Manchester Metropolitan University students will pay £39 per week less next year for Brook Hall than current University of Manchester tenants paying £205pw.
It is unclear as to why the rents for Manchester Metropolitan (MMU) students will be cheaper than the current price being paid by University of Manchester (UoM) affiliated residents.
This steep reduction comes as students living in Brook Hall continue to petition for lower rent costs.
UoM tenants of Brook Hall started a petition in January 2025, with 265 signatures at the time of writing, to reduce the “unnecessary” and “unfair” current rent prices due to low-quality housing conditions.
The Mancunion previously covered the poor quality of Brook Hall accommodation with complaints of mould, mice and cracked walls being reported.
Rooms at Unite Students ‘Brook Hall’ cost £205pw for 2024-25. During this period leases have exclusively been given to the University of Manchester (UoM), according to screenshots from October 2024.
Unite Students webpage on Brook Hall now states “Exclusively for Manchester Met Students”.
Additionally, it says “Brook Hall has 438 rooms reserved exclusively” for Manchester Met. The same section, in October 2024, reflected the current lease holder “starting a degree at the University of Manchester? Brook Hall has 438 rooms reserved exclusively”.
MMU’s website now reflects next year’s prices, with rooms between £166 and £174 per week. This year's rooms cost between £205 and £215 per week.
Students, on a 44 week contract, renting the cheapest rooms will pay £7,304 across the 2025-26 academic year. This is £1,716 less than the current £9,020 being paid by UoM occupants in the same rooms.
One of the complaints made by current Brook Hall students is that some of them were quoted £181pw for rent across the 2024-25 year.
If this had been the actual price, this is still a £15 increase from next year's MMU pricing.
When asked about this price change, a Unite Students spokesperson said:
“We charge universities an annual price, usually in multi-year agreements, and they set the rents for students at a level they choose, which may differ between institutions”.
“Beyond that, we can’t comment on behalf of the landlord, The University of Manchester, or provide information on confidential agreements with our university partners”.
When asked about the reason for the reduced cost given by MMU, The Mancunion was told that they could not comment.
A spokesperson for MMU said they would direct our questions to Unite for a response as they are unable to give information related to rental agreements.
Commenting on the next academic year, a spokesperson for the University of Manchester said "UNITE chose not to offer Brook Hall to the University for 2025-26 and instead offered it to MMU".
Discussing the ongoing situation, Elspeth, who originally started the petition, explained that current Brook Hall occupants "tried to fight for our own rent prices to be altered, yet [have] been given the response that our prices were justifiable".
Commenting on the new pricing she said "I am pleased for the residents next year" but also stated that this years' residents "feel let down by the price drop, considering we have had to pay so much".
Elspeth, a first-year student, received an email from Unite Students on 19 March outlining how "pricing decisions" were made.
“Under these agreements, universities set the rent students pay in different ways - some add an administrative fee, others pass on the cost at the same rate, and some subsidise accommodation to offer lower prices”.
A Students’ Union Officer told The Mancunion that they recognise that “the housing situation in Manchester” means “£166 is considered eye-wateringly cheap, when it isn’t. This is dramatically lower than they are currently renting them out for but even still that itself is not affordable”.
Echoing this statement, a member of the Manchester Student Renters Union said: "£166 a week is still unaffordable for most working-class students".
A University of Manchester spokesperson said:
“The University has, for a number years, leased the bedrooms at Brook Hall from UNITE, student accommodation provider, and then rented them out to our students. UNITE is also responsible for Brook Hall’s maintenance. Where there are maintenance issues raised by our students, as in this case, the University liaises with the UNITE Hall Managers to seek appropriate and timely resolution.
To cover the costs of managing the allocation and related processes, and the provision of the in house Residential Life support, the University would typically add a small percentage onto the lease costs when setting the student rents, while making every effort to keep the rent reasonable. The imperative to maintain reasonable rents, together with the increasing net cost of the lease at Brook Hall has in recent years meant that this addition has reduced, until eventually for 2024-25 the rent charged to residents is the same as the costs of leasing the bedrooms from UNITE”.
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