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Nottingham Post
Nottingham Post
National
Gurjeet Nanrah

Lenton student feels ‘mentally drained’ after trying to get accommodation’s leaking roof fixed for months

A university student living in Lenton has said he feels “mentally drained” after chasing his letting agent for around five months to fix a leaking roof in his property.

Calum Morrison, 19 and a physics student at the University of Nottingham, has said he and the other five tenants in the property made their letting agent - Top365 - aware of the damaged and leaking roof when they moved into the property at the end of September, but it still has not been fixed.

The leak in the six-bed property in Forsythia Gardens, Lenton, is in the extension’s hallway area and has led to mould growing on the ceiling and extensive water damage that means water drips on tenants when they use the bathroom.

It has also caused dampness in the two bedrooms in the extension, lights to stop working and the tenants having to leave buckets in the hallway to catch up to “7 millimetres of rain dripping through”.

Water damage on the leaking roof (Nottingham Post)

Part of the roof has been covered with a tarpaulin sheet since the current tenants moved in.

Top365 - who are based in Lenton - say the delay has been due to the property's landlord struggling to find a "suitable contractor" and bad weather.

The letting agents also said that parts of the water damage are due to an overflowing boiler the tenants tried to re-pressurise themselves over the phone with a Top365 employee when they "didn’t listen to the clear instructions" given, damaged a boiler part and created the leak through the ceiling."

However, Calum has said the tenants followed instructions given regarding the boiler "step-by-step" and only had to repair the boiler over the phone as it had broken multiple times.

Calum Morrison, 19 and a physics student at the University of Nottingham, has been left "mentally drained" after trying to get his accommodation's leaking roof fixed for months (Nottingham Post)

Calum, who is in his second year and originally from Edinburgh, said: “The roof is leaking and it’s been a problem for months. That’s the main issue and it’s still not been sorted out.

“They’ve said they can’t fix the roof while it’s raining during the winter but it’s been going on for months and could have been fixed before then.

“There’s mould on the ceiling now and we can still go in the bathroom and use it but it drips onto you when you are in there which isn’t nice.”

Despite making Top365 - who manage the property - aware of the issues on multiple occasions, Calum has said workers have only visited the property on ‘three or four occasions.’

A spokesperson at Top365 said: "Whilst we manage the property, we have to gain permission from the landlord to carry out works to such an expense as replacing a roof. The extension was built around two years ago and would expect a roof to last longer than this.

"The landlord also tried to make a claim on the house insurance which caused a delay.

"During the period that the roof was leaking the UK suffered bad weather and we struggled to find a suitable contractor to proceed with the works. As the landlord has been stung by cowboy builders in the past, he wasn’t willing to instruct an unknown roofer.

"The landlord has chosen a reputable roofing company to carry out the replacement. They have started work and are due to complete in the next day or two - weather permitted."

Calum also revealed the situation has affected his engagement with his university course.

He has had to apply for an extension for ‘extenuating circumstances’ because of how “time consuming” it has all been.

Calum added: “I don’t even know if I will get the extension under these circumstances and this assessment is worth 10 percent of my coursework.

“It has certainly been mentally draining and left a severe health risk. It feels like quite a hostile situation with the letting agents too.

“I think even though we are adults, because we are students they see us as a bit inferior and they wouldn’t treat us this way if we were some family renting a house.”

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