Bradford University & UBU Urge Caution Over Colonnade House (‘The Fort’)

bradford1988

University & UBU Urge Caution Over Colonnade House (‘The Fort’)


The University of Bradford and UBU are warning students to exercise caution before signing
up to live in the former Colonnade House.

Student accommodation development Colonnade House, which was plagued with problems since
its launch last September, has been rebranded as ‘The Fort’.

However, West Yorkshire Fire Authority has advised that there is still a prohibition
notice preventing occupation of the property, which is now being widely advertised for
2013/14. The notice will remain in place until the Fire Authority is satisfied that all
necessary fire safety works have been completed.

Moreover, ANUK/Unipol has confirmed that the development is not covered by the National
Code for Non Educational Establishments and that it remains suspended from
the National Code’s membership process. No further decision on its application for
membership of the Code will take place until the building has re-opened AND it is clear
who will be managing it on a day-to-day basis.

To this end, the University of Bradford and UBU would currently advise that students do
not sign contracts for this property irrespective of any special offers or competitive
prices.

Colonnade House residents were forced to leave the accommodation last October after the
Fire Service prohibited use of the building.

On top of this, residents reported a string of issues including

Inadequate or no heating in rooms
Leaks in bathrooms
Internet problems
Faulty smoke detectors
Broken lifts
Faulty lighting
Piles of rubble
Inadequate fire evacuation information
Promised facilities such as a gym, prayer space and communal area did not materialise
Inadequate ventilation in kitchens One washing machine in the whole development When
tenants raised complaints, they were not happy with the responses given by staff and did
not feel confident their problems would be resolved.

Tenants were forced to leave the accommodation at very short notice and were initially
told they had to find their own alternative accommodation. When they were allowed to
return a few days later, they believed they were being allowed back permanently. They were
then given a few hours’ notice to move all of their belongings, for which no assistance
was provided and they could not use the lifts as they were broken.

Confusion quickly set in amongst the tenants, some of whom had paid a full year’s rent and
yet were being told they had to pay for their own alternative accommodation. The
University’s accommodation services team worked swiftly to ensure that all tenants were
accommodated and would not have to pay two lots of rent.

Since then, the confusion worsened, with tenants being led to believe they could move back
to the accommodation until the university was eventually informed in January that the
property was being closed down and that the tenants could not move back.

Students were advised by Stephen Anderson, a solicitor from Hatch Legal, that he believed
there had been a fundamental breach of contract and that students could terminate their
contract and take up accommodation elsewhere.

Despite the accommodation team’s best efforts, to this date some tenants have been left in
the dark as to whether they will receive back rent owed to them, let alone compensation
for the distress and inconvenience caused.

Throughout the process, the landlord has been almost impossible to
communicate with, while the letting agent, RMG, has itself apparently been kept in the
dark as to the situation.

Students have, understandably, been left stressed out and anxious by this situation, with
many feeling their studies have suffered as a result.

One student told us: ‘Colonnade house was the first accommodation in the UK for me as an
international student. I experienced so many difficulties living there; showers and toilet
not working properly, lift out of service most of the time and it made going to and coming
from uni very difficult (walking up stairs to 7th floor). The most disheartening of all is
the fire alarms were not working and I virtually could have got burnt any time. Moving
impromptu from there cost me a lot, I had an exams the next day and virtually failed my
exams.’

A fellow tenant agreed and said: ‘I cannot put into words how living at colonnade house
disrupted my time at university. We were put up in a hotel for 4 days though some may
think this would be a nice experience; it was greatly troubling and to not be around your
books and a familiar area of comfort whilst completing essays was daunting. (The hotel we
stayed in was not paid for and they soon started to ring the students who stayed there
requesting £4500 for our stay). We were told to get what we could carry from our rooms and
at 7 o'clock at night walk through Bradford's red light district with all our possessions
as we made our way to the Green. Needless to say many of us soon after became ill with
exhaustion and had to hand in extenuating circumstances as we just could not settle into
our new environment and work whilst ill. Just to write this email makes me furious with
the situation. We never revived a penny from whatever company ran the accommodating or an
apology. Big thank you to the accommodation team at the Green and the University that was
more than helpful in our time of need.”

Another student said: ‘Although Internet had been advertised there was none; in fact none
of what was advertised was there. There were no fire safety systems and security were
useless with local prostitutes following us into the building to try and take money from
us. We were unlawfully evicted which for me was extremely stressful.’

The University, which provided temporary accommodation during the period of uncertainty,
has yet to be paid by the Landlord.

The University and UBU Advice Centre advise all students to only rent with landlords who
are accredited by Unipol/ANUK.

If any students have questions about Colonnade House or the Fort, please contact Julie
Hartley in accommodation services on j.hartley@bradford.ac.uk or the UBU Advice Centre at
ubu-advice@bradford.ac.uk

UBU Advice Centre offers advice on a range of accommodation issues and problems as well as
a contract-checking service.

montgomeryhouse

The investors group are advising everyone to send details of their complaints to - a.penman@mirror.co.uk -
andrew.penman@mirror.co.uk -
investigate@mirror.co.uk - make sure you copy to all 3 emails.

I_have_spoken

One bed units in the converted office block are still available for investors at around £30,000, yield 8%. Get in...oh, wait!