UCLan waives student accommodation fees

In collaboration with the UCLan Students’ Union, the measure has been taken as part of the university’s on-going plan to support students during the coronavirus pandemic.

The fee waiver applies to students, regardless of whether they have already moved out of halls or continue to live there and means that the April rent instalments will not now be payable.

UCLan’s Vice-Chancellor Professor Graham Baldwin said: “Throughout this national crisis we will remain consistent in our commitment to put the interests of our students first.

“We also understand that for many of our students it is a time of financial concern as many have been working part-time and are now unable to do so. We hope our decision to waive accommodation payments helps ease the financial burden at this challenging time.

“While we cannot make the same decision for private third-party providers, we are in discussion with them to see if they can agree to similar measures.

“As a university we are keen to support our students as much as possible and minimise any disruption to their academic studies.”

Suntosh Kaur, President of UCLan’s Students’ Union, added: “Following discussions that I’ve had with students and conversations with the university, I’m thrilled UCLan is waiving the third term rent for students. I know the money saved will help students support themselves over the coming months.

"I appreciate the hard work of the Students’ Union team, officers and university staff over recent weeks. The Students’ Union will continue to work closely with the university to provide student feedback that helps students during this difficult time.”

The university currently has 1,600 student places in its University-owned halls accommodation with over 750 currently occupied with UCLan students. These include international students and some, based in the UK, who due to family reasons cannot return home.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper.

Thank you