Where your rent goes
Accommodation is a major cost to students and it is important to know how the income from your rent is being spent.
The rent that you pay for your on-campus room enables us to provide a range of essential housing services, vital to the safety and comfort of all residents.
The University does not make extra money on our student accommodation. The University in fact provides some additional financial assistance to student accommodation to keep things affordable for everyone, this is a net subsidy. By doing this we ensure that we maintain our commitment to provide varied price bands and rooms that suit all requirements and budgets.
Below we have given a breakdown and explanation of the different areas where income from rent is spent in any given academic year.
A large portion of your rent goes directly into Rent Payable. Not all campus accommodation is owned directly by the University, for some residences we have partnered with Student Accommodation Providers who finance the accommodation build and manage the accommodation for a period of time. We have agreements and obligations with these providers to pay them rent (otherwise known as Rent Payable).
Our Student Accommodation providers can review and adjust the rents we owe them yearly, based on certain factors such as inflation.
In addition to this we also pay ground rent on the land that some of our colleges are built on.
A significant proportion of rent goes toward something called “depreciation”. Depreciation is where the monetary value of an asset decreases over time due to use, wear and tear or obsolescence. Whilst depreciation isn’t a cash payment, it is still a cost to the University that we have to account for.
As an example, when a building is constructed such as student accommodation, it's expected to be useful for many years and to account for its gradual ageing and wear and tear, an amount of money is set aside for this. This money covers more than just the building itself, it includes initial construction costs and various elements like utilities, roofs, windows, kitchens, bathrooms, and IT infrastructure – everything that makes your living space work well. The depreciation funds ensure that there's enough cash to maintain and keep everything in good condition over the years.
This covers water, electricity, gas, and heat in our accommodation. Costs can go up if there is increased activity on campus or higher fuel costs.
All repairs and maintenance works that have been carried out on a residential building are funded by this part of your rent. This can be anything from planned improvements to reactive work.
For those on catered packages, this part of rent supports the costs of food, staff, and running the outlets, including cleaning and maintenance.
This part covers the staff and operating costs for services like cleaning, security, and reception in accommodation. The introduction of the Real Living Wage increased costs in recent years.
The accommodation team handles tasks like allocating rooms, issuing agreements, and assisting with various needs, ensuring a smooth housing experience.
This includes ongoing maintenance of the network in your accommodation but does not cover upgrades or cybersecurity, which are budgeted separately.
This includes costs for college staff, together with costs for student welfare services which are provided to students living in University accommodation.
A very small percentage of rents go into bursaries, supporting students who require financial support, usually relating to personal circumstances, and are often related to Accommodation fees.