UWE Bristol Rent price survey findings 2016-17: “The cost is too damn high” Research conducted by The Students’ Union at UWE Complied by Siân Hampson (Vice President Community and Welfare) Feburary 2017
Contents: Introduction – p.2 Respondents’ breakdown – p.2 Do you know what you pay for your halls? – p.3 Do you feel UWE Bristol Halls are value for money? – p.3 -
Student Village Carroll Court Glenside The Hollies Wallscourt Park
Analysis of value for money – p.7 What would add value to your rent? – p.8 How do you rate UWE Bristol Halls? – p.8 How do you rate your moving in experience? – p.8 Recommendations – p.9 List of figures: Figure 1: Do you know what you pay for your halls? 408 responses: answers shown as a percentage. Figure 2: Do you feel UWE Bristol Halls are value for money? 410 responses: answers shown as a percentage. Figure 3: Do you feel UWE Bristol Halls are value for money? Student Village breakdown - 217 responses: answers shown as a percentage. Figure 4: Do you feel UWE Bristol Halls are value for money? Carroll Court - 49 responses: answers shown as a percentage. Figure 5: Do you feel UWE Bristol Halls are value for money? Hollies - 13 responses: answers shown as a percentage. Figure 6: Do you feel UWE Bristol Halls are value for money? Wallscourt Park - 86 responses: answers shown as a percentage. Figure 7: Do you feel UWE Bristol Halls are value for money? Wallscourt Park - 86 responses: answers shown as a percentage. Figure 8: How do you rate the service you receive from UWE Bristol Accommodation? 408 responses: answers shown as percentages. Figure 9: How do you rate your moving in experience? 410 responses: answers shown in as a percentage.
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Introduction: Between January 24 and February 5 2017, The Students’ Union collected survey responses from residents living in UWE Bristol accommodation. Students were asked 11 questions which allowed them to rate their accommodation on a scale of five options; as well as space to comment on the service and feedback about value for money. In all, 411 responses were collected; exceeding 10% of the total population in accommodation. Firstly, we asked students where they lived; which allowed us to see if there are varying levels of service in different halls. Accommodation Brecon Court Brecon Court (superior) Carroll Court Cotswold Court Cotswold Court (superior) Glenside Glenside (small room) The Hollies Mendip Court Mendip Court (superior) Quantock Court Quantock Court (superior) Wallscourt Wallscourt (twin room) Wallscourt (studio) Wallscourt (larger room)
No. of Responses 62 3 49 50 2 21 11 13 47 2 47 4 82 6 5 4
Do you know what you pay for your halls? Our second question asked students whether they were aware of how much they paid for halls. We asked this question to validate the responses; if students do not know how much they pay for their rent, then their perception of its affordability may not be accurate in comparison to those who do.
Do you know what you pay for your halls?
Yes
2
No
Figure 1: Do you know what you pay for your halls? 408 responses answers shown as a percentage.
The majority, 89.9%, of students were aware of how much their accommodation costs. Interestingly, students that didn’t know the cost swayed towards the cost being good, or very good value for money.
Do you feel UWE Bristol Halls are value for money?
Do you feel UWE Bristol Halls are value for money? 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Very good value
Good value
Neutral
Poor value
Very poor value
Figure 2: Do you feel UWE Bristol Halls are value for money? 410 responses: answers shown as a percentage.
As shown above, 43.9% of students surveyed felt that UWE Bristol Halls are poor or very poor value for money. 31.5% gave a neutral response, whilst 24.7% felt UWE Bristol Halls were good, or very good value. If neutral responses are assumed neither good nor bad, then the largest share of responses of students felt that UWE Bristol Halls were not value for money.
Breakdowns Student Village: After looking at value overall, an analysis was conducted, looking at the attitudes of students in specific halls. Over half of respondents are accounted for by the Student Village, with 217 of responses from there. Figure 3 demonstrates the data breakdown. 1.4% of students surveyed from the village felt that these halls were very good value for money, whilst 15.2% felt they were good value. 49.7% of students surveyed felt the Student Village was poor or very poor value for money.
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40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Very good value
Good value
Neutral
Poor value
Very poor value
Figure 3: Do you feel UWE Bristol Halls are value for money? Student Village breakdown, 217 responses, answers shown as a percentage.
Carroll Court: 46.9% of students felt that Carroll Court was poor or very poor value for money.
45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Very good value
Good value
Neutral
Poor value
Very poor value
Figure 4: Do you feel UWE Bristol Halls are value for money? Carroll Court - 49 responses, answers shown as a percentage.
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Glenside: Glenside had the highest percentage of students (65.7%) who felt that the accommodation was poor, or very poor value for money.
60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Very good value
Good value
Neutral
Poor value
Very poor value
Figure 5: Do you feel UWE Bristol Halls are value for money? Glenside - 32 responses, answers shown as a percentage.
The Hollies: None of the respondents felt that The Hollies offered very good value for money.
45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0
.
Very good Good value value
Neutral
Poor value
Very poor value
Figure 6: Do you feel UWE Bristol Halls are value for money? Hollies - 13 responses, answers shown as a percentage
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Wallscourt Park: Wallscourt Park were the only halls where the largest percentage of responses believed that their rent offered value for money.
40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Very good value
Good value
Neutral
Poor value
Very poor value
Figure 7: Do you feel UWE Bristol Halls are value for money? Wallscourt Park - 86 responses, answers shown as a percentage.
Wallscourt Park Studio: We had 5 responses for this question, 1 student felt the studio was good value, 1 was neutral, and 3 felt it was poor value. Wallscourt Park Twin Rooms: We had 6 responses for this question, 1 respondent felt that the twin room was good value, 3 were neutral, and 2 felt it was poor value.
Further Analysis: After asking students if their accommodation was value for money, we then gave them the opportunity to elaborate on why they felt this way. There were 346 responses and two themes that became apparent from this; the high cost and maintenance issues. Rent takes up a large portion of their student loan, which leads to them needing financial support from their parents or finding employment. With the issue of maintenance, students felt that halls were run down and repairs were not carried out promptly.
Student Village:
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Nearly half of the students living in the Student Village felt that the accommodation was poor value for money, with 97 of 217 responses claiming that the halls and their facilities were in desperate need of an update. If the quality was better, students might not be opposed to the price. There were mentions of the lack of laundry rooms in Cotswold, the uncomfortable furniture (or bench as one student referred to it), and lack of fridge freezer space.
Quotes from students:
“Getting maintenance service is extremely slow. The price is super high. The laundry rooms are far and not working properly, also expensive!” “The living areas are horrendous. They are so badly furnished, both ovens barely worked and even we complained nothing was done. Also both fridges were always freezing things even on the lowest temperature. The benches as 'sofas' were horrible and if anything, they encourage students to stay in their room and to not socialise. Also things such as walls court paying less and having free washing machines and having a cleaner made it even less value for money in student village.” “There were a lot of things that needed repairs from the first day I arrived and still till now we still keep having to get basic things such as oven knobs fixed which is not due to misuse.”
Carroll Court: The majority of students at this accommodation felt that Carroll Court was able to offer value for money; however, a significant amount were still unhappy. Similar to the village, there were concerns about the maintenance issues, and how up to date the accommodation is. Quotes from students:
“A lot breaks, no soundproofing in rooms weird heating times, keys need updating regularly and it's not close to update them.” “Lots of maintenance to be done” “I'm in the cheapest accommodation available, and still think paying this much just to have a roof over my head is kinda nonsense.”
Glenside and Hollies: 62.2% of students felt that Glenside and the Hollies felt that UWE Bristol Halls offered poor or very poor for money. This was the highest percentage.. Again, a large amount of student feedback was about maintenance issues. Students said a large amount of updates are needed, and when things are broken they should be repaired quickly. Quotes from students:
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“When we moved in, we had a list of 10 things plus that needed to be fixed by the maintenance men, including a hole in our ceiling, a broken microwave, broken intercom, shower temperature gauge not working etc. After Christmas, my flatmate came back to a room full of mould and the maintenance men have only filled in the cracks in the window when the whole window needs to
be replaced. There has been too many problems in the whole flat for the flat to be seen as 'good value'.” “The hollies feel quite old and not very fresh” “Maintenance is awful. I've reported certain problems a number of time since starting in September 2016 and they've not been sorted, no one has even been round to look.”
Wallscourt Park, Twins, Larger, and Studios: Wallscourt were the only halls where the highest response about value for money was positive. Students liked the social space, and how modern it is. However, there was still concern around the price and students were concerned about the quality of the accommodation. Quotes from students:
“They're nice halls but still overpriced” “The rooms are nice, it's all modern and clean, however they are a bit flimsy, things tend to break often and fall apart...(eg draw handles fall off) ..and the cookers used to constantly break/electricity downstairs didn't fully work for a while. Also the sofas and chairs are ridiculously uncomfortable. It's all well and good having flashy tvs and stuff but half of it breaks/crap signal/cheapy quality. Overall though they are nice and the bigger beds are the best thing however they're pretty much camp beds which is a bit stingy... The bathrooms are lovely. Overall though the walls and wardrobes and desk space and lighting is brilliant.” “Wallscourt is nice, but it costs so much!”
What would add value to your rent? An overwhelming majority of students asked for a bus pass to be included. A large amount of students also felt membership for the Centre for Sport would add value, rather than being an addition to their rent. There was a suggestion of there being a choice being given to students could be a positive:
“Maybe a choice between bus pass or sport membership” “FREE LAUNDRY SERVICES! An included gym membership would work. For £9k a year plus over £5k for accommodation, I would hope a £200 gym membership would be included. As well as maybe a free bus pass.” “Bus pass or just drop the price of the rent.”
There was also some feedback about the lack of reception opening hours. Students in the village wanted more to be open rather than just one reception.
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How would you rate the service from UWE Bristol Accommodation?
How do you rate the service UWE Bristol Accommodation provides? 50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Very good
Good
Neutral
Poor
Very poor
How do you rate your moving in experience?
How do you rate the your moving in experience? 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Very good
Good
Neutral
Poor
Very poor
Figure 9: How do you rate your moving in experience? 410 responses, answers shown in as a percentage.
Students’ positive experiences of moving in did not necessarily carry over into their overall experience after they moved in. This is probably because there was a higher amount of attention and staff presence during Welcome. To continue the increased satisfaction higher staff presence and longer reception opening hours would help. Students’ positive experiences of accommodation were largely around the location and proximity to lectures, as well as staff support and security.
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Recommendations: Moving forward we have some recommendations to improve the student experience in UWE Bristol Halls: 1. There should not be a rise in rent prices, students already do not feel rent is affordable and a further increase would exacerbate the issue. In addition, there should be adequate provision for students who need a bursary for rent. 2. Rent should automatically include either a bus pass or gym membership to add additional value for money. In 2015-16 bus passes were no longer included in rent prices, however the rent didn’t drop to reflect this. If bus passes are no longer included, rent prices should reflect this. 3. There should be a significant investment into refurbishment of the Hollies, the Student Village, and Carroll Court. 4. Maintenance times should be improved and monitored closely to make sure repairs are done within an agreed time frame that is made transparent to students. 5. There should be an allowance for a certain amount of washing machine tokens (for free use) per month. Students request additional washing machines, the current stock is not adequate to service current numbers. 6. An additional reception should be opened in the Student Village. 7. There should be adequate provision for students who need a bursary for their rent. 8. Rent should include a TV licence which would be an incentive to build community in communal areas. 9. Resource a new Halls Reps system to make sure reports and work like this are sustainable and that student’s voices are being heard in accommodation. 10. NUS’ recommendation of at least 25% of university housing stock costing no more than 50% of students maximum loan (max loan £8,200) should be followed. 11. Students should be given an option of reducing their tenancy by up to two weeks, for a refund of a proportion of their rate.
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