FOI response – University residences

Please could the following information be made available.

1) a) The ownership status of all University of owned/managed accommodations (i.e Freehold, Leasehold and rental agreements)

b) Tax payments to local authorities for the residences (including, but not limited to council tax)

2) The rental payments to all residences owned by the . (Please provide as individual residences)

3) The interest and debt repayments (if any) on managed residences (i.e mortgage repayments)

4) The capital and current spending amounts appropriated to each residence for matters such as maintenance and improvements.

5) The total staffing costs of each residence (please include inter-residence staffing in separate calculation also)

6) Total bill payments for residences (including Insurance)

In response to part 1a of this request, the ownership status of the University’s accommodation offering is listed below.

University owned accommodation:

 Badock Hall  Churchill Hall  including Queens Road  Hiatt Baker Hall  Hiatt Baker Hall Phase 2   Durdham Hall   Manor Hall including Richmond Terrace  University Hall  The Hawthorns  Student Houses - Colston Street, Northwell House, Winkworth House, St Michaels Park, 61- 63 St Michael's Hill, 53 to 57 St Michaels Hill, 29 to 33 St Michael's Park, 121 Redland Road, 97, 69 and 71 Woodland Rd, 13, 14 Osborne Villas.

The University has Nominations Agreements in place with:

 Chantry Court  Deans Court  Woodland Court

The University has lease agreements in place with:

 Unite House  Favell  Waverley House  The Rackhay  Orchard Heights  The Courtrooms (Student Housing Co.)  Tamarillo Studios  Colston House Studios

In relation to 1b, the University paid property rates of £67,868 to the local authority during the 2014/15 University financial year. This is the amount recorded under the relevant financial charge code and may not include a payment if it was miscoded.

In response to parts 2-6, this information is held by the University but is considered to be exempt from disclosure under section 43(2) of the Freedom of Information Act where the disclosure would, or would be likely to, cause prejudice to the commercial interests of the University.

By disclosing information requested here into the public domain, this would provide the University’s external competitors in the accommodation market with useful strategic information that would give them a commercial advantage in their costing and pricing strategies, potentially to the detriment of the University if they attracted students away from University provided accommodation. If the University were to lose students to external accommodation providers, this would lead to a fall in revenue generated and the University would have to account for this shortfall from other funds. This could then have an impact on other services provided to students.

Public interest considerations

When applying this exemption, the University is required to consider the public interest in disclosure. It is accepted that there is a public interest in the transparency of the cost of provision for students against the current backdrop of rising costs for students attending University, and ensuring they are receiving value for money. The disclosure of this information could also lead to more competitive pricing in the student accommodation market.

However, as set out above, if the University’s pricing is undercut by external providers, then this would have a negative impact on the University’s income, which would have a knock on effect to other services provided to students – something that is not in the public interest.

For these reasons, it is considered that the public interest falls in favour of applying the exemption at section 43(2) of the Freedom of Information Act.