University rent strikers launch wave of building occupations across country

Rent strike groups have formed across the UK, Zoe Tidman writes

Students camp out in an occupied building on Sheffield Hallam campus (Supplied)

“We have had to escalate the rent strike to just get them in the room, really,” a Sheffield Hallam student tellsThe Independent from an occupied building on campus. 

Since the coronavirus pandemic struck, rent strike groups - made up of students withholding rent to demand concessions and commitments from universities - have formed across the UK.

And on Wednesday, students at Sheffield Hallam, Sheffield, Manchester and Nottingham universities decided to take their protest to the next level, occupying and hanging signs from campus buildings.