In West Chester, off-campus student housing is in high demand, and student renters regularly report neglectful landlords.
According to Business Insider, West Chester University of Pennsylvania is currently ranked seventh highest in American universities for the highest rate above market value on off-campus housing. The average rent equates to $2,292 per unit, with an inflation rate of 46.8 percent, falling just below University of Miami at 47 percent.
The rate of inflation is likely due to the short supply of student housing. According to the West Chester Borough’s official website, the total population is 18,041 people. While this may indicate a vast amount of housing for Borough residents, only about 35 percent of residents are college-aged students. This means that only about one-third of available housing in the Borough is reserved for students and less than half of the university’s population is capable of living off-campus.
There are rules regarding student zoning put forth by the Borough’s ordinance laws, however, that allow students to live in non-student housing. According to Sandra Jones, Director of Off Campus and Commuter Services, when a student lives alone, student housing regulations do not apply. In addition, as long as the majority of renters are non-students, then students are allowed to live in rentals not zoned for students as well.
Since student zoning has been halted and no new properties are allowed to become rentable by students, there is no foreseeable increase in availability. “They’re not going to be zoning anymore student properties,” Jones said. “Somebody had gone to one of the state legislators and said how can you restrict based on being a student? You can’t restrict based on race, religion, or anything else. So how can you do that for a student? They asked one of the state representatives to introduce a bill. It just kind of died a natural death. It never went any place.”
While this challenge to zoning that did not progress was proposed in 2015, student housing was originally limited for the first time in 2001 and then again in 2012. According to a report by the Daily Local, “under the Fair Housing Act, students are not considered a protected class of citizens, so council may restrict housing available to them.”
Within the same article, State Representative Sue Helm shares, “Our goal is to end the possibility of there being any discrimination against students when they are looking for a place to live while attending classes in college communities across the Commonwealth. Students should not be discriminated against simply because they are students.”
Jones shares that one way to prevent potential discrimination and differential treatment is to consult WCU’s resident attorney. “Before you sign your lease if you don’t have anybody to look at it have him or her look at it. If you have a problem about the rental or don’t know your rights (as a tenant) make an appointment to see the attorney.” This legal service is free for students and is funded by OCCA, RHA, and graduate studies.
“I tell students that in any profession there are positive and negatives … sometimes there are property owners that may not be as supportive … I try and educate students to be aware of those before [they] really make a legal commitment,” said Jones.
Julianna is a fourth-year student majoring in English writings and minoring in psychology and journalism. JE848886@wcupa.edu
Ferris and Aidan are WCU students.
This school/community robs these kids (thank god only 1 of my 4 chose WC) for 4 years & sends them out into the world broke & in debt that is so ridiculously high it seems hopeless. WCU, the school police, WC police & these landlords that don’t give a damn about these kids should be ashamed of themselves. The almighty dollar rules all and that is evident at WCU.
Agree! My one daughter is at Bloomsburg and now I have a daughter at WCU. She was interested in living off-campus but the rent is outrageous and there is very little out there. You can rent a house in the borough for less than they are expecting a student to pay for a 1-2 bedroom apartment. WCU needs to build more dorms on campus so these kids have places to live.
Agree! My one daughter is at Bloomsburg and now I have a daughter at WCU. She was interested in living off-campus but the rent is outrageous and there is very little out there. You can rent a house in the borough for less than they are expecting a student to pay for a 1-2 bedroom apartment. WCU needs to build more dorms on campus so these kids have places to live.