STRUGGLING students are turning to food banks and have allegedly been threatened with interest on their rent by the University of London (UoL) management, rent strikers warned today.

Hundreds of students in UoL intercollegiate halls are officially on rent strike, withholding more than £350,000 from the institution, in protest against being used as “cash cows” during the pandemic.

Strikers claim that they have been bombarded with aggressive emails threatening vulnerable students with interest on their rent, having to pay for a full year upfront, as well as “serious and potentially long-term consequences” to creditworthiness.  

The university’s “heartless threats” have plunged many of its students into further financial and mental health difficulties, UoL Rent Strike warned.

One UoL student said: “I’m literally in tears from anxiety right now whilst attending a lecture, camera off of course, but this is so hard.”

Another said: “I can’t even attend lectures due to so much anxiety. No matter how hard I try to be positive, nothing works. 

“Losing motivation to work or write is really increasing. The future looks really bad.”

The university’s management recently asked the government for more support for students, which the activists have labelled “rank hypocrisy.”

UoL Rent Strike said in a statement: “Apart from the fact that the help mentioned goes no further than a (frankly pathetic) suggestion for interest on student debt to be waived for one year, this is a kick in the teeth for so many students who are struggling to cope.  

“They talk the talk but when it comes to directing their £42.4 million surplus towards student wellbeing, they pretend we do not exist.”

The strike action has won a rent reduction over a portion of the lockdown period, but many students who applied for the contract release that UoL put on the table said they have not heard back from the university. 

Students say they are still paying over £250 a week, equating to over £10,000 a year to study from their accommodation while online learning is in place. 

The students are demanding a 40 per cent annual rent reduction, no forced staff redundancies, proper quarantine food and mental health support and no repercussions for rent strikers.

A UoL spokesperson said: “In managing relations with residents of our fully catered intercollegiate halls, we communicate with the entire student community to offer greatest transparency.

“We are very mindful that the ongoing global pandemic is a source of anxiety and concern for many, and can categorically confirm that we have not evicted anyone for non-payment of rent.”

The spokesperson said they have offered their residents a no-cost break clause in their contract for those who wish to leave and for those returning are paying a reduced accommodation fee.

They added that the well-being of residents was the university’s top priority.