LUSU Living.
People should know. This has been a serious issue for my housemates and me. Please read if you are going to Lancaster University and looking at renting accommodation in town.
LUSU Student Living. The truth.
LUSU Student Living. The truth.
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I'd heard LUSU were pretty useless for sorting problems out, and they were just as useless when we tried to view houses with them. Gone for a more independent landlord instead for next year (2nd year), seemingly cheaper and hopefully more helpful!
Does the contract not oblige them to come and fix things? Hope yoou can get it sorted/find a better house next year.
Does the contract not oblige them to come and fix things? Hope yoou can get it sorted/find a better house next year.
I thought, as the official university housing association, they would work hard to ensure they constantly kept their tenants happy. Clearly not.
Yeah, we're going private for third year too... but I thought I'd share this just because of the bull**** I've had to put up with. And I know other houses have had similar problems (not with the same things, but with LUSU taking too long in dealing with it).
Yeah, we're going private for third year too... but I thought I'd share this just because of the bull**** I've had to put up with. And I know other houses have had similar problems (not with the same things, but with LUSU taking too long in dealing with it).
Well I've already signed by third contract with them for the same house. It's a good house, if you ignore the rats that just won't die*. My experience of dealing with them has been pretty good, I find that if you approach them in the right way they do what needs to be done. Having said that, their idea for replacing my desk chair with a blue plastic deck chair was mildly retarded. I'm just glad the person who came to replace my old one didn't actually take the old one away!
*also if you ignore the heating apparently broke over this holiday and the hole underneath the carpet on the landing and that the dishwasher has never worked properly and they sanded the floors over the summer but forgot to clean up properly (so the whole house was extremely dusty upon my arrival for the second year I've lived here) and the rent increased by 8% between last year and this year and the landlord tried to add another week and another 5% increase onto next year's contract and changed the doors but didn't put a lock on the bathroom and haven't offered a discount on the box room which is a third of the size of the others but still has a double bed.
On the other hand, we have gas hobs, a big kitchen, a big oven, all but one of the bedrooms are big and a good location.
*also if you ignore the heating apparently broke over this holiday and the hole underneath the carpet on the landing and that the dishwasher has never worked properly and they sanded the floors over the summer but forgot to clean up properly (so the whole house was extremely dusty upon my arrival for the second year I've lived here) and the rent increased by 8% between last year and this year and the landlord tried to add another week and another 5% increase onto next year's contract and changed the doors but didn't put a lock on the bathroom and haven't offered a discount on the box room which is a third of the size of the others but still has a double bed.
On the other hand, we have gas hobs, a big kitchen, a big oven, all but one of the bedrooms are big and a good location.
I've heard very mixed reviews of them. I went private in a place which was cheap (about 65 per week) and knew it wouldn't be great, but that is what I am paying for. I am going back on campus next year so not too worried, but I just never saw the value in LUSU housing. It seemed overpriced before I even saw people talk about problems like this, so I didn't even bother with it.
theres lots of horror stories about like this.. and i can see reason. I think the people in LUSU housing are sick of the sight of me! im currently in a LUSU house in my 3rd year, and i was in one last year also.
Last year, the house was in a disgusting state. My Mother decided to clean it for me, as she wouldnt allow me to stay in it. We took photos to LUSU housing and they offered to clean it. sure enough cleaners arrived 4 days later(so we would have had to live in that grease and grime for 4 days) the cleaners arrived and had nothing to do.. There was electricals(fan switch) handing out from the ceiling in the bathroom. A dangerous combination, this took a week to fix. the house was okay at best. it had a spider infestation in certain places, that no amount of hoovering could stop. and also found slugs in the kitchen many times. despite all this, we coped without too many problems.
This year so far, weve had quite a few problems. Damp in the front room and basement room, dilapidated beds, broken internet, broken wardrobes, no desk chairs, no curtains. but to their credit all issues were fixed very quickly. and the house was clean this time. Last year, they didnt hire cleaners to clean the houses before the new year, instead depending on the cleaniness of the old students. our previous tennents happened to be graduating...so i suppose they didnt care. This year however the house was clean and any problems appear to be fixed in a decent timeframe. currently the washing machine is broken, and has been for most of christmas(there was someone living here) and were getting a new one tomorrow, hopefully.
the best thing to be repaired is the internet, the 'tech' guy is very quick at responding to problems, commonly arrives that evening to take a look and take steps. so credit to him.
next year im staying with a private landlord in a newly refurbished maisonette for much less money. i hope it trumps LUSU!
ps sorry for any spelling errors, im ill and really cant be bothered checking.
Last year, the house was in a disgusting state. My Mother decided to clean it for me, as she wouldnt allow me to stay in it. We took photos to LUSU housing and they offered to clean it. sure enough cleaners arrived 4 days later(so we would have had to live in that grease and grime for 4 days) the cleaners arrived and had nothing to do.. There was electricals(fan switch) handing out from the ceiling in the bathroom. A dangerous combination, this took a week to fix. the house was okay at best. it had a spider infestation in certain places, that no amount of hoovering could stop. and also found slugs in the kitchen many times. despite all this, we coped without too many problems.
This year so far, weve had quite a few problems. Damp in the front room and basement room, dilapidated beds, broken internet, broken wardrobes, no desk chairs, no curtains. but to their credit all issues were fixed very quickly. and the house was clean this time. Last year, they didnt hire cleaners to clean the houses before the new year, instead depending on the cleaniness of the old students. our previous tennents happened to be graduating...so i suppose they didnt care. This year however the house was clean and any problems appear to be fixed in a decent timeframe. currently the washing machine is broken, and has been for most of christmas(there was someone living here) and were getting a new one tomorrow, hopefully.
the best thing to be repaired is the internet, the 'tech' guy is very quick at responding to problems, commonly arrives that evening to take a look and take steps. so credit to him.
next year im staying with a private landlord in a newly refurbished maisonette for much less money. i hope it trumps LUSU!
ps sorry for any spelling errors, im ill and really cant be bothered checking.
This is quite unnerving since I was thinking about coming to Lancaster in September. Did anyone else have problems like this in halls or do you just recommend to just go private after the first year?
Original post by 4c:75:6b:65
This is quite unnerving since I was thinking about coming to Lancaster in September. Did anyone else have problems like this in halls or do you just recommend to just go private after the first year?
This isn't about halls, this is about living in town in second year. I've personnaly found life in halls to be very good, and they're pretty good at sorting any little problems; this is done by the uni rather than LUSU Living who are the student union-run company to find a house if you move into town.
Are you with LUSU? Well it doesn't really matter. Call them daily. Actually go into the office on campus and bother them for a while. Something like that should be remedied within days.
My experience of halls (as far as living, utilities etc goes) was excellent. I cannot recommend a better place to be. Even the worst accommodation was reasonable.
As to second and third year, most people don't have problems with housing. I was just throwing this out there that one shouldn't rent with LUSU Living. But there are many, many other people students can rent through. From what I've seen of Yellow Door Lets, they are absolutely brilliant.
Don't let this tiny part of Lancaster put you out on coming up here. It's an easily avoidable situation.
Original post by 4c:75:6b:65
This is quite unnerving since I was thinking about coming to Lancaster in September. Did anyone else have problems like this in halls or do you just recommend to just go private after the first year?
My experience of halls (as far as living, utilities etc goes) was excellent. I cannot recommend a better place to be. Even the worst accommodation was reasonable.
As to second and third year, most people don't have problems with housing. I was just throwing this out there that one shouldn't rent with LUSU Living. But there are many, many other people students can rent through. From what I've seen of Yellow Door Lets, they are absolutely brilliant.
Don't let this tiny part of Lancaster put you out on coming up here. It's an easily avoidable situation.
Original post by 4c:75:6b:65
This is quite unnerving since I was thinking about coming to Lancaster in September. Did anyone else have problems like this in halls or do you just recommend to just go private after the first year?
Halls are absolutely fine. This is off-campus accommodation run the student union letting agent.
Out of interest, do you think it's good that the union makes over £400,000 profit from renting properties each year. Yes it also goes back into LUSU but shouldn't they be upfront about where they get their money rather than charging people so much.
Original post by k9markiii
Out of interest, do you think it's good that the union makes over £400,000 profit from renting properties each year. Yes it also goes back into LUSU but shouldn't they be upfront about where they get their money rather than charging people so much.
Out of interest, do you think it's good that the union makes over £400,000 profit from renting properties each year. Yes it also goes back into LUSU but shouldn't they be upfront about where they get their money rather than charging people so much.
Jeez, where did you find this out?
LUSU should NOT be getting money from the minority of students who rent through their housing agency.
LUSU gets... I know it's over 900 students... let's go with a round figure of 1,200 to compare to the 12,000 who go to the university.
So that's 1,200 who pay £80 a week. (I'm taking my housing price and next door's and averaging it). We pay for.. let's say 45 weeks. That's £3,600 per year per student.
That's £4,320,000. (Is that right, or am I just that bad at using a calculator?)
And you're telling me that almost 10% of that goes towards LUSU? That every tenant could be paying an average of £8 less a week?
That's disgusting.
Original post by Snikle
Jeez, where did you find this out?
LUSU should NOT be getting money from the minority of students who rent through their housing agency.
LUSU gets... I know it's over 900 students... let's go with a round figure of 1,200 to compare to the 12,000 who go to the university.
So that's 1,200 who pay £80 a week. (I'm taking my housing price and next door's and averaging it). We pay for.. let's say 45 weeks. That's £3,600 per year per student.
That's £4,320,000. (Is that right, or am I just that bad at using a calculator?)
And you're telling me that almost 10% of that goes towards LUSU? That every tenant could be paying an average of £8 less a week?
That's disgusting.
LUSU should NOT be getting money from the minority of students who rent through their housing agency.
LUSU gets... I know it's over 900 students... let's go with a round figure of 1,200 to compare to the 12,000 who go to the university.
So that's 1,200 who pay £80 a week. (I'm taking my housing price and next door's and averaging it). We pay for.. let's say 45 weeks. That's £3,600 per year per student.
That's £4,320,000. (Is that right, or am I just that bad at using a calculator?)
And you're telling me that almost 10% of that goes towards LUSU? That every tenant could be paying an average of £8 less a week?
That's disgusting.
LUSU annual report. http://lusu.co.uk/files/2012/10/Annual-Report-2012.pdf
Turnover is 3.7M so slightly less than what you predicted. Of that, they make 419K profit. So about 11.6% more per week than you need to pay. There are 1051 bed spaces so they average cost of a room within a house is £78.20 per week for a 45 week let. To be fair that's lower than the average rate and it does have bills included.
Original post by k9markiii
LUSU annual report. http://lusu.co.uk/files/2012/10/Annual-Report-2012.pdf
Turnover is 3.7M so slightly less than what you predicted. Of that, they make 419K profit. So about 11.6% more per week than you need to pay. There are 1051 bed spaces so they average cost of a room within a house is £78.20 per week for a 45 week let. To be fair that's lower than the average rate and it does have bills included.
Turnover is 3.7M so slightly less than what you predicted. Of that, they make 419K profit. So about 11.6% more per week than you need to pay. There are 1051 bed spaces so they average cost of a room within a house is £78.20 per week for a 45 week let. To be fair that's lower than the average rate and it does have bills included.
But the profits they gain should go straight back into LUSU Living, not into the Student Union.
The money should be used to buy tumble-dryers for houses without them.
*Ovens* that actually work.
Refurbishment to older houses.
Maybe even new furnishings.
I'm not paying rent so that LUSU can profit too.
Original post by Snikle
But the profits they gain should go straight back into LUSU Living, not into the Student Union.
The money should be used to buy tumble-dryers for houses without them.
*Ovens* that actually work.
Refurbishment to older houses.
Maybe even new furnishings.
I'm not paying rent so that LUSU can profit too.
The money should be used to buy tumble-dryers for houses without them.
*Ovens* that actually work.
Refurbishment to older houses.
Maybe even new furnishings.
I'm not paying rent so that LUSU can profit too.
No. The money goes into the union as a whole. The majority will be used to fund some of the opportunities such as volunteering and maybe a bit towards the colleges or LUSU itself. The profit is after they have done all maintenance they deem necessary to the housing. If you have a problem with it. I suggest you bring it up. If you're at Lancaster go and speak to the full time officers in LUSU bunker, they are paid to support the wishes of the students. There are also other people to speak to such as student trustees but I don't know ow to get hold of them as easily.
LUSU Living don't own the houses. So the vast majority of the turnover will go to private landlords who use them for management. Although they are absolutely abysmal- last year my heating and hot water was out for 3 weeks in December!!
What about the price of a mortgage?
Electric, Gas, Water, Broadband, Repairs, insurance? Who pays for that?
Electric, Gas, Water, Broadband, Repairs, insurance? Who pays for that?
Original post by lancastersun
What about the price of a mortgage?
Electric, Gas, Water, Broadband, Repairs, insurance? Who pays for that?
Electric, Gas, Water, Broadband, Repairs, insurance? Who pays for that?
With LUSU Living you rent the house from them. They either own the house outright or manage it for someone that owns it. They pay for repairs and all the bills and charge you rent that covers everything.
Original post by k9markiii
With LUSU Living you rent the house from them. They either own the house outright or manage it for someone that owns it. They pay for repairs and all the bills and charge you rent that covers everything.
Going back to what you said, they can't be making that much profit then. I'm struggling paying my bills.
Original post by lancastersun
Going back to what you said, they can't be making that much profit then. I'm struggling paying my bills.
From the annual report I thought they were making a profit of about £8 per person per week.
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