Law student successfully sues landlord over accommodation

A 19-year-old law student has successfully sued his landlord over university accommodation that he said was “like a construction site” and “covered in dust”.

Jack Simm, a student at the University of East Anglia (UEA), took the company behind Velocity Student Accommodation in Norwich to court. He sued for breach of contract and won back his deposit and first month’s rent, as well as court costs for a total amount of just under £1000.

Professor Andreas Stephan, the lead of UEA’s law school, said that the student showed “great initiative”.

Simm moved into the accommodation in September 2020, but he was unable to see the building beforehand because he got his university place through clearing. 

He said that when he arrived, the accommodation was like a “building site”. There was no Wi-Fi, no heating, “dust everywhere”, and a smell “coming out of nowhere”, claimed Simm. 

He also said there were “loud noises from people hammering away”, referring to builders, rather than freshers getting acquainted with each other. These issues were echoed by other students, who shared their experiences in court.

Simm said he didn’t want to be “taken for a fool”, and, after giving the landlord a week to rectify the issues, he moved out and stopped paying rent.

The landlord instructed a debt collection agency to recover the payments, stating that their position is that “should you vacate the property, you will be liable for the full 12 months’ rent.”

It was quite easy to be honest

–Jack Simm

Simm used his textbooks to build his case, suing for breach of contract and misrepresentation. He said: “It was quite easy to be honest. I studied contract law at the time. To me, it was quite an easy case of opening my contract law textbook and looking through some of the relevant law and applying it to the situation.”

The landlord submitted in response that Simm did not give “a reasonable period of time to respond to the repair request”, and issued a counterclaim of £7,160 for the entire tenancy period, plus interest. 

At a virtual hearing on 2 November, Newcastle County Court ruled the landlords should pay Mr Simm £859 to cover his deposit and first month’s rent, as well as £140 in court fees. The counterclaim was dismissed.

A spokesperson for Norwich City Council, which is investigating issues with Velocity Student, said: “We are pressing the owners of the property to carry out the essential remedial work that the council and the Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service have specified.

“Where we identify serious breaches of HMO (Houses in Multiple Occupation) legislation and requirements are not followed, we look at all appropriate further enforcement options, and seek to ensure those responsible understand the seriousness of failing to comply.”

Ben Smith, director of Estateducation, the company behind Velocity Student, told RollOnFriday that the company was appealing the decision, and would be raising a separate claim against Simm for allegedly “not telling the truth”.

Mr Simm will have some more revision to do

–Ben Smith, director of Estateducation

He said: “The error we made was not having legal representation in place, so we did not submit the appropriate documentation such as the third party check in report showing the condition. We will also be submitting various witness statements from the subcontractors – so Mr Simm will have some more revision to do.”