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EVP Chris Neal, shown at an Undergraduate Students Association meeting early this summer, is the council’s representative to the outside world.

When she first moved in a year ago, Erica Sutherland’s apartment manager told her she would probably spend the rest of her time at UCLA in that building.

But this week Sutherland, a third-year sociology student, is packing moving boxes, frustrated by the university’s recent purchase of the building.

The Westwood Palms building, located at 475 Gayley, was purchased in December as part of the Housing Department’s ongoing goal to increase the amount of off-campus housing for students.

The university currently owns six off-campus buildings for undergraduates and faculty, and is aiming to obtain approximately 5,000 additional bed spaces by the end of the decade, according to housing director Michael Foraker.

“We are aggressively looking for ways to add that number of additional bed spaces to our current inventory,” Foraker said. “We are always available to talk with owners about the possibilities of our buying buildings from them.”

While the purchase of new buildings, including Westwood Palms, may benefit future students seeking university housing, many of the current tenants felt displaced by the change in ownership.

“Our former lease didn’t have nearly as many rules,” Sutherland said. “(UCLA) can’t just buy a building halfway through the year and expect us to sign their lease or follow its rules.”

The tenants were notified of the change of ownership and were asked to sign a university contract if they wished to remain on beyond the terms of their original contract, Foraker said.

Once the school takes ownership of a property, university rules go into effect, even if students do not sign a university contract.

“We are very concerned about students living on our properties being able to study and be successful with their academic endeavors,” Foraker said. “We try to maintain environments conducive to academic success in these units.”

Despite additional rules, students benefit from better maintenance and lower rent, said apartment coordinator Josh Osborne, a fourth-year English student.

In addition, University apartment units are fully furnished and upgraded to meet university standards, said University Apartments North manager Russel Davis.

“We want to make sure that we continue to provide some good quality apartments,” Davis said.

Students seeking lower rent and an alternative to standard off-campus apartments can also live in university cooperative housing.

The co-ops, which include two buildings located on Landfair Avenue and one on Ophir, offer even cheaper rent and a greater sense of community, something that can be difficult to find after life in the dorms.

“It’s like a little community,” said graduate-student Marie Enright. “It’s great because we have lower rent and it forces you to meet other people.”

The co-op is able to offer lower rent by requiring each resident to complete four volunteer hours for the building each week, which range from food service to building maintenance.

The co-op units are also furnished, and residents are provided with 19 cafeteria-style meals per week.

Along with meal-time interaction, the co-ops provide social events committees to organize activities for the building.

“Students have more involvement in the activities – they make the rules and policies,” said Arusha Weerafinghe, executive director of the co-op. “There is a certain comfort zone here because you meet so many people and you can depend on them for help.”