Delayed Opening for UCL East Accommodation
UCL East campus
In 2019, UCL began the construction of the new UCL East campus in Stratford. The first of two buildings providing student accommodation, One Pool Street, was set to open this September.
Many UCL students moved into halls on 24th September. Yet, with only a two days notice, the ones allocated to One Pool Street were told via email that the accommodation was not ready.
Commenting on the situation, a UCL spokesperson explained: “UCL East, [which] has been underway for eight years, is currently on budget and close to being opened. Due to supply chain challenges, there have been some late-stage technical issues, which have led to a slight delay in One Pool Street being handed over.”
As a result, UCL has arranged alternative temporary accomodation for the affected students at no extra cost. Around half of the students are currently staying in various hotels while the other half are in John Dodgson, a UCL accommodation in King’s Cross.
Some of the hotels are in Stratford, but students are also placed in hotels in various other locations in London. One such student, staying in the the Raddison Bleu hotel on Mercer Street, said: “I personally quite like it because it’s just nice being so central as opposed to in Stratford and I get on with everyone in my hotel.” A different student shared a similar outlook, expressing: “I’m closer to campus right now than I would be in [One Pool Street], but it would be nice to move in and get used to my new living space.”
Several students have shared their concerns on the temporary living arrangements. As one student communicated: “We’ve had to bring all our stuff into hotel rooms or our parents [have to] bring our stuff when we eventually move, but UCL have said they will cover any costs.” Additionally, it was disclosed that “some people were less impressed with being put in John Dodgson,” considered “kind of outdated.”
In explaining how the accommodation delay has affected their experience, another student expressed: “Honestly, I think it’s just a different experience because everyone I know got to know their flatmates during freshers, and we’re going to meet ours like 2 months in.” This seems to be a common concern, as a third student also highlighted the negative implications of the fact that they hadn’t yet met their flatmates for the rest of the year. Another particular problem also identified by students in hotels were difficulties in doing laundry. However, they were able to use John Dodgson’s facilities.
Overall, student sentiment is mixed: “We’re frustrated that this happened and confused why our accommodation has been delayed so much. As freshers, university is new and stressful and this just adds something else to think about. We’re frustrated that we can’t move in and properly settle into uni life, but we are reasonably pleased with how UCL has made other arrangements for us at no extra cost.” Another student shared this ambivalence, outlining that while they were happy with the hotel in general, they found it “kind of annoying how vague UCL has been.” A third student stated: “the situation isn’t ideal, but UCL has been very good with compensating for the extra money spent on getting food out and getting laundry done.”
In discussing adjustments, a UCL spokesperson stated: “We have apologised to all students who are affected, are providing them with regular updates, and we have put in place a number of measures to ensure they have additional support.”
Said measures include the implementation of free group suppers to give students the chance to socialise and get to know the people they will be living with, a collaborative effort with the Students’ Union to organise social events and activities, and a coordination with Student Support and Wellbeing to offer all affected students optional wellbeing sessions and individual phone calls.
Affected students initially were told the delay would be 1-2 weeks, but in early October learned that the hotels had been booked until early November. Commenting on the timeline, UCL indicated that students will be staying in these alternative accommodations “for the first half of this term.”
For further advice and support students can email one.pool.street@ucl.ac.uk or call +44 (0)20 7837 8419.