Continuation of HBAC rent reduction is justified

I would not have chosen Keble as my college were it not for the lure and promise of the HBAC. It is completely unacceptable to be expected to pay full price given the proximity of the building work. Our flat is by all intents and purposes unusable for work or studies between the hours of 7-5. These problems have only been exacerbated by the College’s handling of an admittedly difficult situation.

I appreciate what efforts the college has made thus far to lessen the 'hbac burden' but agree that the level of disturbance is still too high to justify full rent. It is unfortunate that whilst a new work-space and common-room have been provided these are unusable in the daytime and equally unfortunate that one cannot hope to catch up on a late night library session past 8am. BAM's 'de-snagging' attempts also seem entirely arbitrary (failing to fix issues i.e. a broken draw that were flagged up).

I would firstly like to express my appreciation for the porters in the lodge, always friendly and will greet you. The fact that the works on the site often begin before 8AM with significant drilling noise is frankly unacceptable and I believe against Council rules as to when construction can begin. The quad is deeply unsafe, surrounded by deep drops and unsecured barriers, as was made particularly clear during the high winds of Storm Freya, prompting an email about ‘Flying Objects’ and refraining from using the quad, our only access point and our fire escape. The ‘Yellow brick road to safety’ is patronising and not safe, with wires running underneath it often being lifted up by winds. There are several issues with snagging and desnagging. There are many cases of plugs not being fully secured to walls, and my toilet in my bathroom had only one working flush from when I moved in in October until February. It feels like facilities, the Quiet Common Room, the new Middle Common Room and the cafe, were rushed to placate the residents, with sloppy finishing work. Ultimately it feels like it was rushed so that the college could justify giving us a smaller rent reduction. Furthermore we still have limited access to the laundry and no gym. The frequent responses of you can use them on the main college site are condescending. We know we can use those but we were advertised these facilities here and many would not have chosen to live here if we realised that six months after we moved in they would still not be fully available. The temperature of the Quiet Common Room fluctuates massively between being sweltering and freezing, and the window controls do not work properly. Vast amounts of the building are simply unfinished. With white painted plywood used to replace windows or block from view other areas of the site - such as near the new MCR. We have had no site safety induction, and if the builders are expected to wear PPE like hard hats I do not understand w

I would argue that my living conditions have worsened especially in the last couple of weeks. I have been consistently awoken by workers before 6am, and am unable to be in my room due to the extreme noise past 8am.

The all day noise is unacceptable. It's impossible to stay in my room during the day without going crazy because of the drilling. Fair enough to say that I can work elsewhere, but any time I've been ill or needed to have some rest during the day because of a bad night's sleep, I've had to ask a friend to rest at their place during the day. If I can't be in my room when I'm ill, can I really call it my home? The situation is affecting my mental health, as there are cases when I need rest but I have nowhere to go. If I had known this would be the case I would never have gotten a room at HBAC, even with the reduced rent it is simply not worth it. When I complained about construction dust coming into my room, I was told that this could not have been caused by the construction, they apparently 'were not performing any activities that could cause dust'. This is simply not true, and I find it disrespectful to be treated as if I'm imagining things. The 'yellow brick road to safety' is an absolute joke, with all the trip hazards and construction work being done around and on it, I almost face planted walking there on several occasions.

I agree that in February the college has given us some more facilities compared to January, which validates a decrease of the rebate (how much is debatable). However, from February to March nothing has changed in the situation. There is still a lot of construction noise even during the weekends early morning and access to facilities like the laundrette are very limited. A lack of funds cannot be a valid reason to justify a breach of the contract.

The full range of facilities promised to graduate students in the HBAC are not yet available. Noise, snagging problems, and the continued accessibility of all members to all flats has caused significant annoyance.

thank you for your effort!

If the college agreed that a 50% rebate was fair earlier in the academic year then they must surely agree that something very similar is fair now - there has been NO reduction in noise disturbance in my experience, and a large portion of what was promised months ago is still yet to be delivered. The addition of the laundry room (with 4 machines for the whole building?! Absolutely absurd, there is always a queue) and common room, and the privilege of being able to walk through the quad (but only at the risk of getting taken out by flying objects if it’s windy) simply cannot justify the college’s rebate proposal for February, nor its stance for the coming weeks.

I am next to the old Acland House and I can feel the drill working on my wall sometimes! It is horrible to be waken up by this at 8 in the morning. The noise level is over 75db maximum.

The structure is uninhabitable during daylight hours. My allergies from airborne dust are worsening. A truly intolerable situation that is being ignored by Keble management.

I have had more disruption this month with builders in my room with no emails actually explaining the work they were planning to do when asked. I was told they would tell me and they never did. They have still not met the requirements of what was promised so I feel at minimal 50% off at least for February. March is already looking like rent reduction is also required.

I live on the third floor in room 4305 right next to construction site. The noise and dust it creates to my room are immense.

Absolute joke. No where near done. No way of justifying fully price. So much noise, dust, discomfort, embarrassment. And then the dining hall is closed at the same time? Not a chance we can pull full

The College is supposed to serve as the stewards and supporters of our welfare and yet all my welfare concerns are a result of conditions in HBAC and the College's poor communication and management of these construction works. I am an international student at Oxford for a challenging and intensive one-year course; had the College been transparent about what this living situation would be like and the delays in building completion, I would have opted to live (or even move) elsewhere. The constant hammering and drilling and severe safety and security concerns within HBAC have left me unable to get a good nights sleep or to be able to work/study from my own room. As a result, I have had to sleep off-site whenever I've had any major academic deadlines to meet and I'm very concerned about upcoming exams and end-of-term deliverables. I find it completely unacceptable that students are unable to walk safely through the 'quad', that there is no security to enter the building, there is no disability entrance available, the gym is still unaccessible/without equipment, the laundry room has limited hours and the machines are often out of order, and the construction noise is completely unbearable. The rent reduction from 50% to 20% was arbitrary given that there were no substantial improvements between January and February and I would urge the College to provide a rebate that is commensurate with the suffering experienced by tenants. If the College is indeed here for our welfare they should start acting like it.

I have great time for the staff at the porter's desk, they are really nice, kind friendly etc. It's not their fault, but there has to be some kind of reduction for the noise. I live right at the corner facing the quad and it has affected my sleep and study. There can be no debate about it and I was generally supportive of the construction workers when I came here but now I think they're taking the piss. They're working at a snails pace in that quad and I get no real feeling that they want the job to be finished quickly, efficiently and promptly. Again, we can't expect the Warden to put on a hard hat and rock out with a shovel, it's not his fault but I have strong suspicions that the construction company are drawing this whole thing out for as long as possible.

HBAC is far from complete and the current levels of noise has been negatively impacting my research and health. I also had people randomly entering my room without any prior notice atleast four times this year now. Also I am unhappy with the facilities that in no way lived up to what was promised. I subscribed to living in HBAC under the grand promises made by the college and it is unacceptable that the site is not ready even after five months since I was asked to move in. I find 20% of rent reduction to be completely unacceptable.

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My bike has been stolen from the front of the material science building (D-lock broken up) and I consider this as a direct consequence of the missing level of security due to the missing bike racks we were promised. I do not agree to pay 100% rent which should also include 100% of the level of security we were promised when this is clearly not given yet. I also do not consider the option to park the bikes at the college main site as an adequate alternative as it is very inconvenient especially when coming from groceries shopping or having a gym bag etc.

I would have never moved in if I knew I would be living in a construction site for half a year. College's tone towards us is completely unacceptable.