Horror Housing

There are so many choices when house hunting - what area of town you wish to stay in, living costs and who you want to live with. It makes renting a house one of the most important choices you will have make… at least for a year anyway. However, in all the rush to find a place within budget, did you actually get ripped off?

From previously hidden damp and undiscovered deposits of unknown origin, to serious safety issues, it doesn’t surprise us when we hear housing horror stories from our fellow students. Who, because they are stereotyped to have low standards of living, find themselves taken advantage of by some landlords who will do anything they can to save money, by providing cheap furniture and crappy appliances.

Of course, some of us are just lucky to have a landlord that sorts problems out in a flash. However, after spending some time reading numerous horror house stories online, it seems others are not so lucky.Website StudentBeans surveyed over 2000 students about university living. According to the results, 50% suffered from mould, 37% experienced animal infestation and 8% even admitted their house wasn’t even fitted with a working smoke alarm.

It seems a certain letting agency in Huddersfield, claiming to be ‘The UK’s number 1 letting agent,’ is taking students for a ride. My own personal experience with this company throughout second year didn’t go down well. Problems included a hole in the ceiling above the toilet, a broken freezer and an attempt to charge money to get my bedroom door unlocked when I hadn’t been provided a key. This experience has made me wonder how many other students are being treated unfairly.

David (not his real name) 21, from London, shared the nightmares of his current house with me, stories that other students can probably relate to in some way or another. Currently in his final year at Huddersfield University, he was lucky enough to have had no problems with his previous housing, until now. “We were almost not allowed to move in because the basement living room flooded the night before the move. The pump in the house had failed and we couldn’t use the room.” He continued: “It’s fine now but the lino for the floor wasn’t even thrown out until about a month ago. They haven’t replaced it at all. The lights in the room have all stopped working now too. Someone came along and fixed the pump but that was only just before Christmas.”

To top it all off, it isn’t just the living room that happens to be a problem. He explained: “The hallway ceiling collapsed leaving a big hole due to water damage. Someone has been to the house, screwed a board into it and plastered it so you can’t see the damage. The light in that hallway doesn’t work and the taps upstairs are all leaking too. We have no drawers in the kitchen, broken freezer drawers and no working hoover.”

David has come to the conclusion that the problem could be a lack of communication between the landlord and letting agents. With this, he added: “The letting agents have said that if the landlord hasn’t sent someone then we are supposed to call them so they can send their own contractors. So far, the landlord has done nothing. The letting agents haven’t been to look themselves apart from when they first showed us the house.”

In his second year at Uni, T’Hud editor, Kevin Lawson had his own terrible experience: “I’m a mature student so I live in Huddersfield during the summer too and in the first few days of moving into my new house, I realised there was bed bugs. I told the landlord who was good enough to replace all the beds straight away, but the problem still persisted. After a few more weeks and few hundred bites on my arms, the place had to be fumigated and I had to replace my pillows at my own cost.”

Unfortunately for Kevin and the rest of his housemates the problems didn’t end there. When winter came around, mice started appearing in the house. Again Kevin called his agents who accused the students of being dirty. “The house was pretty much spotless, so we knew it wasn’t that. In the end the problem was only resolved in the final month of our lease, and we were never offered any compensation.”

Jess, 20, is another student that had problems with the same letting agent when moving into her new home. Thankfully she is now living in a different house after going through a separate company. “When looking for a house for our final year of university, we decided it would be best to go with a reputable company. We assumed it would make finding and securing a house as easy and simple for students as possible,” she confessed.

Sadly, things spiralled downhill days before Jess and her housemates were due to move in. Like David, there were problems with money amongst the unexpected. “The letting agents took a bond and deposit from us but said we could pay the rest just before we move in. When we tried to pay the remaining amount, we were told that the house had been let to others that were already living there. We never received an email, phone call or letter that gave the slightest indication that we could not have the house.” She explained: “They refused to give me my £100 bond back as it was ‘against their policy to do so.’ I eventually got it back by contacting regional managers. I would never recommend them now.”

David’s advice is something for fellow students to take into account when house hunting. He told me: “I’d say general advice to students is to be a lot more thorough. As soon as you get into the house ask about the electrics and when they were last checked. It really does make a difference if you know what is going on in the house.”

Price, location and admin fees are all something to consider when house hunting and can make all the difference to your bank balance. If money is low, it might be better to consider a private landlord. There are no middle men involved and you don’t usually have to pay an admin fee.

If any students are having problems with landlords or letting agents they can visit the advice office based in the Student Central building at the University. Alternatively, as previously mentioned in T’HUD, there is the Legal Advice Clinic (LAC) based in the Packhorse shopping centre where students can book appointments. Most importantly when signing a tenancy agreement, always read the small print. That five minutes to read the documents can save you from a whole lot of hassle...