A student who is trapped in a nightmare flat she claims is making her ill is begging strangers online for £4000 so she can move out – because it is filled with slugs.
Undergraduate Chantelle Fairburn uses the oven to keep warm in her mouldy, slug-infested home in Nottingham.
The 21-year-old said the damp student digs have caused her asthma to return and also had a stomach scan after experiencing pains.
Speaking to student newspaper The Tab, she said: “I’ve been feeling worse and worse the longer I’ve lived there.
“I haven’t been able to sleep and I’ve been struggling to eat.
“The heating doesn’t work, it’s mouldy and damp and there are slugs which is disgusting.
“It’s so stressful.
“I don’t know why no one told me about all the problems before I moved in.
“When I looked around the mould was hidden in darkness.”
Stuck in the flat until the tenancy agreement is up in September, Chantelle has come up with the novel idea of begging online.
She’s asking members of the public to donate so that she can raise £4,000 to cover the rent and leave early.
Chantelle said: “I begged my letting agent but he said I can’t leave.
“He said the problems weren’t severe enough and he disagreed that I’d been misled.
“But the problems were already there before I moved in – it’s not like I caused them.
“I felt hopeless.
“Some suggested setting up a Go Fund Me page.
“At first it seemed like a crazy idea. I’m not really the type of person that would do that but I figured I might as well give it a go.
“I didn’t expect anyone to donate but I’ve had a lot of support.
“A lot of people from my class have offered beds for the night as well.”
Chantelle is in her third year at Nottingham University studying Film and Television.
She’s desperate to flee the filthy flat before her health and well-being becomes even worse.
She said: “I had asthma when I was a child but it’s come back.
“I have to take two inhalers a day.
“I think it’s a combination of stress and sleeping in a bedroom with mould and damp.
“I don’t want it to affect my degree as well.”
Chantelle was really excited when she moved into the flat in September.
She said: “I was looking forward to being independent and having my own space but it didn’t really work out that way.
“I’m going to report the letting agent to Unipol and the ombudsman but when you sign a tenancy agreement unfortunately it’s binding.
“There’s not a lot I can do without breaking that.
“I think this kind of thing happens to a lot of students and most people don’t talk about it, they just put up with it.
“I don’t think it’s fair that landlords and letting agents should take advantage of students in this way.”
So far Chantelle has raised £89 but is hopeful she’ll hit her target of £4,000.
She should contact Housing Standards at her local council who will carry out an HHSRS (Housing Health and Safety Rating System) check to identify faults and force the Landlord to rectify them.