Electrical Safety First (ESF) – a charity that aims to educate the nation on electrical safety –has launched a campaign to show landlords and letting agents the impact of failing to fix safety problems with student accommodation.
The move comes after the charity conducted a survey via the National Union of Students (NUS), in order to collect responses regarding the level of service received from private property managers.
1,200 students responded and the results identified that 37 per cent of landlords and agents did not fix exposed wiring when it was reported to them, while almost the same number (35 per cent) ignored issues such as damp, condensation, and flooding around electrics.
A further 30 per cent of respondents said scorched sockets and light fittings were not replaced.
As a result of the survey’s findings, the charity has emphasised that students’ lives across the UK are being put at risk on a daily basis.
The number of reported electric shocks, electrocution and fires started by faulty wiring is also rising.
Results from the charity’s survey show that a range of unacceptable problems are not rectified even when they are reported.
One student at the University of Warwick said it took more than three months for his letting agent to replace an electrical shower unit, even after receiving a life-threatening electric shock, while many students reported that sticky-tape had been used to hold power cables and wires in place.
Emma Apter, ESF’s head of communications, argued that students have the same legal right to live in rented properties that meet health and safety requirements.
She added: “These worrying figures suggest that poor landlord practice is putting lives at risk.”
Landlords are being reminded that they have a legal duty to carry out necessary repair work at any property they let out, which includes issues ranging from electrical wiring to gas appliances and bathroom fittings, among others.