Unite Students faces legal action over rats, mould and rubbish in flats

Hundreds of students across the country have demanded rent refunds from the UK’s biggest accommodation provider, citing problems ranging from rat infestations to dirty flats.

Flat Justice, a not-for-profit tenants’ rights group, is currently leading multiple cases against Unite Students for blocks in London, Oxford, Coventry, Liverpool and Birmingham.

A spokesperson for Flat Justice said that nearly all the group’s clients faced one or more of the following: infestations, excessive heat, dust and noise from ongoing construction work, lack of light and out-of-order lifts.

Unite owns and manages rooms for 68,000 students in 151 purpose-built blocks across 23 university towns and cities.

The group is in the process of compiling a report for the First-tier Tribunal Property Chamber (Residential Property) (FtT) London on the conditions at three Unite London properties in Haringey – North Lodge, Emily Bowes Court and Station Court.

It is looking to achieve rent refunds for 113 students who lived in one of the three blocks.

Construction has been a particular focus at Emily Bowes Court, with students reporting ongoing work they weren’t properly informed about before moving in, according to the Guardian. Multiple students were left in rooms without light as scaffolding blocked the windows.

At Emily Bowes Court, weekly rent is £223 per week according to University of the Arts London, which works out to just over £11,000 per year.

In Liverpool, one block had a rat infestation, Flat Justice said. A tribunal is currently reviewing cases from 346 dissatisfied students who lived in 10 Unite blocks in Liverpool in 2022-23.

Flat Justice “empowers renters to make Rent Repayment Orders in order to win justice for themselves, hold their landlords to account and improve the safety of privately rented property,” according to their website.

“Few renters know that RROs exist and fewer still are supported to make them… renters continue to suffer and rogue landlords continue to get off scot-free,” it added.

It has previously achieved rent refunds for students who lived in Unite blocks in London, Coventry, Liverpool and Oxford.

The student housing crisis has been steadily worsening in the UK over the last few years, and it is particularly bad in London.

Almost 100,000 more student beds are needed to meet demand in London, according to research from Savills, the highest across all of the UK. The student to bed ratio is in London also one of the largest across Britain, sitting at 3.6. 

The supply shortage can push students to simply take what they can get, even if the accommodation is expensive and far from their university buildings.

A Unite Students spokesperson said: “Our top priority is always the welfare of the students who live with us. We’re confident all our properties meet the standards required by licences because we adhere to the national code established by ANUK, of which we’re founding members. This national code mirrors the standards required by these licences.

“While not all of our 151 properties require these types of licences, once we were aware of missing licences we undertook a full audit and made all the applications needed to the relevant local authorities. New licensing schemes continue to be introduced by local authorities and we’ve implemented new procedures to ensure licensing compliance going forwards.

“We have 68,000 students living with us and while we acknowledge issues may arise, our teams always work hard to resolve these as quickly as possible. We always encourage students to log maintenance requests via our app, which we’ve recently upgraded, and our teams are on hand 24 hours a day, seven days a week in all of our properties. Students can raise any issues by speaking to our teams in properties or they can escalate them by phoning our 24/7 contact centre for support or advice.

“To enhance the student living experience, we’ve invested £90m over the past year to upgrade our properties and improve service levels, and this continues to be a key priority.”