UCL to force students to relocate mid-semester
Top London university UCL is under fire this afternoon for forcing residents of a postgraduate residence hall to move out of their student accommodation – with no guarantee of where they will be moving to.
Earlier this week students at Hawkridge House in Kentish Town were emailed informing them that “a decision has been made to relocate all students… to alternative UCL accommodation” from 18th March.
Though the university assures students in the email that an alternative UCL residence will be found, residents have been given only until March 1st to accept the offer, despite there being no guarantee of where that accommodation will be other than that it will be in the same TfL zone as their current housing.
The decision to relocate appears to have been prompted by a safety review of the property.
The students – the vast majority of whom are international students taking Master’s or Doctorate courses – report a year of disruption at the halls, including two weeks without hot water and another fortnight in which no heating was available.
One of those being moved on from Hawkridge House told City PM that it is “devastating” to be moved during a “critical” period.
“They’re tearing us away from our homes and friend groups. People’s jobs and recreational and social activities are being uprooted.
“But why? UCL won’t give us a straight answer. Every time one of us contacts them, we receive a scripted, robotic response. It is clear that there is zero concern for us as students,” they added.
The lease signed by the students suggests that students will not be moved unless there are “catastrophic” issues with the safety of the building.
“Students will be removed and relocated from accommodation where there is a catastrophic failure of services or the destruction/inoperability of part of the building necessitating closure.”
UCL told City PM that it “also reserves the right to relocate students to equivalent standard of accommodation in the event of welfare issues” and said “catastrophic” failures are only one reason for moving students.
Another student affected told City PM that “random relocation” will mean “our entire study pattern will get disrupted just before our assessment submission deadlines, on which our entire module grades depend.”
UCL, which owns the building, told City A.M: “Hawkridge House meets all regulatory safety requirements for residential accommodation with the legal safety measures in place and has passed all recent fire and safety inspections.
“UCL continually carries out safety reviews of all its buildings and we have decided to carry out exploratory work ahead of possible major enhancements to the building.
“As a result, we are relocating students living in Hawkridge House to equivalent alternative UCL accommodation from next month with similar travel times or distance to campus. All removal arrangements and costs will be met by UCL.
“We recognise this decision may be unsettling and we will do our best to minimise any disruption for our students.”
The university also said it would allow students the opportunity to claim for extenuating circumstances.