Sector may pay the price for privatised student halls
Universities have been warned against losing control over a key part of the student experience by handing responsibility for building and running accommodation to private firms.
The warning comes in reaction to analysis by Times Higher Education of data released by the Higher Education Statistics Agency that show that capital spending on residential accommodation dropped by 28.9 per cent in the most recent academic year. The fall points to possible uncertainty about student numbers – and an increasing willingness to outsource estate operations to commercial providers.
Firms such as Unite and University Partnerships Programme (UPP) build and, in many cases, run accommodation in return for future rents …