Landlords Behaving Badly: The private rented accommodation nightmare students are facing
Flavia Gouveia
High demand and low supply of housing give landlords the upper hand. As a result, some students are left living in low-quality housing while some landlords exploit the high turnaround and demand of the student housing market.
Tara O’Neill spoke to The Scoop and shared her nightmare experience with private rented accommodation. When Tara moved into her accommodation in 2021 she found numerous issues, she said: “there were numerous maintenance issues such as taps not working, lights not working, and condensation. The main issue was the lino in our kitchen which was covered in black mould”.
“We moved out in August 2022 and after following up about those issues and subsequent issues such as a faulty shower and toilet, nothing was ever done about any of them and no one ever came out to fix anything.”
She added, “we reported all of these immediately to the estate agent and provided the relevant evidence and details. We moved out in August 2022 and after following up about those issues and subsequent issues such as a faulty shower and toilet, nothing was ever done about any of them and no one ever came out to fix anything”.
The biggest concern for Tara and her flatmates was the mould-infested lino floor, which after “begging [the landlord] to fix it, they still refused”. They ultimately took action themselves and arranged repairs as she feared it “was making us all a bit sick”.
As the list of issues mounted, Tara recounts the impact this had on her and her flatmates, saying “this led me and some of my flatmates not staying in the house whenever possible and to stay with our parents for long periods of time”. She added, “it also led to tension amongst us as it was difficult to work out who should be responsible for contacting the landlord and holding them accountable”.
Tara’s situation is unfortunately not unique. Anyone who follows QUB Love knows that posts warning against private landlords and stories similar to Tara’s are common.
“From day one, when we walked in, there were a number of problems that weren’t there when we initially viewed it.”
Máire Cáit Ní Mhathúna recounts a similar experience. Living with one other flatmate, they each pay £375 for a two-bed flat and say that they “have had nothing but issues” in exchange.
“From day one, when we walked in, there were a number of problems that weren't there when we initially viewed it”. They viewed the place in January and signed a lease to start the following September. When they moved in, Máire Cáit was shocked.
“The amount of time, energy and resources that we have had to pour into that place just to make it livable is disgusting”
She recalls moving in and says, “by the time September came to get the keys and move in. I arrived and found the place in a shocking state, we were told the cleaners had been in but the place was stinking. My mom had to come up and help us do a whole lot of cleaning to make it livable. The amount of time, energy and resources that we have had to pour into that place just to make it livable is disgusting”.
But the issues continue as Máire Cáit and her flatmate had to deal with a hole in the kitchen floor lino, faulty electrics, shoddy paintwork and damp in her bedroom. In one bedroom Máire Cáit says, “there were three sockets, so one didn't work at all, one of them delivered an electric shock and only one worked”.
“The majority of my loan and my income is going on accommodation and to try and you know, keep my head above water I’m getting into like ridiculous debt. Just to stay in an apartment like that.”
The situation escalated after an instance Máire Cáit recalls “one day my flatmate had just come out of the shower and had a towel wrapped around her and opened the door to find the landlord and an electrician in the kitchen” they had been given no notice.
The situation has taken its toll as Máire Cáit feels helpless. “The majority of my loan and my income is going on accommodation and to try and you know, keep my head above water I'm getting into like ridiculous debt. Just to stay in an apartment like that.”
“I don't really know what to do. The idea of going back right now, I just don't want to go back. And I love being in Belfast, love being up at uni, but I don't want to go back to that apartment. It’s miserable. It's cold. It's damp. And the dampness makes it feel colder. My bedroom feels like an icebox. Even when the heat is on, 20 minutes later, it's an icebox again.”
Jenni Millar is a QUB student and advocate for Renter’s Voice, whose own experiences with private rented accommodation motivated her to work with the organisation that advocates for tenants in the private rented sector.
Jenni says that the complaints voiced by students in this article are common and adds “landlords are canny, they know students or when they gonna be there for the short term, most of the time they’re going to be coming in at the end of August and they’ll be away in April or May by the time the summer exam period is finished. And they know that come September, again, there's going to be a queue of people, because we don't have enough housing. There are not enough rental properties at the minute to meet the demand.”
“We know that when you’re living in substandard conditions, it triggers the fight or flight response in your body”
While Jenni highlights that there have been reforms to the rental law, these have largely had no impact on students.
Jenni speaks of the long-term implications of living in the conditions described, saying, “we know that when you're living in substandard conditions, it triggers the fight or flight response in your body. So it changes the chemicals in your brain and it does affect your mental health, your physical health. It's absolutely possible to make rational decisions when you're under stress. I think for that reason if universities are looking for you to do your best they need to be fostering the whole package”.
QUBSU Campaigns and Engagement Officer, Aidan Moran, who has heard many first-hand accounts from students struggling with private landlords, has been involved in campaigning for additional support to be provided for students in private rented accommodation. Aidan spoke to The Scoop about the support the SU is able to provide.
“Short term we have Student’s Union Advice, which can give advice to students who have had problems and we will be setting up the Association for Economic Justice, and housing will be a part of that. We will also be having a campaign group specifically targeting housing, which will aim at educating students about their rights. As well as lobbying government and ministers.”
“Long-term one of the referendums we are pushing through is specifically targeting cooperative housing and the idea is to lobby for Queen’s alongside cooperative housing bodies to buy properties and convert them into properties where students will have a much larger say in the running of those properties.”
Aidan added, “I would also say that the Communities Action and Tenancy Unit (CATU) which has been set up and will be targeting specific issues such as repairs, I recommend students to join even if they are not renting because it is good to have as many people involved as possible and prioritise collective action against exploitative forces”.
Speaking about the wider factors contributing to this ongoing crisis, Aidan said, “there is a much larger issue of Belfast City Council not building houses and landlords losing their HMO licenses. But there is a wider issue, where students are dependent on housing, and so they are vulnerable because they rely on landlords in order to live, and some landlords exploit this”.
Recently The Scoop reported on the recent move by Queen’s University to increase accommodation fees, as they continue to focus investment into purpose-built student accommodation. Speaking of this Aidan says, “while purpose-built accommodation and the drive to increase that is great, there is a problem as the prices are out of the reach of most students.”
Students experiencing issues with privately rented accommodation can reach out to the following groups and organisations for support:
Environmental Health: https://www.housingadviceni.org/tags/environmental-health
CATU Belfast: https://catuireland.org/belfast/
Housing Rights: https://www.housingrights.org.uk/contact
Renter’s Voice: https://www.housingrights.org.uk/renters-voice-private-tenants
Flavia Gouveia is The Scoop’s Science and Environment Editor and is studying for a masters in Journalism at Ulster University.