In a document released by Rex Knight, Vice-Provost of Operations, to UCLU, it was revealed that UCL is reaping multi-million pound profits from impoverished students living in ramshackle halls of residence. What’s more, income is increasing year on year.
In 2014, UCL’s income from resi- dences was £31 million, while they spent £21 million on maintenance and reno- vations. In 2015 this income is expected to rise to £33 million whilst expenditure decreases to £20.6 million. The discrep- ancy between income and expenditure is expected to rise further in 2016, with a projected £16 million surplus furnish- ing UCL’s already bloated cash reserves, which, as of the most recent financial re- port, stood at over £343 million.
In a statement, UCL Cut the Rent said, “For students, there is a genuine cost of living crisis, as rent and living costs increase at a rate far exceeding the growth of their income. Neverthe- less, UCL actively exploits its students through the setting of rent prices; we are the ones made to fund UCL’s ambitions to aggressively expand its student popu- lation and estate.”
Despite the massive profits UCL elicits from its residences, like all of our grades, the service they have provided has rarely been satisfactory. Earlier in the year Ifor Evans halls reached levels that would make an open-top igloo seem hospitable, while residents at Hawkridge House currently face the unenviable re- ality of living in a tower block covered almost completely in scaffolding, and being constantly assaulted by the noise of a thousand drills. Of course, compen- sation is not forthcoming; students were expected to be placated by a poorly writ- ten letter.
Future students don’t have it any bet- ter. With rent rising by the seemingly obligatory 5% next year, it appears that the UK’s second most expensive univer- sity to study at won’t be getting cheaper anytime soon.