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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

student housing

31 replies

nixmix · 20/09/2012 17:13

is it so wrong to expect that the places that fledgling uni students rent are of a reasonable standard?you want them to stand on there own two feet but I think landlords see the word student to mean rip off city.the latest liverpool house she's sharing is a damp smelly dump,with an endless list of problems.I want to have a rant at lettings agent but i'm trying to stay out of it.I just wanted to bring her straight home.am I alone?

OP posts:
whois · 20/09/2012 17:47

Yeah actually I have to say YABU

Market forces of supply and demand you know.
Surely your DD actually viewed the property before signing the contact? That's the time to notice damp.
Old houses always have a never ending lost of priorities, she could have paid more rent and got a swanky city centre apartment!

In my third year my friends and I rented an old house with single glazing. It was damp. We didn't think it mattered too much, plus it was in the area we wanted. Lesson learnt never to rent a damp old single glazed property again...

whois · 20/09/2012 17:55

Actually, I'll qualify that response with:

If there are things in bad repair e.g roof or windows, problems with heating or water, kitchen or bathroom then YANBU

If its just a bit of a crappy house YABU

Pastabee · 20/09/2012 18:02

I empathise with how you're feeling but it's all part of the experience isn't it? YANBU but I bet your DD is happy with it.

As a student I revelled in how minging my flat was, the pizza box tower we lovingly maintained, the slugs in the bathroom, defrosting bacon in the kettle....

I'm so house proud and suburban now I wouldn't even go through the door of the flat fat chance as it's a Tesco Express now in case I came out in hives and I dare say I shall want to die on the spot when I have to drop DD off at a similar hovel but it was fun at the time.

BookFairy · 20/09/2012 18:10

Whereabouts in L'pool? It's tough. Either give the entire loan to Unite/ some other student accommodation co. or attempt to find a decent landlord/lettings agent.

puds11 · 20/09/2012 18:13

I think you are being a bit naive about the general condition of student accommodation. Trust me, the majority is shit! Last year my friends were renting a student house with a crack in the wall so big a freekin' snail came through it!

My sister lost a load of clothes and pictures to mildew when her landlord refused to treat the problem in their student flat in Leeds.

I am yet to see nice student digs at an affordable price.

exoticfruits · 20/09/2012 18:17

My parents were horrified by one of my places but it was cheap and we were happy there. Is she unhappy? Did she not view it first?

CMOTDibbler · 20/09/2012 18:17

Its part of the learning experience to balance how much it costs vs the state of the house, and to put up with it. You need to leave her to it

paperclips · 20/09/2012 18:18

YABU and YANBU.

I remember the "old days" when I was at uni, when students had grants, and lived off baked beans and mince and pasta. They didn't all wear designer clothes and drink in swanky bars (like they do in my city). Student houses were damp and cold. That was part of the "experience". Students looked round them and chose to live there. There were nicer houses but they were more expensive. My boyfriend at the time lived in some right shitholes, the fool didn't care.

Remember your DC is an adult now. She'll learn, and may be more fussy where she lives in future. Encourage her and her housemates to contact the letting agents themselves if they are unhappy, but its up to them to do that.

On the whole I would agree that there are lots of really dodgy landlords, out to make a few quid by doing as little as possible. And I DO think private rented accomodation needs to be FAR more strictly regulated.

But I have more sympathies with say, low-income families who have to rely on crappy rip-off private landlords, and are stuck in poor quality accommodation, rather than students who have far more choices and are only there during term-time and for a short while.

confusedpixie · 20/09/2012 18:22

She should go private then. Dp is a student and we got a room in a families house. Much nicer though the dad was a dick so we moved and now live in a lovely womans house with her, her partner and another lodger. Great fun, real family feel and we all look after each other. we don't pay much more than the student houses either. Spareroom.com is your friend!

spookytoo · 20/09/2012 18:22

I harrassed the letting agent for 6 months after DD left uni to get their deposit back - but I got it in the end.

larry5 · 20/09/2012 19:46

Dds house last year could best be described as a Homes under the Hammer before but it was cheap and if anything went wrong i.e the washing machine packed up - her ll sent a new one (second hand) round the next day. She also got her deposit back immediately.

Mind you she has chosen to go back into halls for her final year.

exoticfruits · 20/09/2012 20:02

I agree with CMOTDiddler. Leave it to her- she must have viewed it first. I didn't care for DS's flats, but he thought them fine. He had to fight twice to get his deposit back - another thing to leave to them.

Dozer · 20/09/2012 20:30

Ah paperclips, those were the days! I was Envy when visited a friend in edinburgh and for the same price as we paid in manchester (fab selection of big, run-down, smelly, damp houses with dribbling showers, ancient boilers and loud carpets) she had a beautiful flat with stripped wood floors, massive windows, luxury!

Loved it though.

Dozer · 20/09/2012 20:33

Another problem students might have is that if renting as a group you all have to agree on something, and there is the fear that if you are too picky and refuse the mustard floral boxroom with half-size single bed next to the bog and the main road at a rent above your budget the others will find someone else to rent with!

BananaPie · 20/09/2012 20:35

Ultimately, she's an adult and should be able to decide for herself / complain if she thinks she needs to. In my experience, students aren't all that houseproud anyway!

AlmostAGoldHipster · 20/09/2012 20:37

Living in shit holes is character building! I'm bloody fantastic :)

Trifle · 20/09/2012 20:37

'damp smelly dump'

You've just summed up the whole of liverpool !

mrsscoob · 20/09/2012 20:43

Yanbu they are taking the piss. If for instance they rent out 5 rooms at £300 per month each that is £1500 they are making for a damp infested shithole. If a house were to be rented as family accommodation they would only get £800 at most and would have to decorate and make repairs.

deste · 20/09/2012 22:04

My DD lived in a house that was awfull and cost a fortune. We asked if we could paint the living room and were told no because we would have to put it back to the original when they left. The only thing was the paper was peeling off the walls and we couldn't work out how to get back that effect when they left.

lalalonglegs · 20/09/2012 22:11

I was at uni in Liverpool - is she living off Smithdown Lane by any chance? YABU as she has chosen to live there and, iirc, having the right number of bedrooms so you can live with all your friends was the top priority when finding a house. The first place I lived in was so cold that the glass of water by my bed used to freeze some nights.

She'll know better next year - as long as it's not dangerous, it's all part of growing up.

LucieMay · 20/09/2012 22:15

I lived in some shitholes and didn't give a shit! It was a base with my mates, somewhere to rest my head in between getting pissed. I could never live like that now but I had different priorities then!

DameSaggarmakersbottomknocker · 20/09/2012 22:20

OP YANBU. It's precisely because folk think it's OK to house students in a shithole that landlords get away with it.

Noqontrol · 20/09/2012 22:33

YANBU. I don't know what it is about student housing but the majority are shite. I lived in some right shit holes. I remember going to view one, it could have been beautiful but it was so run down. Broken windows, glass all over the floor, wall paper peeling off the walls, stair banisters all broken. There wasn't any decent houses for rent where I went to uni.

CaliforniaLeaving · 21/09/2012 00:48

I talked Ds in living in the dorms for the first two years and then in the Uni apartments for the last two due to me remembering the shithole my boyfriend lived in, nasty damp and we both ended up with pneumonia when I spent a few days there. Dorms were nice clean warm in winter and came with super high speed internet included, that sold it for him Grin I don't know if I could have lift him living in a place like some of the student lived in, roaches, mice, damp. ((shudder))

CaliforniaLeaving · 21/09/2012 00:48

lift=left