Victoria University students are planning a rent strike as details are revealed about which New Zealand universities are charging students for rooms they can’t stay in.
Victoria University students were shocked this week after being asked to pay a weekly $150 ‘holding fee’ for rooms they were earlier told they didn't have to pay for if they weren’t staying in them.
Students staying at Weir House say they were given just 48 hours to leave their accommodation before the level 4 lockdown, and some have had other students move into their rooms who are paying 75 per cent of the room rate.
Now a Facebook group has been set up for students planning to strike in opposition of the $150 weekly fee.
It comes as huge disparities are revealed over what students are expected to pay for their unoccupied university accommodation rooms.
AUT student Scarlett Matterson says she and her fellow students are having to pay their full $300 weekly rent.
She’s moved home to Wellington but has spent more than $1000 paying for her empty room in Auckland.
“It’s not fair, I know a lot of students who can’t pay $300 a week especially if they’re not living in the accommodation,” she said.
“I know lots of students overseas who have had to go back overseas but have still paid a $6000 deposit for their rent, but they don’t get any of that back.”
In a statement, AUT told 1 NEWS students who chose to leave before the lockdown are getting a $60 a week “utilities credit.”
“Students who have chosen to leave and don’t wish to return have been given the option to withdraw from their residential contract,” it said.
The request for payment came despite more than 90 per cent of rooms having been vacated, but the university says it needs the money to pay for upkeep.
But Ms Matterson says students have no idea when they’ll get that credit, and still have to pay full rent in the meantime,
“We don’t know when the credit comes, we don’t know anything about it, there’s been no communication about that,” she said.
At the University of Auckland and Otago University, students are paying for their rooms, but not the full amount.
At the University of Canterbury, it differs depending on the hall students are in.
At Massey and Waikato universities, students aren't being charged at all for rooms they're not in.
Waikato University Vice-Chancellor Professor Neil Quigley says that was simply the right thing to do.
“It’s costing us a lot to let the students not pay rent while they're away from the halls of residence, but I think the balance is that while it’s expensive for the university, it probably is a cost we have to bare in this situation where it wasn't the fault of the students that they needed to respond to level four lockdown”.
Professor Quigley says he hopes students feel they’ve been treated fairly.
“We wanted to make a decision that was in the best interest of the students, and we wanted them to be able to choose the safest location and the best location for their wellbeing, without worrying about money.”
Massey University says it didn’t charge for unoccupied rooms during Alert Level 4 and has no intention of doing so during Alert Level 3 either.
“We feel this is the right thing to do because we advised students to leave our halls of residence and to go home if they could do so safely and had somewhere safe and appropriate to go to,” the university said.
“This was to ensure the safety of remaining residents and staff, but also because we knew the lockdown would cause financial hardship for many of our students and their whanau."
Lincoln University was charging for unoccupied rooms at the start of the lockdown, but backed down after pressure from students.
Lincoln University Students Association President Sam Blackmore says the move was a huge relief for students.
“This makes a huge change for students, especially when you're thinking about tossing up, ‘do I go back to the room I’m paying for or do I stay with my whanau where I have support?’ It’s making the decision much easier for students, and they're really relieved at this.”
New Zealand Union of Students' Associations President Isabella Lenihan-Ikin says the inconsistencies stem from the fact that halls of residence are exempt from the Residential Tenancies Act, and universities make their own accommodation pricing decisions.
“I guess they don't have to follow the governments key messaging in this time about compassion and care because of that exemption,” she said.
She also says not all students are in the position where they can go home and live rent free, and some are paying double rents - one rent for their university accommodation, and one rent to support their families at home.
“We have heard from the Government there needs to be empathy for everyone at this time and I think students are stuck in the middle of tertiary institutions fighting for money.”
The Green Party, National Party and Act have all spoken out against universities charging for unoccupied rooms.
It's understood education officials will be meeting with student groups on Tuesday to discuss the issue.
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