: Moving on out, nothing can stop me
A new university logo that had 'shameless corporatism' written all over it, and sure enough the University of Southampton have done a rejig of their student accommodation that has sent me headlong into the arms of the private rented sector.
What this means for me is that the all-inclusive total I'm paying for this flat is leaping up from just shy of £4,600 for 39 weeks - affordable, spending more than most students on having more spacious accommodation is pretty much the kind of thing DLA is for - to just over £4,900 for 34 weeks (with forced vacation at Easter for a month). A bad-enough 6.5% overall increase, plus a reduction in the quality of the service - the cost per week is now just shy of £145, from under £120. Just to put that in some Quirks-specific context, that weekly gap is more than I pay to all three of my music teachers combined.
The consequences are as predictable as you think they are. I'm now seeking a privately-rented studio flat; a quick web search implies that £450 per month for a studio flat in the student quarter of Southampton is a worst-case scenario. Call it £110 per week. Can utility bills possibly come to £35 per week for a single person in a studio flat making non-trivial efforts to reduce consumption? I'd hope not - and that's ignoring the fact that some of these flats are cheaper still, one being £380 per month.
Two steps now...
1. Check that this oturageous price rise is for real.
2. If 1. true, start looking for private-sector housing.
More on this big developing story as it comes.
A new university logo that had 'shameless corporatism' written all over it, and sure enough the University of Southampton have done a rejig of their student accommodation that has sent me headlong into the arms of the private rented sector.
What this means for me is that the all-inclusive total I'm paying for this flat is leaping up from just shy of £4,600 for 39 weeks - affordable, spending more than most students on having more spacious accommodation is pretty much the kind of thing DLA is for - to just over £4,900 for 34 weeks (with forced vacation at Easter for a month). A bad-enough 6.5% overall increase, plus a reduction in the quality of the service - the cost per week is now just shy of £145, from under £120. Just to put that in some Quirks-specific context, that weekly gap is more than I pay to all three of my music teachers combined.
The consequences are as predictable as you think they are. I'm now seeking a privately-rented studio flat; a quick web search implies that £450 per month for a studio flat in the student quarter of Southampton is a worst-case scenario. Call it £110 per week. Can utility bills possibly come to £35 per week for a single person in a studio flat making non-trivial efforts to reduce consumption? I'd hope not - and that's ignoring the fact that some of these flats are cheaper still, one being £380 per month.
Two steps now...
1. Check that this oturageous price rise is for real.
2. If 1. true, start looking for private-sector housing.
More on this big developing story as it comes.