         THE UNIVERSITY of EDINBURGH  Records Management Section

The University of Edinburgh
Old College

South Bridge
Edinburgh EH8 9YL

Direct Dial       0131 651 4099

Switchboard   0131 650 1000

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xx.xx.xx
23 September 2022

www.ed.ac.uk/records-management

File ref: FOI2022/00456

J Dennis



Sent by email: request-892026-

xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx

Dear J Dennis
Freedom of Information request: FOI2022/00456
Thank you for your email of 29 August 2022 requesting information about the Principal’s
residence.
The University of Edinburgh is a global university, rooted in Scotland. We are globally
recognised for our research, development and innovation and we have provided world-
class teaching to our students for more than 430 years. We are the largest university in
Scotland and in 2020/21 our annual revenue was £1.18 bil ion, of which £324 million was
research income. We have over 45,000 students and over 16,000 staff. We are a
founding member of the UK's Russell Group of leading research universities and a
member of the League of European Research Universities.
Principal’s residence
In common with most other universities the University provides accommodation, and
covers the fuel and building maintenance costs, for its Principal and his immediate family.
The Principal is required to occupy the accommodation and does so on a representative
basis, that is, as part of his role as University Principal; the University does not provide
residential accommodation for any other senior staff. The Principal's residence is
regularly used to host University events involving University staff, students, alumni, and
supporters.
The Principal's current residence was a gift donated to the University in 2015; estimated
market value of £1,750,000. The terms of the donation were that the property be used as
the official residence of the Principal and for official functions pertaining to the Principal's
role. The property is located in central Edinburgh and comprises a four-storey mid-
terrace stone built 200-year-old building with five bedrooms, four reception rooms, and
kitchen. There is a garden to the rear.
The donation of the property was conditional on the sale of the previous residence used
by the previous Principal, and to the establishment of an endowment fund to provide
scholarships and bursaries for undergraduate students with proceeds from the sale.
University Secretary:  Ms Leigh Chalmers



The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in Scotland, with registration number SC005336

Your information request
Your request concerns the University’s property(s) on Regent Terrace, Edinburgh. This is
the University Principal’s residence.

You asked us to provide the running costs for the property paid by the University,
including but not limited to: gas/oil, electricity, gardening, internal/external cleaning,
window washing, maintenance and council tax. You asked for the costs to be broken
down into the separate items. This information for financial year 2021/22 can be found in
Table 1 below. Please note the University’s financial year runs from 1 August to 31 July.
Table 1: Expenditure on Principal’s residence, 1 August 2021 – 31 July 2022
Description
Expenditure
Investigate and repair noise/fault in water
£56.16
system
Council tax
£4,243.55
Electricity
£3,198.53
Gas
£ 2,601.29
Aga cooker service
£300.55
Joinery works repairing window sil s/sil
£4,932.62
replacement/mastic sealant
Supply and Install wireless detection
£563.15
Cleaning Costs
£1,080.00
Window cleaning
£270.00
Landscape/gardening
£665.00

You also asked for the energy consumption in kWh (kilowatt hour) for gas/oil and
electricity usage at the property, and annual summaries for each year for at least the past
five years (since 2017). The gas and electricity usage in kWh for each financial year from
2017/18 to 2021/22 is provided in Table 2 below.
Table 2: Gas and electricity usage in kWh, financial years 2017/18 to 2021/22
Financial year
Gas usage (kWh)
Electricity usage (kWh)
2017/18
75,837.8
28,523.0
2018/19
70,613.3
23,395.0
2019/20
78,188.5
16,629.0
2020/21
81,162.2
20,658.0
2021/22
82,746.5
16,021.0
Right to review
If you are dissatisfied with this response, you may ask the University to conduct a review
of this decision by contacting the University's Records Management Section in writing
(e.g. by letter or email) or in some other recorded form (e.g. audio or video tape). You
should describe the original request, explain your grounds for dissatisfaction, and include
an address for correspondence. You have 40 working days from receipt of this letter to
submit a review request. The contact details for the Records Management Section are at
the top of this letter. When the review process has been completed, if you are stil
dissatisfied, you may use the Scottish Information Commissioner’s guidance on making
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an appeal to make an appeal to the Commissioner. If you do not have access to the
Internet, please let me know and I wil provide a copy of the relevant web pages.
Privacy notice for information request applicants
The University of Edinburgh's request privacy notice, which describes how we use the
information you have supplied about yourself and your request, is published on the
University website.
Yours sincerely
Celia Jenkins
Records Management Section

If you require this letter in an alternative format, such as large print or
a coloured background, please contact the Records Management
Section on 0131 651 4099 or email xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xx.xx.xx
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