Union President Dave Hurst led a protest against rent charges in University-owned accommodation on Wednesday, despite the University of Sheffield condemning his report on the issue as ‘misleading and inaccurate’.
The demonstration was attended by approximately 60 students calling for an end to what they believe are unaffordable prices in University accommodation.
The rally took place after the University said that they were ‘appalled’ by Hurst’s Unaffordable University Accommodation report.
They released a statement rebutting the claims made by the Union President that average charges at Sheffield had risen by as much as 61 per cent since 2005.
Campaigners congregated on the Union concourse at 1.15pm on Wednesday before marching to Firth Court ahead of a meeting of the University Senate, one of the highest governance bodies within the institution.
Union President Hurst and Women’s Officer Fiona Edwards co-ordinated the protest, with Edwards criticising what she called the University’s "disgraceful policy of putting students into ever more debt" as she addressed campaigners through a megaphone on the concourse.
Campaigners’ chants of "We all live in an overpriced regime" and "What do we want? Cheaper rents. When do we want it? Now" are said to have been audible during the brief Senate meeting in Firth Hall, which was chaired by the Vice Chancellor of the University, Professor Keith Burnett.
The demonstrators held up placards with slogans such as ‘Less than 10 per cent of accommodation below minimum student loan’ and ‘42-week contract detention’ which they stuck in the ground outside Firth Court when the rally ended at 2.30pm.
As the protest finished, Hurst thanked those who had showed their support and stated that the end of the demonstration did not mark the end of the campaign. He said: "We’re not backing down…until we win our demands".
The protest went ahead after the University condemned its planning and Hurst’s report as ‘unnecessary confrontation’. A University statement said: ‘It is a matter of great regret to the University that the Union President publicly quoted figures which were incorrect, and made statements which were misleading as they did not compare like with like’.
The University’s response to the findings of Hurst’s report also states: ‘The Union President told Forge Press that in Sheffield the "average" catered rent is £5,458.47, with an "average" reported increase of 61 per cent. In fact, the correct average catered rent in standard accommodation (with a shared bathroom) is £4,211.74, an increase of 23.4 per cent over three years.
‘In catered en-suite accommodation the average rent is now £4,857.52, an increase since 2005/6 of 26.3 per cent. Even our highest catered rent is not at the level reported by the Union President in the last issue of Forge Press as average.
‘In self-catering accommodation, the increase is not 44 per cent as stated, but is 23.6 per cent for standard rooms and 30.1 per cent for en-suite.’
Al Hussein, a second year Computer Science student from Yemen, was one of the protestors. He said: "The main reason why I am demonstrating is to show the University that what students get for their money is unacceptable.
"Many international students choose the University accommodation because they don’t know the country, let alone the city. I pay £4,400 for my room in Brocco Flats and it is not value for money."
Marwa Saeed, a first year Medicine student, said that the cost of accommodation meant that residents did not always have enough money for basic provisions. She said: "We simply cannot afford the cost of accommodation at the University. The maintenance loan doesn’t cover all accommodation costs, and when it does it leaves little money to buy food or toiletries."
Hurst continues to dispute the figures, despite the release of the statistics by Accommodation and Campus Services (ACS). Speaking after the protest, he said: "I’m still not comfortable with their figures and I’m still going to challenge them."
The Union President also defended his report, and argued that any inaccuracies found in it would not be sufficient to deter campaigners. He said: "I don’t think anyone will get that disenfranchised and say ‘Look, you were massively off, I’ve lost faith’.
"I don’t think they’ve got too much to criticise in terms of the figures being that far away from what was suggested, and out of the discrepancies, pretty much the only one they pulled up was the average price in terms of the comparisons with the other cities.
"It was never meant to be a comprehensive report. I did the best that I could in my terms and it helps that ACS have provided me with their figures so I can see their calculations, which has helped me to provide new evidence in terms of one per cent of [accommodation] being below £3,000, and 10 per cent being below minimum student loan."
According to the University of Sheffield, the correct figures show that 19 per cent of rent prices are affordable within the minimum student loan, and rent in 96 per cent of accommodation offered by ACS can be paid for within the maximum student loan available.
Hurst claims that these statistics do not match the data that ACS has sent to him, and he said after the protest that he felt he was left with no choice but to leak his report and plan a demonstration to highlight the message of his campaign.
He said: "[ACS said] when it was in the last issue of Forge Press I should have discussed it with them. I’ve been in the job five months. I’ve tried to discuss these issues with ACS – [there is] nothing there in discussions with the University, and because it’s such a burning issue for me and for students I couldn’t take that. I tried discussing it in the room, and there wasn’t even a nudge of a move.
"It’s not particularly brilliant that it’s all over the paper, but if that’s the only way the University or ACS operates, then that’s what has to be done and unfortunately these actions have to be taken and it’s important that these actions are taken. Then it doesn’t lead to the situation, where I feel there has been in previous years, that if you don’t toe the line that’s it, and your discussion is sidelined.
"I think that’s why we can agree on things that are in the best interests of students but on one or two – and on this one issue there’s quite a difference between the Union and the University’s perspective – that we stand our ground on it and we fight it.
"But I make this clear: that doesn’t sever any other ties between [the Union and the University], only if they turn it that way, that’s never been my intention. If it’s in the interests of students that we co-operate – which obviously was the University’s reason for dealing with us anyway – there’s no reason for that to alter.
"If we don’t do anything, if we can’t speak out when we feel [it is] necessary, then what’s the point in being here? And that’s my sort of thing, not to rock the boat in terms of losing all the other stuff, because what we do is so important to student welfare, but I believe we’ve always made that clear and I’d be very surprised if they do anything to disrupt that.
"There’s a 100 per cent commitment from me to discuss with them as the only way that we can both change is in the interests of us both to work together. I just think that sometimes we have to act [in a way] which isn’t in the interests of the University for the greater long term interests of students."
After the demonstration, Professor Dominic Shellard, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for External Affairs, said: "The University was dismayed by the way the Union President Dave Hurst undertook this campaign and demonstration. We were given no sight of the report before it was issued to Forge Press and no opportunity to work with the Union President on the issues raised.
"Worse, the figures which were used in the report, on the Union website and in campaign materials were wrong, and damaging to Sheffield’s reputation with potential students worried about money, as the Sabbatical Officers themselves subsequently acknowledged.
"Now the campaign has shifted its focus to the link between the student loan and accommodation costs in Sheffield. But again it is damaging and misleading. 96 per cent of University accommodation is affordable within the maximum loan amount which is available to students from lower economic backgrounds, and 19 per cent of University accommodation is within even the minimum loan amount given to students.
"We provide the best value accommodation we can within our ring-fenced resources in response to student demand, and continually assess student demand and local costs. If the real issue is student hardship, the campaign is targeting the wrong audience. Students all over the country are concerned about the cost of Higher Education and the level of loans.
"We also care deeply about those issues, and are very active in support and welfare provision to students in hardship – in fact we work closely with the Union of Students in this area through our Financial Support Panel, the Student Services Information Desk and all we do in providing hardship bursaries.
"This campaign may well damage the very people it is meant to help because it gives the completely misleading perception that Sheffield is less affordable than other comparable universities when this is not the case – in fact, this year’s Natwest survey named Sheffield as the third least expensive in the country."
Ciaran Jones
