors.

What was the worst part of this whole ridiculous exercise? The interview was, frankly, not incredibly exciting. There are certainly some interesting responses (the giving away of university land to private companies, in particular). I went into the interview not wanting to ask too many tricky questions—hoping to maintain a healthy relationship with the University.

Instead, it seems as though the Vice-Chancellor got her script wrong. Now, any chance of us getting along has been thrown out the window, run over by three Magic Buses, and eaten by a dog, who will later dump its remains in a ditch somewhere in Platt Fields.

The university has backed itself into a corner and made an absolute fool of itself in an attempt to change an interview that would have offended very few people in any case. Certainly, some of Professor Rothwell’s statements were concerning—such as the aforementioned private land grab—but the majority of the changes simply made her come across worse: More cynical, and concerned with reputation over people.

This mess has made Rothwell look utterly self-serving, manipulative, and exploitative. Bigger media outlets such as the BBC and the Manchester Evening News do not have to send interview copies to her beforehand, let alone even consider changing quotes retrospectively, because she knows they would complain and cause public outcry. It seems as if we are treated differently because the Vice-Chancellor feels she can bully us into spouting her desired party line.

We have no reason to do that. The student body is owed the truth from the person whose (almost £300,000) salary we pay. The Mancunion is not a PR company for the University. We are part of the student body. To treat us with contempt, to go back on her own belief in free speech, to try to and distort the truth (despite us having proof to the contrary) shows her to be a hypocrite, with little respect for the student body. For £9,000 a year, we deserve an awful lot better.

Top 5: book recommendations from your university peers

Reading isn’t just for English students or for cramming for that essay you need to write—reading is for everybody, no matter your own story. There’s something for everyone, so a collection of students from all over the university have suggested some books to get you started. Whether you’re looking to impress, make your coursework easier, or just some fun reading, there should be something here for you.

Mark Forsyth: The Elements of Eloquence

Looking to impress your peers and your lecturers with written technique that just won’t quit? Enjoying reading about in-depth grammar that is also a hilarious and culturally relevant? Look no further, this book will figuratively blow your mind and leave you with an enthusiasm for grammar and syntax that frankly confuses your parents. Number one book to trick people into believing you’re the smartest kid on the block.

Chosen by Roma Havers: Books Editor

David Mitchell: Slade House

A detective thriller with a fantasy twist; this short novel is good to read in between heavy university reading. Written by the same author who wrote Cloud Atlas, I found it to be a fantastic assault on the senses that explores our susceptibility to our own desires. I couldn’t put it down!

Chosen by Pip Franks: English and Drama student

Richard Coward: Short Stories in French: New Penguin Parallel Text

Short stories make it easier to do extra study, as they’re much less daunting than an epic novel! The parallel translation meant that I didn’t get confused about the plot, but I could still see the original French text. Penguin also has versions of this book in German, Spanish, Italian, Chinese and Japanese.

Chosen by Hope Abbott: Languages student

Khaled Hosseini: The Kite Runner

The Kite Runner is one of my favourite books of all time! It’s a story that explores guilt and redemption beautifully and shows the true extent of father-son love; all against a backdrop of an international political crisis. It’s amazingly written, with a story paralleled with real experiences in Afghanistan and it’s more important than ever in highlighting the complexities of the world and the movement of people.

Chosen by Muneera Lula: BME History and Politics student

Madeline Miller: Song of Achilles

How many books can you honestly say you’ve read in a day? It’s such a refreshing and lyrical read that I can’t help but feel a burst of pride in being queer whenever I read it. The voice of the narrator is so goofy and human in the looming, god-filled world that he inhabits that I can’t help but recommend it. Turning flaky half-interest in The Iliad into a new horizon of historical fiction reading was a big deal, especially because I’d define the main characters’ relationship as queer.

Chosen by Mitch Mainstone: LGBT English Literature student

—–

This series will be continuing each week with a new recommendation in every issue, if you’d like to contribute then please contact us via the Facebook page: ‘Mancunion Books contributors 16/17’

New EFL Trophy hit by #BTeamBoycott

In 2015, the Football League announced that they would be changing their name—for the first time in their history—to the English Football league, to be commonly abbreviated to “EFL”. Designed to improve the League’s image abroad, hopes were high among administrators that this would lead to new positive publicity for the divisions.

However, while the rebrand itself has been only been met with ambivalence at worst, the accompanying changes to what used to be the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy—the cup competition for Leagues One and Two—have been received with significant animosity.

Fans’ reactions to the addition of Premier league and Championship under-23 sides has drawn substantial amounts of embarrassing coverage. With only 392 fans at Fleetwood’s first round EFL Trophy tie against Blackburn, hopes are not high for the second round of games taking place next week.

The introduction of Premier League B teams or academies to the Football League has been on the cards for some time now. In 2014, a Football Association commission proposed that Premier League teams would be able to have second teams competing in the Football League. Common in Spanish and German divisions, the idea is to give home-grown young players experience in senior leagues and potentially prepare them for the playing in the national side. Spain and Germany having won the last two world cups does lend this argument some extra weight.

However, any plans allowing B teams to play in the Football League have been vehemently opposed, with it being already blocked indefinitely by the league’s clubs. Many EFL teams see it as a power grab by the Premier League, rather than an earnest attempt to improve the chances of young players developing in the English system. Foreign youngsters being allowed for the under-23 sides in the EFL trophy further detracts from the argument that it is for developing the national team.

Also, the fact that the League One and Two clubs must themselves field full strength teams has incensed many, with fines of £5,000 per match being handed out to clubs who deliberately rest too many of their first team players. This prompted Portsmouth—whose fans are leading many of the protests against the competition—to say that they are prepared to pay the fines in order to rest the team for more important games.

The changes were voted through partly due to the Football League Trophy being largely seen as an irrelevance to the sides who played in it. Dwindling attendances and the competition being seen as largely a distraction from the task of being promoted, meant that there was much need for an overhaul. Some clubs were excited for the prospect of playing top premier league clubs, even if they were only to be their Under-23 teams.

Disappointingly for all of those clubs, the invitations were largely snubbed by the top sides. Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester United and Manchester City were among clubs to turn down the prospect of playing in the EFL Trophy, and only 10 Premier League teams are playing in the tournament. The invitations had to be extended to Championship clubs in order to make up the numbers, which further added to the negative reception to the changes from the smaller clubs.

This is not to say that it has not been a total failure. Everton’s development squad manager David Unsworth—whose club did take up the invitation to compete—praised the opportunity for his players. He told BBC Sport that “it was really important that we entered this competition, come to places like this [The Macron Stadium] and experience a different kind of football.”

The main problem is that fixing the England team in the long-term is too big an issue to deal with in one action. Former Executive Director of the Football Association David Davies, told BBC Radio 4’s ‘The Reunion’ in April of this year that the problem is that there is too much of a “dysfunctional relationship” between the major football organisations in England. He added that “nobody can tell you what are the agreed priorities of English football”.

What this means is that any small actions to improve the England team, such as the EFL Trophy changes, have the potential to be met with ridicule. Anything short of a wholesale change to the structure or scheduling of English football can be easily dismissed as sweeping difficult decisions or potential conflict under the carpet.

The EFL are planning on expanding from three 24-team divisions to four 20-team divisions in three years’ time—in order to ease fixture congestion, and to improve the England team—and this has already been managed better than the Trophy was this year. On Thursday the EFL announced that they had totally rejected adding B teams to the expanded leagues, the speed and clarity of the decision will be well received around the EFL grounds. The prospect of adding Old Firm clubs was also rejected, again a good move from the league, as not only would this have opened new conflicts with the Scottish Professional Football League, and the Football Association, it would have made further mockery of the “English Football league” rebrand. Shutting these debates down early on—the League’s chiefs will surely hope—will cut down on speculation over the league’s future and any further prospect for protest.

The EFL Trophy is only going into its second round of matches this year, and already has made a lot of unfortunate headlines. The EFL chiefs will be hoping that this will die down as the tournament goes on, and that the rebrand will draw in enough positive interest from foreign media for it to eventually be deemed a success.

Attendances rising above club record lows will be a promising start.