TW: Mentions of sexual harassment
Each year it is predicted that on average 20% of university students in the UK will rent accommodation in university owned ‘halls’ and 8% will rent from private sector halls. Alongside these numbers, a further 30% of students will also rent private accommodation within their university city.
These figures indicate that every year a large number of young people are choosing to rent their own places to live, which will also be, for many, their first experiences of living away from their parents and hometowns. Renting accommodation whilst at university is often a year-long commitment at the minimum for many students. As with other renters, students are dedicating a large amount of time and money to their term-time accommodation and so, it surely seems reasonable for them to expect a suitable living situation in return. From being made ill from mould and damp, to being forced to live with people they know nothing about, it can be a stressful and potentially dangerous situation that they are blind to before they move in.
However, as part of research carried out by SOS-UK and Universities UK, many students are reporting substandard living conditions during their term-time residencies. This included reports of condensation, inadequate heating and insulation, and pests.
As part of the Homes Fit for Study research, issues regarding damp and mould have appeared as a particularly recurrent issues within student accommodation and housing.
Research carried out in 2023 found that 54% of surveyed students reported living with mould or damp in their term-time addresses. This has also presented a rise in students struggling from this issue, as research carried out in 2022 in comparison showed 31% of students to be struggling with mould and damp.
Tom Bartlett, a student at the University of Sheffield, experienced such issues with mould and damp when living in student halls last year. After observing that black mould was beginning to spread throughout his bathroom from early January, Tom intended to resolve the issue.
Reflecting on this, Tom said: “I believe that the mould was partly caused by my en-suite ventilation fan being broken and bad drainage. I called the hall’s maintenance team several times and emailed them regarding the issue.”
In order to reduce the spread, Tom first resolved to treating the mould himself with a mould spray that he was able to buy from a local DIY store, before the accommodation team later resolved the issue through fixing the ventilation fan, and further spraying the affected areas.
Student housing charity, Unipol, highlights that landlords and accommodation providers have a responsibility to fix issues of damp when it is caused by a repair problem, or when it is impacting the health of the occupants. Therefore, student tenants should report these issues in writing as soon as they observe them.
In addition to poor living conditions creating concerns for students, others have also reported experiencing serious emotional distress at the hands of their flatmates.
One student, who did not wish to be identified, highlighted concerns after feeling that a flatmate had displayed inappropriate behaviour towards the women living within their shared accommodation.
The student said: “One of our flatmates had been acting, what we felt was, strangely around the girls in our flat, making them feel uncomfortable.
“After numerous of these behaviours, we decided to Google him and then we found articles of him being a registered sex offender. When we found this out many of the girls were not comfortable around him.”
While the behaviour of flatmates and housemates can have a lasting impact on student’s comfortability in their student homes, many universities do have contacts in place to ensure that students feel as safe as possible.
At the University of Sheffield, the Accommodation and Commercial Services Department is designed to look after student’s wellbeing during their stay in university owned accommodation.
This includes contacts for maintenance services, as well as numbers for security services, which monitor the safety of students within university buildings and accommodations on a 24/7 basis.
With these services in place at the University of Sheffield as well as other universities around the country, students should hopefully feel reassured that their student accommodation is a safe place to live.
