Rob
Apologies for not responding in any way. Skill's computer system has been down, somewhat due to the virus.
You've had some useful advice and you may have already resolved the issue in some way, but I hope the following is useful to you.
In regards to the housing benefit issue, it cannot be claimed on any university owned accommodation. The justification is supposed to be that university owned accommodation is subsidised and so should be cheaper. This may have been the case many years ago, but we don't feel it's true today. We have raised this as a Policy issue. I did some research back in 1999 on this issue and made a comparison between halls and private accommodation, which showed how in many cases halls costs were just the same and in many cases (particularly in London) halls were sometimes substantially higher in cost. (I understand that the NUS do some similar research). Skill suggested then that this regulation should change, as we agree that this is unfair on disabled students, especially those that need to live close to or on the campus due to disability, but unfortunately nothing has changed as of yet.
I hope that the university have been able to help you, or as suggested, try finding suitable private accommodation and then make a claim for housing benefit.
If you need to contact Skill you can also email off dis-forum list, direct to the Skill Information Service at [log in to unmask]
With best wishes
Dee Juneja
Information and Research Worker
Skill: National Bureau for Students with Disabilities
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-----Original Message-----
From: Rob Powell [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 11 September 2003 09:51
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: reasonable adjustments under DDA/Senda
Hi Ian,
That's probably the most balanced message I've heard. Indeed, I had
accepted the offer, knowing how much the flat would cost. As is often
the case, it's only when sobriety and the cool financial analysis of
which we social work students are famously not renouned took over,
that I realised quite how large a chunk this would take of my income,
or how much I was short per annum for the duration of the course.
I also wouldn't dream of taking anyone to court over this issue,
because I'm determined enough to do the course that it won't stop me
studdying. I'm of the opinion that the advent of the DDA has made
informal arrangements more difficult, one way in which we might have
been able to solve the problem. I wouldn't have referred to
DDA/senda, if I didn't need a hook to hang the request on. I almost
feel that when you do so, you're already in retreat.
Bristol university don't normally offer post-grad students acomodation
as of right.
I don't think students can claim housing benefit, however if anyone on
the list knows definitely, then please let me know.
Thanks for that Ian, I'll pass that on to the people at Bristol if you
don't mind, and see what the result is.
Rob
-----Original Message-----
From: Discussion list for disabled students and their support staff.
[mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Ian
Sent: Thursday, September 11, 2003 4:36 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: reasonable adjustments under DDA/Senda
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 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
> > ---
> > Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
> > Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
> > Version: 6.0.515 / Virus Database: 313 - Release Date: 01/09/03
>
>
> Bryan Jones
> Disability Support Services Manager
> Tel: 020 8411 5367
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