Students at the University of Manchester have secured a 30% reduction in rent for the first semester, amounting to a £12 million payout.
UoM students living in university hall of residence accommodation will receive between £400-£900.
After two weeks of protesting, the group declared this “the biggest win for university rent strikes in UK history”.
Much anger was expressed by students regarding the lack support from the university during the pandemic.
In a statement published on the UOM Rent Strike Facebook page, student organisers alleged they had been “lied to and brought onto unsafe campuses, forced to pay insane rent for facilities [they] can’t access”.
In response to this, 15 students occupied Owen’s Park Tower, one of the university’s buildings, for two weeks.
The statement continued: “They brought us here for profit and made it very clear that they’re not on our side and plan to ignore us. So we’re occupying the tower until they respond.”
The university has stated, not only will they provide a rent reduction but also “more flexible accommodation agreements”.
In a statement, University of Manchester said they will provide: “better maintenance support”, “better study spaces’” while “tackling anti-social behaviour”.
The protest, and subsequent victory follows the tearing down of fences by students, which were erected without their prior knowledge around university halls.
The protest also follows a racial profiling incident on its Fallowfield campus. Video footage showed a 19-year-old student being pinned to a wall by three security guards, demanding to see his student ID.
The university acknowledged that this is a “serious incident” and that they were “deeply concerned by these images”.
As a result of the incident, calls for the resignation of the University’s President and Vice-Chancellor, Dame Nancy Rothwell, #NoMoreNancy gained momentum.
Featured image and gallery: Hoang Phan Notebooks were carried from one workshop to another. Writers from different generations sat around tables, sharing manuscripts and listening to each other. Outdoors, small groups strolled along Oxford Road, pausing before buildings steeped in literary history. This was the scene during the Manchester Writing School Summer Festival 2026, held…
Featured image: Katja Ogrin With many sore heads and limbs this morning after the most hardcore day of the festival taking place yesterday, many are recovering from the moshing and pit brutality of the previous day’s antics. As the tradition of a morning movie in the Serpents Lair prevails, the crowd sprawls out onto the plush,…
Featured image: Abbi Draper After an electrifying start to the weekend, with temperatures slowly climbing, many lather themselves in suncream, shed their band shirts and rise from their tents to trek towards the arena. Saturday has big things incoming for the humans of Bloodstock 2026. Some pace themselves for the day and hide from the early…
Featured image: Abbi Draper After a memorable Thursday opener, Bloodstock 2026 opens its gates once again onto the Hallowed Grounds of Catton Park, kicking off day two of its 25th-anniversary celebration of metal. As the sun rises on Catton Park, festivalgoers emerge from their tents to prepare for another day of mayhem. The morning brings…
Leave a reply