Over forty Trent students have been left without anywhere to live after a city-centre student accommodation has been deemed unsafe to live in.
Students living at Victoria Studios accommodation on Shakespeare Street have been put up in hotels or alternative accommodation after Nottingham Trent University bought the building from the landlord last Wednesday.
The gas was “cut off”, most of the boilers are reported to have been installed illegally, and the electrics did not link up with the flat correctly.
The rooms also allegedly contained a fire risk – if a fire had started in one room, it would have spread rapidly throughout the building.
Additionally, the windows supposedly did not have sufficient locks on them, which would have left the students vulnerable to the thieves.
Tom Buckle, a third-year Sports Science student, and his flatmates are among those affected by the situation.
Yesterday morning, they told the house was deemed unsafe, and that they were not going to be living there any more.
Tom said: “We assumed we could stay until the weekend, but as the day went on it escalated that confirmed it was unlivable.”
The flat were put in hotels about 20 minutes away from campus by the university.
Some first years from the accommodation have been put in halls, however, the group have been told they need to start looking for new accommodation.
“The last thing we want to be worrying about at the moment is where our stuff is going to be stored, what hotel we are going to be living in tonight, and how we are getting to uni.” – Tom Buckle
The university has provided £10 meal vouchers to all the students that have been left without a home – however, the average student union meal costs around £5.
He continues: “It’s all up in the air, and we, unfortunately, know we aren’t going to get the house we need to live in before Christmas.
“There was nothing anyone could do except the landlord – if the university hadn’t come forward, we’d be living in a very hazardous environment.
“We’re all third years, and the last thing we want to be worrying about at the moment is where our stuff is going to be stored, what hotel we are going to be living in tonight, and how are we getting to uni.”
The accommodation appeared fine to the flat prior to them moving in, then when they got there in September, they had eighty separate problems with it.
“The maintenance man said that he’d never seen anything like it, and it had just been done slap-up, like someone with no training had done it.
“We’ve heard the landlord bought the building for a low amount of money, then last Wednesday he sold the building to Trent for a very large amount of money, and has apparently fled the country.
“The council came this week for the legal side of it, and asked us questions about him and what he looked like.
“He apparently didn’t have a letting licence as well.”
“It’s the kind of thing you’d see on Watchdog or Cowboy Builders.” – Tom Buckle
The group weren’t supposed to be living there originally, as they had another house booked on Cromwell Street before one of their flatmates pulled out the agreement.
The Victoria Halls flat was originally £130 a week per person, which the group thought was a great deal considering the accommodation was right next to the university.
They negotiated the price down to £115 a week.
“All the bedrooms were a good size and had ensuites, so it would have been really nice if it was properly done,” said Tom.
“Everything was below the surface, and there’s no way you could have known about it- it’s the kind of thing you’d see on Watchdog or Cowboy Builders.”
“He’s gone away, took his paycheck, and now he’s enjoying his holiday.”
The letting agency that they went through were Tristrams Sales and Lettings.
Tom said: “They’ve been no help at all – when we first had all the issues with the house, they said they were just the letting agency and they said ‘You’ve got to deal with that yourselves.’
“Clearly they were advertising a very poor house and they were happy to have that on their website.”
A spokesperson for Nottingham Trent University said: “We recently took possession of 42 Shakespeare Street and have carried out a number of checks on the building.
“Due to concerns about safety and the provision of essential services, we are offering student residents alternative accommodation with immediate effect.
“The welfare of our students is paramount to us and we do not take risks if we ever have concerns about student safety.”
By Eve Smallman