Student Accommodation: Dealing With Problems

Student accommodation is often touted as a safe and convenient alternative to renting privately while at university. The adverts speak of stress-free living in secure accommodation with fantastic social spaces and perks such as Wi-Fi or on-site maintenance or 24/7 reception, and accompanying pictures are invariably of an immaculate interior with color-harmonized furnishings to rival an IKEA catalogue.

And that’s all great. Wonderful. Except… what if the difference between the advert and your actual lodgings is more pronounced than even the most jaded cynic may expect? What if your self-catering student accommodation appears to come with the understanding that it be self-repairing as well?

Problems with student accommodation

There are plenty of horror stories about student accommodation around. Earlier this month, media reports about student accommodation in Washington DC featured footage of cracks in the ceiling, moldy bathrooms and broken appliances. One student complained of an air conditioning filter which was allegedly “caked in filth” and not replaced until two weeks after she’d reported it.

Over in the UK, in the north-east of England, former student Phil (last name withheld), spoke out about “grotty student digs with an eccentrically open system of wiring [and] a measure of reluctance on the part of the landlord to do any form of maintenance anywhere”. He said he woke up with “excruciating pain” in his head one morning, and discovered ice in his hair because of the cold coming in through the finger-thick gap between the window and the sill!

There are many more examples of problems with student accommodation, but you get the picture. So, what can you do about it? Here are a couple of suggestions:

Speak to the university housing officer

If your student accommodation is being provided by the university, your first point of call should be with the university housing officer – whoever is responsible for managing the accommodation.

If you’re still having trouble getting problems fixed, there are likely to be other people within the university who can help – both staff members and students. Often larger university accommodation buildings will have students elected to represent those who live there, and if this is the case then you should make use of them to help voice your concerns effectively.

In addition, you can seek advice from your student union, and also from various student support staff. Even if accommodation isn’t their main area of specialization, they should still be able to point you in the direction of someone who can help.

Contact your local authority

If your student accommodation is not managed by the university, or for some reason you haven’t been able to get anyone in the university to help, you can try contacting your local authority – the governmental organization responsible for the local area.

If you’re in UK halls of residence, you may be classified as living in a house in multiple occupation (HMO). This means the landlord has extra responsibilities, such as ensuring that communal areas and facilities are clean and in working order. And your local council has a responsibility to enforce those requirements.

Another excellent source of advice for all housing-related issues in the UK is the housing and homelessness charity, Shelter. Or try the Citizen’s Advice Bureau, or the National Union of Students.

The main point is to seek advice before doing anything too drastic, like withholding rent payments or breaking the terms of your agreement in some other way. You want to be taken seriously, not evicted.

Attract public attention

If all else has failed, try attracting more public attention. It’s difficult for landlords or university housing officers to ignore an elephant in the room when that elephant’s condition becomes worldwide news, via a television station or a Facebook page. A day after ABC7 News broadcast problems reported about George Washington University dorm rooms, it published a follow-up to report that a spokeswoman, Candace Smith from the university, had been in contact.

She said: “We are taking a look at our housing maintenance practices and how we interact with residents. It's really regrettable and we're very concerned about it.”

The GW Housing Horrors Facebook page is dedicated to exposing “blatant negligence and irresponsible housing practices.” If you click through some of the pictures, you will notice that GW Housing is responding to a lot of them with their own pictures of the various problems being fixed, so the dialogue appears to be helping.

In short, there’s no reason to suffer in silence if your student accommodation really isn’t meeting basic standards. Refuse to be a victim, and remember, if you find yourself under the dubious care of an ambivalent-at-best landlord, there are always other options.

Student halls or private accommodation – which is best? Join the forum discussion >