Dear Student,
We have received many queries about SMU student accommodation at SouthPoint. We think it is prudent to keep you updated on developments in terms of your stay at SouthPoint for the 2021 academic year, as well as address communications that are currently circulating on WhatsApp that make reference to the meeting that took place with University management and students who reside with SouthPoint.
To provide you with more context and the latest updates:
1. For the 2021 academic year, SouthPoint has continuously revised and adjusted its pricing structures, transparently operating in good faith throughout the pricing negotiations.
2. Since our very first submission, we have tabled a series of offers that we always believed were fair and competitively-driven market rates, culminating in our latest proposal.
3. Our latest proposal, submitted on the morning of 25 March (before the meeting held later that day) is substantially lower than the amount that has been publically circulated by SMU through its minutes released on 1 April. Our proposal was some 10% lower than the next-lowest offer on SMU’s publically-communicated accommodation list.
4. A termination letter was issued on 24 March 2021; this was as much a surprise to SouthPoint as it was to students. This is due to the fact that we were (and are) still in talks with the University on pricing structures, and our negotiations have not been concluded.
5. We have enjoyed a strong partnership with SMU as a service provider in offering off-campus student accommodation over the past 12 years and we would very much like to continue with this relationship for the benefit of all stakeholders – SMU, students and SouthPoint.
6. We will continue with our engagements with the University.
7. Students who are living at SouthPoint are more than welcome to stay with us as we continue our engagements with the University.
As we start the 2021 academic year, our mission – as always – remains to provide an environment that is conducive to both living and learning, while also providing our clients with the best-possible residential opportunity to adjust to new ways of learning. We will endeavour to keep you up to date and, in the meantime, wish you a successful and healthy start to the 2021 academic year.
If you have any queries, feel free reach out; email us on admin@staysouthpoint.co.za
Kind regards,
South Point Management Services
