This is a slight cry for help and advice that's quite a long read but the case is quite detailed so I tried to make it as brief as possible!
I was meant to move into a student accommodation (A 5 bedroom house) with my university mates yesterday (August 1st.) I got there first as others are on holiday and I was still in England and able to keep everyone's keys safe as well as move in right when our contract started.
We went to go see the house about 3 months prior when the previous tenants were still living in the house and it was lovely and maintained to a liveable standard. The previous tenants had rented the house for 2 years straight so it was a great sign and we saw no issues with the land-lord who seemed to be a decent guy at the time of viewing.
Everything was going great the contract was signed, the deposit was paid for and everyone paid their first months rent. I got to this house yesterday with WRITTEN promise that the cleaners had been over to do a deep clean and replace any faults or broken furniture. When me and my parents went inside to officially move me in we were SHOCKED. So shocked in fact that we were struggling to keep our composure from the sheer disgust we felt when we saw the state the house was in. Here are some notes I wrote down while I was in panic on my phone about all of the issues we spotted:
-House promised to be refurbished but it was left in a horrendous state (stained walls, beds & the furniture was broken.) There was a stench of weed an alcohol.
- Contract breached nothing that was promised to be done was done. They promised painted walls refurbished furniture and they even claimed that the garden had already been re-done but when we got there nothing had been done. (We found out later that the land-lord said the cleaners had been around but never even bothered to check if the house was clean even after telling us like a WEEK before it was agreed that I'd move in.)
-The man who gave me the key to the house said that he wasn't sure where the other keys were and said that the previous tenants might have actually had them. (Meaning that I could have been attacked while I was in that house alone without any sort of protection.) He even mentioned after some questioning that the house might have been left in that condition because the previous tenants might have thrown a party without them knowing. (They should have taken their keys at this point.) + The housing agency claimed to do weekly/bi-weekly checks on each property they owned.
-They took everyone's deposit and first month's rent without it being a suitable house to even live in. The guy who came to look at the house's state lied about not being able to check it and then proceeded to go to the house when we went back to get out car and then locked himself in the house until we had left. (My father probably scared him because he was pretty angry at the agency.)
After my father had talked to the land-lord he kept saying something like 'she signed a contract and a contract is a contract so she can't back out of it now.' So the issue here is that they won't let me get out of this contract despite them breaching it in the first place.
I went back home to my parents house extremely panicked, confused and angry/upset. The day after the land lord had a video call discussion with one of my other housemates and he explained that he'd refurbish the house, paint it, clean it (all of the stuff that was meant to be done before the the 1st of August.) My housemates weren't there in person to see the house so they could only see how bad it was from the pictures I took but even with all of this shady behaviour some decided that they'd stay when the house was finally re-furbished.
Despite the agency trying to 'make it up to us,' I do not want to stay there. I felt disgusted and unsafe and the land lord even got more keys made the day after and lied saying 'the rest of the house keys were in the room doors all along...' Me and my parents know for a fact that wasn't the case because we checked every single room when we arrived and picked up the key to the front door. I'm sure most people would agree that the sensible thing to do would be to try my best to break the contract.
This is what I need advice on, I have no idea what to do. I've called my student union and my local citizen's advice help line neither of those lines could help me very much. I would like to find a solicitor if that's at all possible but I'm not sure if that would actually be of any help as the tenancy contract may be somewhat convoluted and loop-holey from a legal standpoint. I'm also trying my best to see if anyone else would replace me as a tenant because that might be an option but I'm so stuck.
I'm going to find some sort of uni owned accommodation to stay in because I'm fortunate enough to have a part-time job that will give me a lot of overtime in order for me to be able to afford such a thing but I'd still rather not pay 6 grand to a company that essentially screwed me over.
Thank you to anyone who read this entire thing and I thank anyone from the bottom of my heart who is able to give me any sort of advice in advance!