University of Manchester student rent strike row rumbles on - what we know as group says it will 'not stop until it wins'

A group of students who barricaded themselves inside a university building for five weeks in a protest over rent prices say they 'will not stop until they win'. The strikers have been refusing to pay their accommodation fees since January, and have this week claimed more students have joined the cause.

Demands made by the University of Manchester Rent Strike group include a 30 per cent rent reduction or rebate for this year; a rent freeze across university digs for at least three years; and that at least 40pc of university halls cost less than half of the maximum student maintenance loan within the next three years.

They also want assurance that those students who took part in the 37-day stand-off with campus security face no punishment for their actions.

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The UoM Rent Strike group claims that since January, more than 350 people have refused to pay rent and that in recent weeks, an additional 300 have also been withholding fees. A spokesperson for the university said the figures were 'wholly inaccurate'.

The rent strikers also state that due to '650' students withholding rent, the UoM is now £2m out of pocket. This is disputed.

"Participation figures quoted by this group have been consistently incorrect. They are based on people filling in an open form online and guesses about costs this incurs to the University," a UoM spokesperson said.

University bosses did confirm that as of April 21, 49 out of more than 8,000 residents had declared to the university’s credit control department that they are withholding rent as part of this campaign.

"Figures are not available for rent payments from the most recent collection – this group is making a guess," the