Movember Photoshoot 10

We lose 60 men to suicide an hour

UNIVERSITY OF nOTTINGHAM sPORT TURNED OFF THEIR COLOUR ON ALL SOCIAL MEDIA IN SOLIDARITY to HELP RAISE AWARENESS OF MEN WITH MENTAL HEALTH CONDITIONS WHO OFTEN DESCRIBE THEIR LIFE AS FEELING DRAINED OF COLOUR.

For Mental Health Support:

- University Mental Health Advisory Serivce - 0115 7484625 - The University’s Counselling Serivce - Nottingham Nightline - 015 9514 985 - Samaritans - 116 123 - NHS 24HR Helpline in a Crisis - 0808 196 3779 - Text Shout to 85258

Impact Investigates - Letting You Down: Student Renting Horror Stories

Straight from halls or their parents’ homes, students often head into their privately-rented accommodation wideeyed, expecting a problem-free year of living. However, a very different reality sometimes awaits. In collaboration with Nottingham Student Television (NSTV) and University Radio Nottingham (URN), Impact interviewed University of Nottingham students to see whether they found their landlords and letting agencies to be offering a fair and reasonable service.

The team spoke to Marcus Blowers, now a Masters student, about his experience of renting in his second year.

“there was a rat that kept coming in”

“The main thing we had a problem with while we were there was a rat that kept coming in,” he said.

“At one point, it chewed through a wire which ended up electrocuting one of our housemates.”

Blowers then stated that more problems came after they moved out and were told to pay £600 for a professional clean, despite previously being informed this wasn’t necessary. After they queried this, further charges were demanded for issues including a broken TV - “which it wasn’t”, he claims - and pest control services. The landlords continued to pressure the students, and told them if they backed down, and paid for the services, they wouldn’t be charged any extra fees: “They threatened us”.

Blowers and his housemates contacted an Advisor at the University of Nottingham Students’ Union’s Accommodation Services and disputed the charges formally through the Deposit Protection Service (DPS). This resulted in the extra charges being dropped.

A third-year History student, Will, had similar successes with the DPS. A month before he was due to leave the property, Will said that he and his housemates came home to find the landlord and a contractor cutting through their broadband cable. When Will confronted them, they immediately denied it.

“I was like, ‘We just saw you!’” Will laughed. The issues forced them to leave the property early, after which Will and his housemates were also charged for a professional clean.

This led to further friction: “I asked for an invoice from the cleaning company, and they sent me a fake invoice. The numbers were different…and the company didn’t exist, the address was just a random residential property.”

‘Once the students threatened to take it to a tribunal, via the DPS, the letting agency backed down and they received their full deposit’

The students alleged that they also realised that the inventory they had received contained photos from the house next door, which the landlord also owned. Once the students threatened to take it to a tribunal, via the DPS, the letting agency backed down and they received their full deposit.

“the only reason they tried all this was because we were students”

“The only reason they tried all this was because we were students,” Will insisted. Matthew Kempton currently rents his eight-bedroom flat through a local letting service. Upon finalising the contract last academic year, Matthew and his housemates were excited to move into their new property. However, by September, it was clear that the letting agency was not able to provide the service promised.

Kempton and his flatmates told Impact that they experienced many issues including a broken boiler and full-to-the-brim bins that they claimed had not been emptied since 2019.

The tenants were told to report any issues they had through an online form. However, feeling they were waiting an unreasonable amount of time for resolutions, the tenants felt they could no longer rely on the form system. When new problems appeared, Kempton decided to visit the offices of the letting agency.

When the lock on their front door had broken, the tenants were unable to access their property from the outside. They had to depend on someone letting them in from the inside. They told Impact that it took them three days to get in contact with the landlord about this issue. After that, the students say the landlord contacted a locksmith, but no one ever came to fix the door. The tenants had to resolve the matter themselves using WD40 so that they could access the property.