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1. We need @CMAgovUK to step in and clarify the consumer rights position on charging students to live in student accommodation they can't use, and in halls (private and uni) where promised shared facilities are closed.
2. In principle no student should be charged for facilities they can't use, for bills during periods when they're not there and for rent when they can't occupy the room because the government told them not to. If the law doesn't support any of that, gvt has duty to step in.
3. We should be realistic and honest about the prospects of a meaningful return to face to face teaching and all students should be able to terminate rent contracts now.
4. Universities should be compensated for the loss of income. The private sector has to take the hit in exchange for the vast profits made at the expense of students and the taxpayer. Although BTL HMO landlords should be offered six month mortgage holidays on these properties.
5. Then government should commit to a wholesale review of student accommodation. It is not a market that works in the interests of its consumers, its terribly regulated, and so little is owned by the state that it represents a vast waste of maintenance money.
6. This should include universities being backed to build accommodation in exchange for commitments on affordable rent and a consideration of nationalising all other stock onto university balance sheets. Would rep a significant endowment for them to deploy for future generations.
7. None of the above should be considered as student support spending. Huge numbers of students still in halls will need additional support given the lack of PT work this year and esp during lockdown.
And just to go back to #1 - 250k marriages a year in E&W, and @CMAgovUK did a special pandemic thing on rights over weddings. Add in people who've graduated and new students since the start of the pandemic and we're looking at 3m consumers here.
