Housing Horror Stories (and how to avoid being in one)
We all have our favourite horror stories when it comes to student digs, but it’s not as funny when you’re the one living there, and in 2019 it just shouldn’t be happening.
We asked for some of your housing horror stories, and the responses we got were shocking:
“My number one top tip for students choosing homes is no matter how you feel- make sure you take a good look around the house, don’t just stand at the doorway. Make sure you look on the walls, in the corners, at the ceilings, even if you make it look like you’re looking at storage space when really you’re trying to take a closer look in the corner of the room. Take your time picking a place, there are still houses available after Christmas so don’t let anyone rush you in to picking there and then — you’re the customer therefore they can wait for you.”
“We panicked and got our house because we thought we were running out of time, we didn’t research the company at all. When we moved in there were used condoms down the back of beds, broken glass and filth everywhere- even though it had been “professionally cleaned”. We also had a rat and mouse infestation which pest control said they were reluctant to leave us there because it was so unhygienic and dangerous.”
“We were assured when signing that all furniture would be in before we moved in (there was even a signed contract saying this) as well as it being cleaned and wifi would be installed within a week. When moving in, we found that we were still missing furniture, and did not get a sofa till 6 weeks after we had moved in, despite us having an agreed contract. The place had not been cleaned either. I ended up moving back home and commuting to uni instead.”
“We had to wake up in the morning to fresh trails of slug slime and check whenever we went to our kitchen whether we were treading on any slugs. We also had a leak in the roof (in my housemate’s bedroom) that leaked onto a plug socket and cut the fuse out. We rebooted the fuse but again it took about a month or more for them to fix the leak. When we moved in as well, we were told we couldn’t do anything to the doors or walls, but almost all of our doors had holes in them due to previous lock/handle fixtures being taken out, and the holes not being repaired, therefore we didn’t have any privacy and had to resort to sticking bits of paper over the holes.”
“Our landlord’s actual MOTHER used to turn up unannounced and empty our bins, regardless of how full they were. And then complain about ‘having’ to do it.”
“A landlord once tried to keep our deposit because he said we’d “been sitting on the sofa.”
Whether you’ve had a nightmare or a great time in your house, have your say so other students know about it by adding your experience to Rate Your Landlord.
