Unite Students extend rent discount for Portsmouth students by another three weeks

SOME of the city’s students will continue to a receive a 50 per cent reduction on their accommodation rent as Covid restrictions continue to prevent many of them returning for face-to-face teaching.
By Neil Fatkin
Published 5th Mar 2021, 15:02 BST
Greetham Street student housing which is operated by Unite Students.Greetham Street student housing which is operated by Unite Students.
Greetham Street student housing which is operated by Unite Students.

Unite Students which owns five halls of residence in the city, has pledged to continue with the rent reduction until March 28 to coincide with the government’s roadmap with the current stay at home order set to end on March 29.

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Unite Students chief executive Richard Smith said: ‘Since the outbreak of Covid-19, we have strived to play our part and do the right thing for our students in a fair and proportionate way. We also know from our own survey of students that the majority want to return and enjoy university life.

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‘This final rent discount means we will have provided a total of 10 weeks of financial support while students were asked to stay at home by the government. This comes on top of the waiver of rent for the third term of the 2019/20 academic year during the first national lockdown, when we were the first provider of purpose-built student accommodation to offer this.’

To be eligible for the discount students must be up to date with their rent and not be residing at the property.

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Richard added: ‘All our properties continue to remain open, as they have throughout the pandemic. Like any private landlord, we do not normally provide refunds for time students choose to spend away from a property during a tenancy.

‘However, we acknowledge students have faced challenges this year and that’s why we have supported them consistently through the pandemic. We remain committed to ensuring that students can continue to experience the real life-long benefits of university life.’

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Unite have calculated that on average students have saved around £1,300 as a result of the rent reduction.

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Related topics:StudentsPortsmouthCovid-19

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