Students occupy University of Sheffield Auditorium

[chilango]

...and that's the thing.

Having opinions is one thing. Continuing to assert those opinions as something more, something approaching "fact" is another. And yes, these boards are "brutal" is in scrutinising such assertions. Opinions can't be passed off, unchallenged, as fact. That's what's great about P&P here. Most of us have been wrong at some point, most of us have changed our minds at some point. I've learnt a lot on here thanks to the rigour of many of the posters.

 

[Pickman's model]

I'm not a troll, unless you consider anyone who doesn't agree with you to be a troll.......

not got the talent to be a troll

 

[kabbes]

LeslieB, you can't just say "this is my opinion" without support or evidence and think that somehow weighs equally with proper research, data, analysis and logic. Of course if you take that approach, you will be ripped to pieces. You can have your unsupported arbitrary opinions to your own heart's content, but don't expect others to respect that approach.

 

[brogdale]

No, I can't, because in the words of Dragons Den..."I'm out".

Gawd this board is brutal, even by the standards of the political blogosphere.

Nothing to do with 'Dragons' Den'; the reason you can't explain is because you don't even understand the tory memes that you parrot.

 

[ViolentPanda]

Wanting to balance the budget is extreme and irrational? Really?

Because in terms of economics - economics being a cyclical phenomenon prone to suffering the swings and arrows of a host of different influences - it meaningless. A better strategy for states with excess liquidity would be infrastructure investment, not meaningless political grandstanding to shrink public debt. Clinton balanced the budget, only for his successors to put the US trillions of dollars in debt, and yet the economic world still turns, albeit with the US shitting itself every time the economy farts.

 

[stethoscope]

Have observed quite a few of such 'luxury' student apartments going up last little while - all part of the continuing consumerisation of higher education and increasingly fierce market to attract both student numbers and the $$$. We've got a development going up where I am too...
En-suite education: the unstoppable rise of luxury student housing

Coventry University has been relaxed about the private sector picking up the demand among overseas students for hotel-type rooms, with flatscreen TVs and en suite bathrooms. Four of the five Study Inn locations are made up solely of self-contained studio apartments, with rent ranging from £141 to £181 a week.

Several more big developments are on the way. Work has begun at Belgrade Plaza, where Downing property group’s 20-storey, 597-room student complex will soon become the tallest building in the city. The university is working with Barberry to create another 1,200 rooms nearby, while the student housing provider Unite has partnered with a local developer on an ambitious housing and retail project that will open up a hidden part of the river Sherbourne running under the city centre.

The university is enthused by all this activity: it expects student numbers to grow by around 4,000 over the next five years. Coventry city council is delighted, too, viewing the student boom as a handy regeneration tool. Fresh development is under way on long-derelict brownfield sites and the night-time economy is flourishing

and…

The people who run the NUS and student housing charity Unipol are worried affordable options are dwindling. They fear the shift towards high-end apartments is pushing up rents across the board, even in the old-fashioned halls with shared bathrooms and kitchens.

NUS-Unipol survey shows the average weekly rent for student accommodation in the UK now stands at £147, an 18% increase since 2012-13. Since 2006, the private sector has gone from providing 18% of bed spaces to 41%. “The private operators produce a lovely product, high-spec rooms and gyms and and so on, but it all comes with a price tag,” says Victoria Loverseed, Unipol’s student engagement manager. “Universities are now aping the private sector by building this top-end stuff, so a lot of students feel priced out. You can’t blame private companies, but universities have a got a different role. They should try to provide affordable options and not act like property developers.”

According to James Pullan, head of student property at Knight Frank, the student housing market is booming: “We saw 3.65% rental growth across the UK last year, and it’s been like that for 10 years, even during the downturn. It’s true that the market is heavily focused on international students, and a majority of international students want new, purpose-built accommodation.”

 

[chilango]

Have observed quite a few of such 'luxury' student apartments going up last little while - all part of the continuing consumerisation of higher education and increasingly fierce market to attract both student numbers and the $$$. We've got a development going up where I am too...
En-suite education: the unstoppable rise of luxury student housing


and…

I know a few people who work in outsourced student accommodation business. It's crazy.

 

[LeslieB]

I know a few people who work in outsourced student accommodation business. It's crazy.

It is, although to be fair the standards have risen as well. Student accomodation in the 80s and early 90s was pretty shocking tbf.

 

[chilango]

It is, although to be fair the standards have risen as well. Student accomodation in the 80s and early 90s was pretty shocking tbf.

Not IME. But some of today's students wouldn't even contemplate it tbf. Shared bathroom? It's a different world now Uni. Unrecognisable.

 

[chilango]

...though if I were paying £9k a year plus I'd have different expectations from, and attitudes towards, Uni too. Then again if I could afford that kinda cost I'd probably have been brought up with different expectations anyway.