To be disgusted with my DD uni accommodation, pics included?

[DumpedByText]

My DD has moved four hours away to her uni accommodation today.

We got in her room and it was filthy, there is a huge burn mark in the middle of the carpet where someone has put a hot pan down. The desk has a burnt circle so has the windowsill. There is mould all around the window that won't come off.

The toilet seat is falling off, there was a leak under the bathroom sink. Cobwebs everywhere and she has no wardrobe. It's a cupboard with a hanging rail on wheels.

The kitchen had rotten food in the fridge and freezer. The oven had thick grease as did all the cupboards. One mum had already scrubbed that by the time we got there. I've scrubbed the rest of the kitchen. Water from the sink drainer pours into the cupboard underneath to.

So am I expecting too much? What can be done, if anything about the burn marks and mould.

I've had to buy more storage as there were no shelves due to no wardrobe, the other rooms have half hanging and shelves and this is supposed to be a premium plus room!

There is no room for a wardrobe either and she doesn't want to move flats.

She's cried and cried as she wasn't fussed on going anyway so this has made it worse and she doesn't want to stay.

Can I insist they sort it, and what would you do?

Why are you getting so involved? Dropped my daughter off yesterday. She highlighted some things that were a problem. I said there’s the information on the app to report them. We took her for lunch and waved goodbye. The end.

Part of transitioning to university is learning to sort your own problems!

I agree with this.

How disgusting to find it dirty!

There's a minimum standard student accomodation should have including storage, talk to the person responsible for student accomodation at the uni. Complain, complain and complain more until it's resolved.

Burn marks might be unsightly but not a huge issue, though landlords replace carpets etc if damaged and treated mould (well when I was at and estate agency they did anyway).

It sounds like the property manager is failing to supervise cleaners etc.

I hope it gets resolved quickly.

Yes but this doesn't happen overnight. The whole experience of moving to uni is scary enough for some young people, so it's normal to help to get them settled in.

@TheGrimSmileno it doesn’t. We’ve taught her to be independent since she was a young child. That’s the difference I’m afraid.Some of these 18 year olds can’t even cook or do their laundry by the time they leave home!

God I’m so weary of this unkind only-on-MN attitude of just dump your child as soon as they turn 18 and let them sink or swim.

It’s perfectly normal, functional parenting to want to support your young adult children during significant and unfamiliar life transitions like moving out of home. And assist them in handling any bumps along the way.

This sounds crap for what you are likely to be paying for uni accommodation OP. I would photograph absolutely everything and help your dd write an email to whoever manages the halls laying out all the issues in categories suggested by pp. First of all the essential maintenance issues they need to fix - leaking sinks, broken toilet seat etc. Then also list the cleaning and cosmetic issues with the supporting photos, so they can’t come back at the end of the year and blame your dd for causing them.

I’d email rather than see them in person - it’s always better to have a written, dated record of this type of thing, and if my experience with my kids’ unis is anything to go by it needs to come from your dd as they won’t respond to you, even if you are the one paying the bills.

Do you not understand that some kids find things like moving away from home, handling confrontations, social interactions in general easier than others. For various reasons including personality and neurology that are nothing to do with good parenting. Some kids just need more scaffolding around transitions of all types.

Yours apparently didn’t. Great. Maybe be grateful rather than smugly congratulating yourself on your awesome parenting?

FWIW I had one son who waltzed off to the other end of the country without a backward glance, managed everything on his own and has thrived. And one who has struggled significantly and needed lots of support. Both had exactly the same parenting but very different outcomes.

You’re paying a lot of money it should be clean. When I was in halls they were clean when we moved in. They were cleaned every term, there was an additional charge for those who left their rooms flithy
Nothing should leak and the mould should have been dealt with. I’d be complaining on Monday

They are given the tools to report these things themselves. It’s a bloody app. It couldn’t be simpler. You don’t need to start creating posts on Mumsnet. Just help the poor darling to upload the app!

I used to clean student accommodation as my uni summer job. There was a team of students and a local woman would oversee and check and sign off each unit when we’d finished. We used to drag the ovens outside and spend the day spraying and scrubbing!

The contracted cleaners have failed if they’ve left food, dirty ovens etc so you need to feed back with a list. Then they can use it to argue any cleaning fees that are added when they leave.

Inexcusable , I speak as someone who rents out my former home . My son is going to uni today and I would not find this acceptable neither should the university when students are paying expensive rent.

It sounds like you have made the best of a bit of a grotty room.

Is the window definitely mouldy or is the trim worn away? Report the leak and the windows. Also report the burns so there is a record that was there when your DD moved in bit don’t expect them to do much about that as it’s ’only’ cosmetic and they would need to change carpets etc…Halls are expensive and abt well-run university will want to maintain this housing stock. It’s 25 years since I was at university and the halls were a bit basic but everything worked; there were no leaks or mould and it was clean when I moved in!

On a side note, I don’t know what her lighting is like but I remember the lighting was awful in my first year room so I bought another lamp and a better cheap shade for the main light. Made a massive difference.

Hope it gets better for your DD and she settles in.

I’ve put two through university, one in the NE and one in the cheaper accommodation in Leeds, neither were posh, purpose built student accommodation so the rings and burns wouldn’t bother me, but dirt and leftover food is completely inexcusable.

Hope your daughter settles in OK. I won’t mention the mice that DS lived with in second year that ran through the bedrooms and kitchen

Great post!

Our halls were a dump. We quickly learned to love them. It's character building! The leak needs to be fixed though.

No wardrobe, rotting food, mould and a leak is just not good enough. I’m not surprised your dd was upset.

My uni hall room was similar 20 years ago - the carpet used to grow mould in the colder months. Ahh memories

My daughter went to Oxford and her accommodation looked beautiful from the outside. From the inside though it was disgusting. Old food on the floor, mould inside. Leaking sink etc etc. there was nothing they were going to do, the rooms were all like that. As they were when I went to uni in the 90s.

When I went into Halls the mattress was disgusting, stains all over it. I complained and they replaced it with a brand new one that day. My shower was blocked to the point it overflowed, the amount of hair I pulled out made me heave. One fridge didn't work, they replaced it the next day.

This was the most expensive and newest halls on the campus too.

A minimum they should be clean, mould free and with curtains that work. Also no previous tenants stuff should be in there.

If I was your daughter I'd be complaining.

My DD’s recommended a dehumidifier so I’m not holding out too much hope.

Poor girl, why is she even going to a university 4 hours away if she doesn't really want to?
I would not have left mine there. But then I would not have encouraged them to go there in the first place.

It will almost certainly be privately owned and managed halls. That's the way things have gone, encouraged by government policy, and so 'the uni' can do very little. The private companies are also generally money grabbing tossers who will do the minimum they can get away with. Read the contract and complain quickly. Go to the student union or student advice centre for help if the company is resistant. I knew a student who got results from speaking to the local paper about a really bad case of problems.

Agree ! My children all moved into Halls at Nottingham,Lancaster and Leeds ,all immaculate. Made a huge difference with settling in and focusing on positive energy rather than being distracted why grim surroundings.
Contact the Uni accommodation office asap .

Ooh. Close call, but the parents of an Economics student took the final leg of the Great Parenting Race. You lost valuable time with that lunch. Her parents handed her a flint and a bow and arrow and dropped her on the hard shoulder ten miles from home.

Put pictures of everything in an email and CC yourself in. When I was in uni they tried to charge me for damage that was there when I moved in and they withheld my results until I paid. I hadn’t documented it at all so couldn’t prove it so had to pay about £700 for damages.