Only half of second yearat University College will be able to live in next year due to refurbishment of college accommodation.
Second year students were previously able to stay in on-site accommodation. However, due to the need to refurbish Goodhart, an accommodation block on the main site normally occupied by first years, accommodation is no longer guaranteed for those entering their second year in October. Instead, half of the year will be living in college owned accommodation on Staverton Road in Summertown.
There are further worries that there will not be enough rooms in the annex, depending on the amount of third and fourth years that want to live there. University College has proposed negotiating some rooms in Balliol and Trinity’s annexes which are near to Stavertonia, or renting private houses and charging students college rates.
A Univ spokesperson said, “This is a one-year change that we have always anticipated and we have discussed extensively with JCR representatives, both last year and this year. We are making a long term commitment to improving the buildings on the site and these cannot be done during the period of the long-vacation. The college has guaranteed that all second year students will be accommodated in 2014-15.”
With half of second year having to live out, attention has turned to the room ballot, which will decide priority. Originally, second year classicists were to be given priority due to their examinations. However, JCR President Abigail Reeves explained that the proposal had been dropped after a First Year Rep expressed concerns.
A JCR meeting on the 2nd February determined that the students will ballot individually, with no subject preferences except for music students who require access to a piano.
Otamere Guobadia, a second year lawyer, stated, “I chaired the JCR meeting and it was incredibly civil. When it came down to it, pretty much everyone agreed on one thing – no one, bar the choral scholars and music students, who often need rooms with pianos, should get any sort of priority. There will be an individual, random ballot, and no one’s going to be living in a cardboard box (unless the spirit moves them) so while it’s far from an ideal situation, it’s been dealt with in the fairest way possible.”
Jacob Sack-Jones, a first year at Univ, told Cherwell, “I can’t really think of a way the college could get around the problem, because Goodheart does need refurbishing.
“On the other hand, it is quite frustrating that there’s a fairly large chance that we won’t be on main site next year. When I was at the open day, I was told that all first years and second years would have a place in college, if they wanted it. I didn’t find out (and I’m not sure anyone else did) about the situation until accepting my offer, which seems a little bit unfair, because it was one of the factors that helped me decide the college I would apply to.”
However, the College’s Domestic Bursar told Cherwell that only one parent responded to a letter sent to all potential Freshers in early January 2013 that explained the housing issue.
Many other colleges in Oxford require students to live out in private accommodation. One second-year told Cherwell, “All these old colleges think they own the place. At St Hilda’s we have to live out in private accommodation; it is not that bad or inconvenient.”
However, an English student at Exeter pointed out, “Like most second years, I had prelims in Ewart House in Summertown last year and it was a bloody long way away. Univ students might be better to take their chances dropping out of the housing ballot and trying to find accommodation closer to the centre of town.”
