Emma YeomansCampaigners from UCL Cut The Rent have declared victory, following successful negotiations with the university.
The rent strike has been going on since January, and now involves more than 750 students. UCL have offered to create new accommodation bursaries from next year, and pledged £850,000 to make their accommodation more affordable.
They have also secured a 2.5% rent decrease across all rooms, further reductions in specific halls for next year and compensation for this year’s residents of Campbell House West.
A second movement to have residents of Max Rayne House compensated for the poor conditions, including a cockroach infestation, is still ongoing.
At the demonstration on Saturday June 18, students marched around UCL then joined activists from the Radical Housing Network in a protest outside the Mayfair offices of Savills estate agents.
Students, some of whom have been withholding rent since January, payed their rent last week. UCL had threatened to fine students on strike, send their debts on to debt collection agency, and possibly take strikers to court if rent remained unpayed.
Rebecca Pinnington
London Student
Jacob Diamond
