St Edmund’s College has spent £106,000 on the conversion of Benet House, which used to house student accommodation, into lodgings for the master and spaces for the College to host VIPs.

The money for the development was raised from donations “for improvements to the College estate and improving the student experience provision,” according to St Edmund’s accounts.

Before the development, Benet House contained seven student bedrooms, a number of offices, and the College’s SCR. It now contains the master’s accommodation and office, as well as three hospitality rooms and two VIP guest rooms, which are intended for development activities, Varsity understands.

According to a video posted on the College’s YouTube channel, the development office is responsible for alumni relations and fundraising.

The College’s total donation income in the last financial year was £543 000, almost 20% of which went on the Benet House project.

The loss of seven student rooms to the development has been offset by the college’s recovery of the two bedroom flat which previously served as the master’s accommodation.

St Edmund’s has previously come under fire for prioritising corporate guests over students, after medics were moved out of their rooms during exams in order to house conference attendees in 2023.

Addressing student concerns, the College justified the move by claiming the costs of their “services and infrastructure” often exceed their income. They went on to state that to maintain a “sustainable budget”, it had to use accommodation over the summer months to generate income by hosting summer schools and conferences.

This decision was slammed several medicine students at the time, with one claiming that this impacted their “ability to study and stress levels” in the crucial exam period.

The college also reclaimed 44 rooms which it had previously sublet to Darwin College, and 72 rooms from Lucy Cavendish College.

A spokesperson for St Edmund’s College said: “The College receives philanthropic donations for a range of projects and initiatives including estate development. The redevelopment of Benet House was paid for in part by restricted donations from the College’s Estate Development Fund and pre-existing maintenance budget.”

“Benet House provides essential accommodation for the Master and new rooms for development activities. This development was timed to coincide with over 100 new bedrooms becoming available to St Edmund’s students,” they continued.