Beware!!! (Accommodation)

Member Name: drown_doll

Product:	Accommodation
Date:	08/12/03 (48 review reads)
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As a student at the University of Hull, I have lived in three different places. The first was the Lawns ? the student halls of residence. The second was a shared student house and the third is a student flat which I share with my boyfriend. I am telling you about my experiences in the last two in the hope that people won?t make the same mistake as we did!!!

So, the student house?yes, we rented it from APS (now known as Club Easy, on Cottingham Road) for £36 a week ? cheap, but good value? I don?t think so. The house was empty when we first looked round ? should really have triggered a warning in my brain I guess. The second time we looked round (after we had already signed ? my parents wanted to see it!) ? there were about 7 asylum seekers living in it. It had been immaculate with very few faults, but now there were holes in the walls, the settees, all of the furniture and fittings basically?and it was absolutely filthy.

So, we moved in two months after the other guys moved out. The cleaners has ?supposedly? been in to clean up, but I think the fact that several of us found disturbing things in our rooms meant that they either hadn?t been or that they hadn?t done a very good job. I had a mouldy mug in my room with cigarette butts, someone else had a waxy ear syringe and someone else a knife and a pair of socks!!!

The kitchen cupboards were absolutely filthy and the cleaners came to re-do them whilst we were there. They still didn?t take the grime off them and we went on to clean them properly ourselves.

So?was that it? No?there were so many problems it?s impossible to list them all. To mention a few though:

Slugs and snails in the kitchen and bathroom

Fire leaking carbon-monoxide (the detector went black ? they said it was our fault for putting it directly above the fire?as the instructions said!?!)

A broken back door that leaked constantly (and that eventually was what was used to get into t
he house and burgle everything)


I won?t go on because I?d only end up boring you?but the moral of the story is, shop around and make sure that the agency is recommended to you!!!


Well, what about the second student abode then? Well, second time lucky we hoped. This time we rent a flat from Longman Jones (bright green one on Newland Avenue) for £40 a week. Ok, so it?s over a small amusement arcade, but it was very quite when we looked round and when we moved in to be honest.

So what changed? Now the noise is completely unbearable. You can hear every word of the music that they play and when they do their raffle thingy over a microphone it is impossible to study. I have complained several times and nothing has been done. Now Environmental Health has taken over ? investigation started, hope for a result soon!
Is the noise the only problem? No!!! We had numerous problems with the flat when we first moved in ? one of the main ones was that it needed decorating. Wallpaper was peeling off the walls and there was damp. They came and did two walls ? the rest? They had apparently been told that they were not allowed to spend any more money on this property ? it looks as though if we have a problem now, nothing will be done about it.

Another problem, which may seem rather ?trivial? to them, is that the entrance to the flat is outside, and therefore the letterbox is too. The mail is posted through and often lands in big puddles ? apparently it is our responsibility to buy something to put over the top. The grill knob has fallen off and it is impossible to use anything other than high or very high. That too isn?t serious enough to warrant fixing.

So, again?make sure that before you move into any accommodation that you check out the landlord and make sure that they have a good reputation! And don?t rush into anything ? you might fall out with your friends before it?s moving in time, and that?s hell!!!


Happy house hunting people! Xxx


Thanks for reading ? I hope that you got something from this op.

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