Hundreds of students have been given a week’s rent rebate after being left without running water for eight days during the coronavirus outbreak.
Affecting approximately 300 students, Curzon House on Curzon Street saw part of its complex without access to water in October.
This left them unable to wash, shower and use toilet facilities.
Many students had no other option but to travel home from all over the country to access running water.
Further problems continued for the University students on their return to Nottingham.
When the water was restored, taps that had been left on caused flooding to their flats adding to the trauma they faced.
“It was absolutely awful,” said Bethany Cartledge, 18, who studies fashion and knitwear design at Nottingham Trent University.
“At first, we were told the issue would be sorted within a few days, so we didn’t worry too much.
“Once two days passed, it started to become a real problem.”
Curzon House – which belongs to student landlord Unite Students – charges between £125 – £152 per week for their rooms.
Students were left without access to working taps, washing machines and showers between October 20 and October 28 2020 .
This was made worse by the urgent need to maintain basic hygiene due to the pandemic.
Ms Cartledge added: “The official advice was for us to be careful about hygiene, because of Covid.
“But we couldn’t even wash our hands!”
NTU student Rahul Bhatt, 19, who also lives at Curzon House, said: “When the water did eventually come back on, the problems still didn’t stop.”
“A lot of people who were forced to go home left their taps on, so our rooms were flooded.
“Maintenance had to be called to dry our rooms out, but the smell of damp isn’t going away any time soon.”
Landlord Unite Students claim Severn Trent’s mains water supply to the building was the cause of the problem.
Students started a petition to claim back one week’s worth of rent which was signed by 288 people.
Unite Students agreed and compensated approximately 300 students.
In an email sent to the students affected, staff at Curzon House said: “As a sign of our thanks, we’d like to offer you a goodwill payment of one weeks rent.”
A Unite Students’ spokesperson said:
“This unfortunate incident happened a month ago. We ensured every student affected had access to clean water while we waited for the water supply to be reinstated. Initially, only a handful of students were impacted although it did subsequently become a wider issue.
“We have inspected all the relevant equipment and pipework inside our property and, to date, have found no immediate cause for this issue. We remain in discussions with Severn Trent Water about their supply of mains water to this part of Curzon House.”
“All students affected have been offered one-week’s rent reduction, to be applied at the end of their tenancy with us, as a gesture of goodwill for any inconvenience caused while tap water was unavailable.”
By Jada Wilks
Feature image credit: Olimpia Zagnat