'Living in a mouldy student flat is making me sick'

Students living in rented accommodation with mould problems are campaigning for a Tripadvisor-style website to review properties.

University of Bristol students started the Break the Mould campaign on Monday and are calling on Bristol Student Union (SU) to help them set up a rent review system.

Annie McNamee, a third-year student, said mould in her bedroom triggers allergies and means she cannot sleep.

Lucy Pears, student living officer at the SU said: "It's fantastic to see Bristol students leading the charge on such an important issue."

A University of Bristol spokesperson said their "students in private accommodation deserve to live in safe and comfortable lodgings that support their learning and wellbeing".

"While the university cannot mandate how private landlords run their properties, our student accommodation team can signpost students to advice on finding suitable accommodation and raising maintenance issues with property owners," they added.

Ms McNamee said she had to go to a GP to get antihistamines.

"I didn't realise how sick I was until I went home and had a breath of fresh air. This house is making me sick," Ms McNamee said.

"My landlord came over and had a look, and said: 'I can buy a dehumidifier but I can't do anything else'. "

Ms McNamee said a rent review system would allow students to "make informed decisions".

"It will help them feel more confident when they sign that lease they're going to be living in the quality conditions they deserve," she added.

Her landlord has been approached for comment.

Livy Naylor said when builders pulled back flooring in her bathroom they found a "massive" hole underneath the toilet which revealed rotten wood and mould.

"It's not something you expect when you pay £750 a month for rent," the third-year politics and international relations student said.

"The mould is still there, there's still rotting wood and we still have mould growing in our bedrooms.

"It's a really horrible place to be. We're still worried about the floor falling in because we don't know if there is mould anywhere else in the house."

The letting agency that rents the property to Ms Naylor said in a statement: "This is one of the main issues we experience as letting agents.

"Due to the rise in energy costs, students don't feel they can afford to heat their homes, as a result, particularly in Bristol, they will become very cold with high humidity levels which generates large amounts of condensation mould.

"In this particular case, everything looked okay from the outside until the leak was reported and we investigated further by removing the bath panel and flooring to find there was an underlying issue."

A Bristol SU survey in 2015 found that 75% of students reported mould problems, Ms Pears said.

"I regularly hear from students struggling with persistent mould problems. But you don't need to be in this role to know how widespread and damaging this issue is for students," she added.

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