October 18, 2022 5.24 pm This story is over 27 months old

University of Lincoln paying out £250k to students forced out flats due to fire safety

Some 500 students need to find new digs within days

By Local Democracy Reporter

The University of Lincoln will pay out around £250,000 to students who are being moved out of The Gateway student accommodation, after fire safety concerns forced the 500 residents out.

The Gateway on Ruston Way was subject to a fire safety assessment which flagged up numerous issues with the building – including the need for improvements in fire prevention in stairwells.

All residential tenants at The Gateway need to relocate by Friday, October 28, with works expected to last several months. It leaves some 500 students without living accommodation in the city.

This means that it is highly unlikely for any of the students who moved into the accommodation to be able to move back there this academic year – and the university will be assisting by helping to find alternative living quarters elsewhere in the city.

Each student affected by this will be given a £500 one-off payment as an apology for the inconvenience – and with up to 500 residents at The Gateway, this equates to approximately a £250,000 bill for the university to foot.

| Photo: Ellis Karran for The Lincolnite

The university says it “acted immediately” to ask students to leave upon receiving the findings to Tri Fire Ltd’s report, and did so in the best interests of the residents.

It has now been revealed that this survey was commissioned by the University of Lincoln back in July, with the findings returned to the university on October 10.

Upon recommendation from Lincolnshire Fire & Rescue, the university made the call to arrange new accommodation for the students in order to allow workers to complete the fire safety improvements without disruption.

Students cannot be guaranteed like-for-like accommodation, but if their new residence has a differing cost to that of The Gateway, the university says it will offer students the chance to pay the cheaper price.

The Gateway is leased by the University of Lincoln and has been since 2020, but is owned by a private landlord, Lincolnshire Assets Limited, registered in Jersey.

Commenters on the original story published by The Lincolnite on Monday asked questions of how it has taken so long for these issues to make themselves known, given that The Gateway was completed back in 2015.

Carl Douglas said: “Opened in 2015 so did the stairs suddenly become dangerous or the threat go undetected for all this time?”

James Pearson-Green echoed this, commenting: “Considering how long that building has been there, how has it taken so long to realise the fundamental faults?”

Tom Martin took issue with the compensation fee given to students, saying: “The accommodation costs £150 a week and isn’t safe to live in, and people get two weeks notice to move out and they only offer £500 in compensation! Less than one month rent.”