UBC will no longer allow students in year-round housing to sublet their rooms during the Winter Session, starting September 1.
Previously, students who went on co-op or exchange terms could sublet their rooms to other full-time UBC students. Now, UBC is recommending students cancel their housing contracts and move out, with UBC guaranteeing them a space in residence upon their return, though not necessarily in the same room or residence. Students are still allowed to sublet their units during the summer.
In a statement to The Ubyssey, Andrew Parr, UBC’s associate vice-president of Student Housing and Community Services, said the policy change aims to protect students from scams and ensure that vacated spaces are given to students on the waitlist rather than being rented out at inflated rates.
“UBC is the only institution in Canada that we know of that allows subletting,” wrote Parr. “We allow it to help student residents offset some of their housing costs when they don’t require their unit for a short period of time. However, in recent years, we’ve seen a growing number of sublet scams, unauthorized and overpriced sublets targeting students.”
While, Parr acknowledged students may not receive the same unit, room type or residence they originally had, he said they “will make every effort” to place students back in the same residence and room type.
“The relatively small number of student residents who go away each year on exchange or co-op, and the natural turnover of rooms we see during the year, make it manageable to guarantee them a space in housing, provided they follow the appropriate steps to be able to return,” added Parr. “It also frees students going away on exchange or co-op from the burden of finding and managing a sublet.”
When asked if UBC considered having a centralized subletting system or a lottery for sublets, Parr said running a sublet operation in addition to existing responsibilities housing staff work on each day is not feasible.
“Establishing new positions to do this work would come at a cost that would have to be covered through higher rents. As mentioned, we will make every effort to place students back into the same residence and room type, as we recognize they may have waited some time to get that room type initially,” said Parr.
“We’re confident given the small number of students affected by this change that we will be able to meet their housing needs.”
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