Unaffordable University Accommodation - Reply from the University and ACS

The University of Sheffield has made a strong commitment to quality and value in its student accommodation. For this reason, the University was dismayed to learn from Forge Press about a draft report and planned demonstration led by the Union of Students President. In particular, we were appalled by misleading and inaccurate statistics which were used to support claims that Sheffield was far more expensive than other universities or that we fail to offer ours students value for money.

The claims vs. the facts

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.

Why any above RPI increases?

So why would the University increase any rents above RPI when we are more than aware of the challenges to student finances through our extensive work on student welfare and hardship?

The answer is simple.

In the years prior to 2005 there was very little investment in student accommodation, meaning the University had fairly low quality, standard and twin rooms with shared facilities, the majority offering catered accommodation.

Following extensive research with current and future students, an analysis of accommodation applications and comparing ourselves to our peers nationally, the University made a decision to meet the demands of students themselves by increasing the number of en-suite self-catering rooms. We also decided to demolish many of the existing facilities as they were no longer compliant with disability and health and safety legislation, and were not fit for their purpose in a modern context.

Overall rents have risen in line with a dramatic increase in quality of accommodation, but value is still central and we still compare favourably with other universities on a like-for-like basis.

How have things changed?

Back in 2005/6, 60 per cent of rooms were catered and 86 per cent were standard with shared bathrooms. In addition, 5 per cent were twins meaning students had to share a bedroom. In 2008/9, 18 per cent of rooms are catered and only 27 per cent are standard. For entry in 2008/9, nearly 75 per cent of applicants requested en-suite accommodation.

The University spends over £1m per year refurbishing our accommodation and facilities. This has to be funded because the residential provision for the University is self-financing and cannot be funded by provision dedicated to teaching and research. Increased utilities costs also have to be taken into account.

But there is more than simply the accommodation itself. We’ve also improved the provision of welfare support and security, introduced better internet connection, included room contents insurance and opened new facilities available for all types of accommodation. These extra services and facilities are not available in private housing but should be considered when comparing rents, and they are often very important to students and their families as they make decisions about where they wish to study, particularly when making a transition from home to University life.

Choice and value - how we compare

Sheffield does not forget the needs of those who are on a very tight budget. For this reason, we have always endeavoured to offer accommodation at a variety of cost levels. At the lower end of the scale we have rents that have increased at less than RPI, with some rents being frozen year on year.

We are not embarrassed by comparisons with others. To remain competitive in a growing marketplace, we of course benchmark our rents against comparable accommodation providers in the city and at other similar universities.

Our rents are comparable to those at Manchester and Leeds when like-for-like quality, facilities, distance from campus and contract lengths are taken into consideration.

The rent range for standard catered accommodation aimed at undergraduates is £3,756-£4,587 for between 38 and 42 weeks in Sheffield, whilst the range in like-for-like accommodation at Leeds is £3,500-£5,100 for 39 weeks. Rent ranges in Manchester are very similar to those in Sheffield, and for en-suite accommodation the ranges for Sheffield are less expensive than Manchester.

How we answer our critics

We do understand that students often face very real financial challenges. Accommodation costs are significant and we do what we can to balance quality and cost. However, we have invested in outstanding new and refurbished facilities precisely because we want to meet student demand with an excellent range of accommodation that offers students a balanced choice that can be based on cost, quality, location and their individual needs. This range of accommodation types means we can and do offer an integrated community which attracts students from many different backgrounds and cultures.

We know the quality and standard of our accommodation plays an important part in students choosing to come to Sheffield. Increasingly students are looking beyond the academic standards they have come to expect from our University and consider the wider student experience when deciding where to study.

In the 2008 Annual Student Satisfaction Survey the proportion of students saying they choose to come to Sheffield because they liked the accommodation increased significantly.

It is a matter of great regret to the University that the Union President publicly quote figures which were incorrect, and made statements which were misleading as they did not compare like with like.

Also, that these statements were made in response to a report that the University had not seen and where we had been unable to provide figures which would make this clear.

Over many years the University has worked with the Students’ Union as we set student rents and determine the standard of accommodation we offer.

While we welcome arguments and positive suggestions for change, and seek and respond to the opinions of students, we do so on the basis of our reputation for quality and the facts of what we offer.

Despite criticism, we are rightly proud of these and we hope that the detailed discussions we are now having with the Union of Students will allow us to move forward from unnecessary confrontation.