After a seven-month long campaign, 87 UCL students have been awarded £100,000 in compensation from the university after having to live in noisy, rat-infested accommodation.

The compensation was awarded by UCL's complaints panel, with each student in line for about £1,300. The amount is equivalent to about a term's rent in Campbell House West, the block in which they lived. While they lived there the students claimed their living condiions became 'unbearable', with rodent infestations and noisy demolition work keeping them up at night.

This year universities have taken on more students than ever, and in some cities this has exposed shortages of student housing. Along with struggles to house students, many universities also need to maximise the revenues they generate from their accommodation. This can create a perfect storm in some cases that leaves students stuck in inadequate accommodation. But with this week's compensation, the message is clear. If student accommodation is clearly inadequate then students should take appropriate action.

Image courtesy of Flickr, Creative Commons.