How depressing student house is

[topcat2014]

Just dropped DD off for year 2 in Birmingham. Between her and friends they will be paying 30k rent for a victorian terrace.

Honestly it mings.

Shitty worn out white goods.
Sticky floors. Shabby paint. Broken blinds. No shower curtains.

Dd won't care much (thankfully) but I have to earn a grand a month to leave enough to pay her rent.

(Rant over..)

We're into our 5th student house (two kids through uni). It's the best of the lot.
Numbers 1 and 3 were awful but at least they were cheap, albeit mouse-ridden and dirty.
No. 2 was ok in terms of maintenance but very overcrowded; six kids crammed into what had been a small three bed terrace, since extended.
I don't even want to talk about no.4 which cost £750pppm, was falling apart at the seams and completely riddled with damp and mould.

Landlords should be made to adhere to better standards. It’s exploitation, plain and simple. Why is it accepted as ok to treat 18-22 year olds like this? Would it be deemed ok for 88-92 year olds? Of course not. I think there’s a fair chance that the nicer places stay nicer as well. If it’s a shithole to start with, what’s the point in even trying to make it nice when mice and rats and mould will ruin your stuff within minutes?

A student property with 4 plus bedrooms in the Clifton area would be £1 million in Bristol. We definitely found there’s rock bottom properties and quite nice ones. It’s a case of getting in early and being prepared to pay more for the better ones.

@Offherrockingchair given that Awaab’s law was passed to make social landlords investigate severe mould quickly, I think it’s naive to think that only students are treated this way by landlords

That's a fair bit less than my DD is paying (or rather I'm paying) for her flat - also five of them, though to be fair it is of a good standard.

That is really cheap so at least they have saved money.

Still waiting to see my son's new student house for this year..... I am expecting it to be grim!

Don't forget that due to new Renters Rights Act legislation the tenancy agreement will now be 'rolling' rather than a fixed 12 months, meaning your child can give 2-months notice and leave. We will do that in May so we don't have to pay for a full year of grimness! I have the reminder in my calendar already.

The stairs collapsed in one of my student houses, mice and the like.
This sounds just grubby and not dangerous.

Mould, damp, carbon monoxide risks, over crowding are an absolute issue.

I am not a Landlord btw.

30k between 5 students is 500 a month over a year or 600 a month over 10 months. That's not expensive for rent and is presumably why they chose it. They could have paid more and got something better. Or chosen to go to university in their home towns and not paid rent at all.

I suspect this will just mean student contracts start in June in future years.

Quite a lot already do! Means students can move out of first year halls around end of June and straight into student house.

Yes agree with @SheilaFentiman – DS2 typically moved out of one house at the end of June and into the next. Occasionally he had a week of interregnum when he could be found nesting at home haha

When i was a student seemed like a rite of passage to have rank accommodation. It was 35 years ago, so obviously a lot cheaper i suppose.

For students with jobs it’s useful to have 50 week contracts. For others - it’s an expense!

You should have seen the shitty hole I lived in back in 97

had to call in environmental health to get the landlord to listen

we absolutely loved it. Great memories

Sounds about right

five of us paid about 1200 pcm back in the 90s

Definitely take loads of photos of everything as your DC move in. And report every problem by email (so there is a record) as soon as it occurs regardless of if you actually anticipate any action. My DS had to go to the ombudsman to get his deposit back last time as the landlord was trying to claim they caused damage they didnt.

I've just shipped a decent dehumidifier to DD and some mould remover. Which is ridiculous for a commercially let property. But DD and her friends want to stay there so I can do is help with dehumidifier and the extra electric costs. I'll definitely be reporting the landlord once DD decides to leave.

Tbh when I dropped DD back last year in Brum, I was really upset at the dump they had picked-the previous 2 years I had found them a lovely flat they shared so it was such a downgrade. We gave it a real good clean and also got onto the letting agents about broken stuff, which they did end up replacing.
There are some lovely places now, with many having en suites etc. Hopefully they will find somewhere better for next year.

Firstly if it's horrific photograph it, complain to the landlord/letting agent, and if you don't get anywhere go the council rent department- they can investigate
Secondly in the west Midlands landlords have to register for a housing permit- to try and stop slum landlords between December and march so hopefully that will help improve offerings

yep and can't say anything as taken as criticism of DC

£500 is cheap. Does it include any bills? If so, it's very cheap. They will just have to keep it clean and tidy and make it homely.

Nothing in the op says outrageous slum landlord. Yes, sticky floors should have been cleaned and not sure if the white goods are shitty because they are dirty, old or what.

OP, did your DD do an inventory when they got the keys with an agent present or anything?

My daughter’s flat in Bristol is lovely. Really well maintained. Clean. 2 sharing on a 12 month lease and pay £2 per month (so £24k a year between them)

@Blushingm do you mean £2000 a month? That’s quite high so it should be good!