Bristol Uni has experienced disability officers so it seems odd they
haven't been able to help you resolve this issue. It seems reasonable to
argue that you shouldn't have to spend more than other students for your
room, if you have an equal expectation as non-disabled students have to
be provided with accomodation by the university but have disability-
related needs that require you to incur additional costs.
I think this raises an interesting point in that universities really need
to think about whether, under SENDA, they can charge more for adapted
rooms.
If the institution is not obliged to offer you a room (e.g. if you are a
postgraduate student and they don't claim to be able to accommodate
postgrads) then you probably can't complain.
If the institution made the cost of the flat clear to you before you
accepted an offer to study there I'm not sure how you'd stand if it went
to court. I could imagine a student taking an institution to court if
they felt the high cost of the accommodation offered to them compared to
other students constituted an unreasonable barrier to them being able to
accept an offer of a course. It might be difficult to argue this after
you've accepted the offer knowing how much the flat will cost.
Even if you had some DSA left, i'd argue that as a blind student with
high costs of support anyway you shouldn't have to worry about trying to
find DSA funds to cover extra accommodation costs
The real issue here might be that you can't claim housing benefit for
university accommodation. Is this still true? If so, it might be better
to get a local council or private flat and get housing benefit to cover
the rent.
Skill might be able to offer more advice. They're on this list but can
also be contacted telephone 0800 328 5050.
Hope this helps.
Ian Francis
On 8 Sep 2003 at 22:40, Rob Powell wrote:
> Is the hardship fund normally available to post-grad students?
>
> Rob
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Discussion list for disabled students and their support staff.
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of BRYAN JONES
> Sent: Monday, September 08, 2003 9:05 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: reasonable adjustments under DDA/Senda
>
>
> I would suggest that you speak to the disability officer or the head
> of student services. The institution could legitimately fund the
> extra cost of your accommodation by making an award to you
> through their Hardship fund. £2000 or so is what you / the
> accommodation service require, which is well within the limits of
> what individual students can be awarded through this fund.
>
> On 6 Sep 03, at 6:10, Rob Powell wrote:
>
> > Hi all,
> >
> > A question for you guys, with which I could do with some
> > advice/guidance.
> >
> > I'm a totally blind student starting at Bristol Uni in September.
> (oh
> > it's September now)!. I've got a flat, owned by the university that
> > has a garden, and is bigger than normal student accommodation,
> because
> > I have a guide dog.
> >
> > The problem is, to put it bluntly, that I can't afford the rent, but
> I
> > need the flat. The rent is £105 per week, plus bills. The cost of
> a
> > normal room in university accommodation would be about £45 including
> > bills.
> >
> > I'm not in a position to fund the extra costs of this lat from my
> DSA,
> > because I could only fund it from the general allowance, which I've
> > used for other things. The equipment allowance is also over-spent,
> > and the non-medical allowance is near it's maximum.
> >
> > My point to the university is that a reasonable adjustment to enable
> > me to study is that they give me the flat for the same price as a
> > normal room on campus, I.E. that they subsidise the flat by £60 per
> > week. I'm prepared to foot the bill for the bills, as a compromise.
> >
> > Does anyone know of any case law that would support this argument,
> any
> > other universities that have made this sort of adjustment for
> disabled
> > students, or any specific part of the SENDA/DDA codes of practice
> that
> > I could quote on this one?
> >
> > It's fair to say I think, that the university are generally
> > sympathetic to the problem, but they need a hook to hang the thing
> on.
> >
> > Thanks for any help, because I have to take a 50 week let, the
> amount
> > involved is about £3000 per annum, so it's significant.
> >
> > Rob
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>
> Bryan Jones
> Disability Support Services Manager
> Tel: 020 8411 5367
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