The survey will hopefully work alongside the service ARC provides and assist them when giving advice to students.
The survey itself asks students about the processes they go through when looking for a rental property. Questions aim to discover which letting agents students use, how many properties they viewed before choosing their house and whether they felt rushed to sign for a property.
Last year, over 600 students actually completed the survey and the results were only used by the newspaper and not by ARC itself.
Of the 25 questions asked, the answers to only 8 of these questions were utilised and as such, the information from well over half of the survey was wasted. the results revealed that in general students had a better experience with properties that were landlord managed rather than managed through the agency.
This year, the survey will be more specific, and aims to achieve more definitive results from a larger number of students. Learning from the shortcomings of last yearÔÇÖs survey, it is hoped that this year’s results will be more beneficial to student house hunting in the future.
An ARC representative spoke to CUTV about their role. She said, ÔÇ£We encourage students, before signing a contract, to come to the ARC and get an advisor to check the housing contract before the sign it to make sure that the student is making an informed choice about the sort of accommodation they are going to rent.
ÔÇ£We will explain the implications of the contract, their rights and responsibilities within that contract and the landlordÔÇÖs rights and responsibilities. We will also identify any potentially unfair termsÔÇØ.
The representative added, ÔÇ£The landlords and agents will often make promises about what the condition of the property will be like when the tenants move in, which often will not be done. So students need to make sure improvements are written into the contract before they sign itÔÇØ.
Welfare and Communications Officer Megan David said, ÔÇ£This yearÔÇÖs housing week is going very well. For the past few days, myself, along with ARC and the rest of the elected officer team have been knocking on doors in halls, and spreading our key message, not to rush in to signing a contract for a house.
ÔÇ£This year, the profile of our Advice and Representation Centre on the 3rd floor of the Union has been growing with students visiting them for advice about housing, and I am hoping that the gair rhyddÔÇÖs housing survey will increase ARCÔÇÖs profile too. I am also hopeful that it will give us great data to work on after Christmas or next year, so that we can continue our housing campaign throughout the rest of the year and help more studentsÔÇØ.
Housing has always been a point of contention between letting agencies and students. It is hoped that the survey will help uncover what goes wrong and where it can be improved.
gair rhydd spoke to a number of Cardiff University students. Third year Geography student Steph Coker said of her experience with Cardiff Student Letting, ÔÇ£they are really good for students because they donÔÇÖt have any absurd fees apart from your standard deposit. And because of this they donÔÇÖt mess you around.┬á The staff are very helpful – you deal with them and then once you move in you deal with your landlord so thereÔÇÖs no confusion about them part-time managing a house, unlike some agenciesÔÇØ.
Third year Psychology student Tara Tredger had a difficult experience with Keylet and said, ÔÇ£I would say our experience with Keylet was little better than dire. We had numerous problems with vermin, mould and electrical issues. After reporting these issues, we were concerned to find out that the electrician, plumber, and ÔÇ£pest control expertÔÇØ, who Keylet sent to our house were one and the same. Worse still, he had a set of keys to our house and would arrive without notice.ÔÇØ
Add Comment