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Hello & Thank you for having me.
I am a new student from abroad that booked student accommodation with the Manchester Student Village (MSV) on Lower Chatham street over the internet. On arrival for the start of the course (jan 2013), I found the room in a terrible state with dirt, broken furniture, mold, non functional heating, leaking sink, blocked toilet, closed windows with cold air coming in through the edges and a fire hazard of a microwave.
I reported these faults to the front desk and found temporary accommodation else where as I waited for them to be fixed. After a week, they only propped up the broken furniture against the wall and all other issues had not been dealt with. It was at this point that I informed the lettings manager that I would like to return the keys as the condition of the flat was hazardous to my health (I am asthmatic and had informed MSV of this in my application form). The manager said that I could not cancel and refused to accept the keys.
I visited this forum and followed the advice given to msvstudent in his post titled "is a photo of a tenancy agreement legally binding" also reporting foul play by MSV. MSV responded by accepting the return of the keys but then went on to insist that I pay them £4029 covering rent for the period of Jan - Sept 2013 even though I had not spent a single night in their accommodation. This is in addition to £1550 paid to MSV in November 2012 as a condition for making the flat available for me for the start of my course in Jan 2013.
I have informed MSV that the best I can offer them financially is to let them keep the £1550 I paid before coming to the UK since all the remaining money has now been used to find safe alternative accommodation.
MSV insist that I signed a contract with them in November 2012 and that the time for returning the flat to them has passed. My argument is that since I had no means of checking the condition of the flat they made me pay for before the start of my course, the cooling off period started when they gave me the keys in January 2013.
MSV has now sent me and my guarantor scary letters with a document prepared to appear as if it has been sent from a court entitled "Notice of Intent" and are saying that they will complete a form called N1 at the Manchester County Court against me and that I have to pay £120 for it.
Kindly advise me on how I can handle this issue.
Kind regards,
SXN352
I am a new student from abroad that booked student accommodation with the Manchester Student Village (MSV) on Lower Chatham street over the internet. On arrival for the start of the course (jan 2013), I found the room in a terrible state with dirt, broken furniture, mold, non functional heating, leaking sink, blocked toilet, closed windows with cold air coming in through the edges and a fire hazard of a microwave.
I reported these faults to the front desk and found temporary accommodation else where as I waited for them to be fixed. After a week, they only propped up the broken furniture against the wall and all other issues had not been dealt with. It was at this point that I informed the lettings manager that I would like to return the keys as the condition of the flat was hazardous to my health (I am asthmatic and had informed MSV of this in my application form). The manager said that I could not cancel and refused to accept the keys.
I visited this forum and followed the advice given to msvstudent in his post titled "is a photo of a tenancy agreement legally binding" also reporting foul play by MSV. MSV responded by accepting the return of the keys but then went on to insist that I pay them £4029 covering rent for the period of Jan - Sept 2013 even though I had not spent a single night in their accommodation. This is in addition to £1550 paid to MSV in November 2012 as a condition for making the flat available for me for the start of my course in Jan 2013.
I have informed MSV that the best I can offer them financially is to let them keep the £1550 I paid before coming to the UK since all the remaining money has now been used to find safe alternative accommodation.
MSV insist that I signed a contract with them in November 2012 and that the time for returning the flat to them has passed. My argument is that since I had no means of checking the condition of the flat they made me pay for before the start of my course, the cooling off period started when they gave me the keys in January 2013.
MSV has now sent me and my guarantor scary letters with a document prepared to appear as if it has been sent from a court entitled "Notice of Intent" and are saying that they will complete a form called N1 at the Manchester County Court against me and that I have to pay £120 for it.
Kindly advise me on how I can handle this issue.
Kind regards,
SXN352
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