Rats run riot in student halls... and chew holes in renters' rights

Left unprotected by a new housing law, those living in privately run halls are teaming up to fight for refunds

- Anna Fazackerley

When Owen Hunt moved into a group flat in a student hall in London a year ago, he had no idea he would also be sharing with rats.

"Every time you walked into the kitchen you had to brace yourself to see at least three rats, even in the day, but reception denied they were there," he said.

Hunt, a first-year student at Goldsmiths, University of London, chose privately owned Dean House in Lewisham, south London, which cost £260 a week, because he liked the photos online. When he arrived, the reality was very different: "It was visibly dirty everywhere. My carpet had a huge stain and the fridge stank."

Like hundreds of students across the country who are fighting legal battles for rent refunds from halls, Hunt discovered there was no way out of paying rent for a full year. Labour's landmark Renters' Rights Act, which passed into law last month, will do nothing to change that.