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ITV News
28-05-2025
- General
- ITV News
'They're laughing at us': Students feel powerless as accommodation concerns go ignored
The ceiling collapses, students scream, and a black substance pours onto the bed below. Sounds like a horror film? Well that was the video that stopped me in my tracks as I was scrolling through TikTok, the video that kicked off an investigation into inadequate student accommodation. When the students at Loughborough University posted that video, I'm not sure they expected an ITV News reporter to journey there to take a look at the aftermath, but the image was so stark that I needed to see the reality for myself. On arrival, the block smelt of damp and, strangely, of soil. It transpired that this wasn't the first time this had happened - a ceiling fell in the exact same block earlier in the term. Surely this wasn't an isolated case at one university. We were determined to find out. After a call out on social media we were flooded with hundreds of emails and comments from students across the country complaining about the state of their accommodation, that their complaints were largely dismissed or not taken seriously – the majority felt it was because they were students. "I had no water in my taps for seven months" one student told us, another said they've "constantly been getting sick" due to the damp in their student halls, whilst another told us pipes were "leaking brown water" onto her bed. Despite complaints coming through thick and fast, many were scared to speak out. These institutions hold each student's future in their hands, childhood dreams potentially achieved through their chosen degrees, so they suffer in silence, sometimes at the mercy of the very institutions they're paying for an education from. It's no surprise ITV News received such a visceral reaction when we reached out to students – a survey by Save the Student earlier this year found 69% of students had at least one issue with their student housing. Furthermore, over a third of students surveyed claimed issues were not solved within a week whilst 7% claimed that issues were never solved with their student housing. We first travelled to the University of Sussex to investigate this further, where we met with Ahmed Mustafa, an international student from Pakistan studying marketing. It was his first year living abroad and he was excited to experience what universities in the UK have to offer, the campus lifestyle, a new degree to add to his CV and the chance to meet new friends – his experience was far from what he was expecting. Ahmed said on his first day he was told his allotted room in a shared flat was not available, because it was undergoing maintenance. He decided to take a look. "Then I read the words pest control written outside my room,' he told us. After he moved in, the flat became plagued with cockroaches, crawling through groceries, in bedrooms and bathrooms and on dishes. 'They just kept coming, like every other day. It was just getting worse in my kitchen. Cockroaches were everywhere… washing cockroach faeces from my dishes every single day was just so dehumanising of an experience,' he said. Ahmed was moved into temporary accommodation several times during his first few months on campus, but each time he returned to the flat, he says he and his flatmates had countless pest control visits, disrupting their education and social life. He told ITV News it took them seven months to find a permanent solution. Ahmed said: 'Grades, social life, all was ruined, just because they didn't listen the first time'. Most shockingly, it appeared staff working at the building did not take his complaints seriously, a common complaint we heard whilst investigating student accommodation. Ahmed says he encountered one member of staff who made him question how the university saw him and his flatmates. "This woman told me to my face that she is surprised that I am complaining because 'where I come from', my culture or my home, essentially it's pretty common," he said. "I live with cockroaches, so I should be chill. Why am I complaining for six months? And it threw me off a bit that she thinks this way." We discovered it wasn't just university-owned accommodation that appeared to be falling into disarray, but private student halls that were in fact recommended by the institutions themselves. Multiple students studying in Manchester messaged us about their privately-owned accommodation. When we visited, we were taken around multiple flats in one building. Students passing each other in the halls were already voicing their complaints. 'Did you hear Flat 9 has cockroaches?' one said to another. Allegedly the occupants of the flat had been complaining about the vermin for weeks before anyone came to solve the problem. Abigail Chisanga, a 20-year-old student in the city, walked us up to her flat as she listed the issues she and her neighbours had been facing since they moved in. 'They're looking at us and laughing at us,' she said, regarding the countless complaints she's made about her living conditions. She's had a constant leak from her shower which has had no permanent fix since November. Abigail told us: 'It's the fact that they're just refusing to actually want to have proper conversations, like they're treating us like we're children.' Multiple students from the building came to us with complaints, some of whom are paying over £800 a month to live on the premises. They claim they arrived to showers which were filthy with mould and fridges left uncleaned. Reports of vermin were allegedly not acted upon for weeks and, when we visited, we saw evidence of severe leaks in multiple flats. 19-year-old student Niamh Davies showed us a video of a light fixture in the bathroom of her flatmate's room. Dirty water appeared to be pouring through the light fixture, which they say began tripping the electrics for the rest of the flat. It allegedly took six months to get fixed. Niamh also said they had no hot water in their taps for a month. 'I had a bucket, luckily, " she told us. "I would just boil the kettle a couple times… and then shower out of a bucket.' 'It's just a shame. These issues haven't just been going on this year, we know now from other students who lived here before. Because there's a new set of students every September. These issues keep getting pushed back to the point where it's just the next tenant's problem.' We took our findings to Save the Student's Communications Director, Tom Allingham, who said unfortunately a lack of accommodation options means 'people do sometimes take advantage of students". 'They don't have the experience, they don't necessarily know their rights or in some cases, to be blunt, they know that the students won't really have any other options [and] they end up having to leave the property, that they're actually going to have nowhere to live," he said. "So in a lot of cases, students will just remain quiet because they're afraid of being left homeless basically.' 'The numbers of students going to university is currently at a record high, and the level of student accommodation hasn't kept up with… demand is growing and growing and growing, supply isn't quite meeting that. 'With that, not only is cost going to go up, but in some cases, clearly people are allowing standards to slide a little bit because they know that the customers, the students don't really have any choice. "So yes, the property might be in an awful condition, but ultimately, on balance, students are deciding it's better than nowhere to live.' Since ITV News alerted institutions to the conditions in Manchester, the universities have removed the recommendation from their websites. Loughborough University, mentioned at the start of this piece, told us: 'As soon as the University was made aware of this issue action was taken to support the student impacted. A thorough inspection of the accommodation was carried out and the root cause of the issue has been identified and repaired. "Detailed checks of other rooms in the student housing block have taken place.' The University of Sussex told us it treats any issue that impacts the wellbeing of its students "very seriously". "After repeated attempts to eradicate the problem, we decided that the best option was to move all Norwich House residents to alternative, upgraded campus accommodation. 'We unreservedly apologise for the disruption caused by this decision. We would not have made this decision unless it was absolutely necessary. To help ease the impact of the move, we offered residents a goodwill payment, food vouchers, and laundry credit. "At Sussex, we are committed to providing the best possible student experience. Over the past five years, we have provided 2,117 new bedrooms on campus through the creation of our East Slope student village, alongside new study, social and retail spaces. Further redevelopment is underway to add over 2,000 new high-quality bedspaces, which will include en-suite, shared, family, and fully accessible accommodation. "We take any reports of prejudice or racism extremely seriously and do not tolerate such behaviour. A formal investigation into these claims is currently under way." Universities UK said: 'Universities care deeply about the experience their students have, including where they live, and work hard to maintain the highest standards. The Accommodation Code of Practice exists to monitor independent audits into quality standards across all accommodation owned or managed by a university."
Telegraph
23-04-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
How to save money as a student
Never mind school, your university years are often billed as the best of your life. If you're the typical 18-year-old, it's likely to be your first time living away from home, an opportunity to meet new people and, hopefully, a chance to study something you're passionate about. However, a university education is becoming increasingly expensive. Research from Save the Student suggests it costs the average undergraduate £22,498 a year to study in the UK, or £67,494 over the typical three-year course. Student loans and parental help are crucial, but even with that support, most students will need to live on a tight budget. Many students will find opportunities to make money, but it helps if you can save money too. Here Telegraph Money gives you ideas and tips on how you can save. 1. Write a budget It's pretty much impossible to manage your finances well unless you've got a budget. When you don't know exactly how much you need to spend on rent, bills and books, you won't know what you can spend at the Student Union on Saturday night. A good budget should list all the money you have coming in each month and a breakdown of all the bills and expenses you need to meet before you can start spending on the fun stuff. If you're struggling to get motivated, try to view a budget as something that helps you feel in control of your finances, rather than something that limits you. Government website MoneyHelper has a free online budget planner to get you started. 2. Sign up for student discounts Lots of shops offer discounts to students, but you might need to register with a website such as UNiDAYs, Totum or Student Beans to access them all. At the time of writing, Student Beans was offering a 10pc discount at Boots and 20pc off at the restaurant Wagamama. Amazon Prime offers students a six-month free trial as part of their discount scheme. 3. Cut the cost of music streaming If you can't bear adverts when you're listening to music, you'll need to cough up for uninterrupted tunes. Spotify, however, offers students a month free on Spotify Premium, followed by £5.99 a month thereafter. That compares with £11.99 for individuals, albeit with three months free. Apple Music also offers discounts for undergraduate or postgraduate degrees. You get a special rate of £5.99 a month as well as free access to Apple TV+. This compares with the full fee of £10.99 for Apple Music and £8.99 for Apple TV+. 4. Save on textbooks Textbooks can be ridiculously expensive. According to Save the Student, the average undergrad pays £24 a month on course resources. If you don't manage to reserve your copy in the library, before they all disappear, all is not lost. Check out second-hand book websites and charity shops close to campus. Alternatively, buddying up to students in the year above or putting up a request on department notice boards can help you get their books before they go elsewhere. Another option is to find out if any of your required texts are available to download as e-books – VitalSource boasts discounts of up to 80pc. Even better, see if you can access the pages you need for free using Google Scholar, an academic search engine. 5. Save on the train If you'll be using the train to get home or to visit friends at other universities, make sure you don't pay more than you need. Railcards for 16 to 25-year-olds cost £35 a year and will give you a third off train travel. You can also save with split-ticketing – this is where you can pay less for your journey by breaking it down and buying a different ticket for each constituent part. It's a bit fiddly working it out yourself but websites such as Trainsplit can help. 6. Ditch the train and get the coach You might be able to save even more by getting a coach instead of the train. The Young Persons Coachcard costs £15 a year (or £35 for three years) and gives you a third off fares. Separately, Student Beans is offering a 15pc discount on National Express coaches. Even without a discount, getting the coach will likely be a significant saving. The average advanced fare of a train from Manchester to London is £35.19, according to The average coach fare is half the price at £17 according to travel site Omio. 7. Learn how to food shop It's easy to blow a fortune in the supermarket – where everything is staged to make you spend – but if you know what you're doing, you can beat them at their own game. Many supermarkets will bring out the yellow-sticker gun in the early evening, heavily discounting the food that they won't be able to sell the next day – just be sure to eat it quickly or put it in the freezer until you can. It's also worth noting that the most expensive foods will be at eye-level – get down on your knees for the cheaper versions on the lowest shelves. You should also write a list and stick to it. Importantly, never shop when you're hungry. 8. Club together with your housemates The households with the lowest collective bills will be those that team up and co-operate. Shop around to get the best deal on your broadband package, as well as your gas and electricity supplier on comparison websites. It is possible to use bill-splitting services, but these can be expensive. It's better for housemates to each take responsibility for a specific bill and use bill-splitting apps to request payments (just make sure all housemates are listed on each bill). Another option is to set up a joint account between you. 9. Eat together Housemates can also save a fortune by pooling their resources for food. It makes sense to have a kitty to pay for store cupboard staples you can all use such as oil, herbs, spices and so on. It's also more efficient if you can take it in turns to cook for each other – you'll spend less overall, eat better and you'll be much less likely to splurge on a takeaway when you know your housemate has got a curry bubbling away. 10. Find free things to do Going out doesn't need to be expensive. If you're living in a big city, find out about free events, whether that's museums, galleries or other adventures. Websites such as Eventbrite can help you find out what's going on near you. University societies often host events so take a look at what's going on within the university itself.
The Guardian
21-04-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
How to split the bill without causing long-term divisions
Income disparity in friendships can sometimes lead to conflict. A study published last year by a US financial services company, Bread Financial, found 26% of people felt they were 'financially incompatible' with their friends, while 21% said they had lost a friendship because of money. According to Talia Loderick, a money coach, the wealth gap between friends is something more people should be mindful of. 'It's so easy to let friendships fall by the wayside because we're so awkward and money's so emotional,' she says. When dining with friends, it is important to understand everyone's views on how the costs should be divvied up before you split the bill. This is a topic that divides opinion. When the comparison website Compare the Market carried out a survey of diners, it found 34% thought a bill should be split evenly, including the tip, while 36% said it should be divided according to who had what. Vivi Friedgut is the founder and chief executive of Blackbullion, a free-to-use money management app for students. She says that whether it is splitting the cost of household items or eating out, it is vital to have open and honest conversations right at the outset to make sure that 'everyone is clear that somebody is fully paying, or that everything is being split across the group equally'. Tom Allingham, communications director at the money website Save the Student, says: 'People will often say, 'I'll get this, and you get the next thing.' But what you find over time is that that doesn't even out. So it might be that one of you gets one dinner and that might be £50, then the other one gets the next dinner. But that might only be £20.' Over time, what can happen is 'one of you ends up being far more in the red than the other', he adds. According to the most recent Save the Student data, the typical maintenance loan that most students take on falls £504 short each month of covering the average living costs. That could create issues for some more than others within the same friendship group when it comes to splitting costs. There are a growing number of bill-splitting apps and services that take the hassle out of dividing expenses between lots of people. You may want to look at a few to figure out which one(s) work best for your particular circumstances. The best-known bill-splitting app is probably Splitwise. Launched in 2011, it enables you to keep track of unpaid bills, rent, holiday, food and travel costs and other shared expenses. Splitwise works as an IOU app whereby you sign up and create a group. Then you and your friends can start adding expenses. To do this, go to your group on the app, then hit the 'add bill' button. You will be asked for various details about the expense, such as the total cost, who paid and how much each person owes. When you hit 'save', the app will update everyone's balances. To settle up, UK users normally have to exit the app and go to their banking app or website to initiate payment, or hand over some physical cash, then return to Splitwise to confirm they have paid. However, a link-up a year ago between the app and the payment services platform Tink enables UK Splitwise users to make direct payments to friends and family from within the Splitwise app. To use this, you need to link your bank account with Splitwise. The app is free to use, but also offers a premium service with extra features called Splitwise Pro, which is £3.99 a month or £39.99 a year. Splid is another free-to-use app available for UK users. It doesn't require you to register for an account. The app lets you choose from more than 150 local currencies and works offline, too, which means it could be especially useful if you are travelling as a group of friends in places where there is limited internet access. Another free app to help keep track of and settle shared expenses is tricount, which is owned by the European financial firm Bunq, and boasts it has 'millions of users worldwide'. These sorts of apps can really come into their own in terms of taking away some of the awkwardness associated with splitting costs fairly and settling up, says Loderick. She adds: 'No one likes the nitpicking at the end of a meal or on holiday. The apps can take that conversation away.' Allingham says apps such as Splitwise can be particularly effective for splitting small expenses between friends, such as grabbing a coffee. NatWest used to offer a well-regarded bill-splitting app called Housemate that was designed to 'take the stress out of renting' by splitting bills and keeping track of shared expenses. Unfortunately, Housemate is now no more – it was shut down in February this year. However, several other banks have similar tools. The app-based bank Monzo has a feature called Split which it says 'lets you split, track and chase payments, all in one safe place'. It enables people to keep track of joint expenses such as household bills, and also allows them to split one-off payments such as a dinner. An individual can be added to a Split even if they do not bank with Monzo (they need to be invited by a customer though). Starling Bank offers an in-app feature called Split the Bill, which it says lets you work out who owes what and send out 'IOUs' in just a few taps. Recipients of the IOUs will be taken to a secure webpage to pay you back – or they can do it directly from the app if they also bank with Starling. The UK digital bank Kroo is another that offers bill splitting. You can set up a group in the app and add your collective spending. Anyone can be part of a group, and you can send a non-Kroo customer a payment link, but if they are not an account holder, they won't be notified they have joined a group, and they won't be able to see the group details. Revolut also lets customers split bills with other users.
