Students were left without running water
ONE-WEEK’S RENT OFFERED IN COMPENSATION
HUNDREDS of students have been promised compensation after being left without running water for eight days during the coronavirus outbreak.
Students living at the new Curzon House complex were unable to wash, shower and use toilets inside the building.
A spokesperson for Unite Students, the landlord for the building in Curzon Street, said every student affected was given access to clean water while the problem was investigated.
Many students travelled home to all over the country as a result of the problems.
Bethany Cartledge, 18, who studies fashion and knitwear design at Nottingham Trent University, said: “It was absolutely awful.
“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.”
Students were left without access to working taps, washing machines and showers between October 20 and October 28. Unite Students charges between £125–£152 per week for their rooms.
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 some students who left the accommodation to go home left their taps on, so some flats were flooded on their return.
He said: “Maintenance had to be called to dry our rooms out, but the smell of damp isn’t going away any time soon.”
Students started a petition to claim back one week’s worth of rent which has been signed by 288 people. 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 week’s 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.”
A Severn Trent spokesperson said: “Our engineers went out to investigate reports of supply issues in the area, who found there were no problems on our network and everything was working as it should be.”