A student in UCL Accommodation was forced to stay in a waterlogged room for five days after their ceiling was damaged by rainwater from Storm Connall.
In the early hours last November, a John Adams Hall resident was woken up by drops of water running down the walls onto their bedsheets. The electrical equipment in the room was also dampened by rain falling through the weak ceiling, posing a serious risk of shock or fire.
Despite immediately reporting the issue to the halls team, it took UCL Accommodation five days to relocate the student to a new room, only for them to find that the radiator was not working.
UCL Accommodation was also unable to provide a replacement portable heater, with staff saying that none were available for another week. During this time, the student said they only had blankets to defend themselves against the cold.
The student also criticised communication from the hall team as described as shockingly poor. They said: “I was not emailed any updates on when they would do the work, and the singular time they did email me, my name was incorrect.”
The incident followed extreme weather conditions brought by Storm Connall between 26-29 November, which saw areas of London receive two weeks’ worth of rain in one day and led to power cuts, strong winds, and vast disruption of train lines.
The Cheese Grater understands the repairs were completed on 18 December, four days after the student went home for winter break, but the student was not notified of this until they returned on 3 January.
A UCL spokesperson said: “We want all our students living on campus to feel at home, comfortable and supported and be in an environment in which their learning can thrive. We’re very sorry about the accommodation problems this student experienced.
“The problem was caused by heavy rain and our maintenance teams worked hard to fix it as quickly as possible. Once the repairs were completed, on December 16, we had to allow time to check there were no further leaks before letting the student return to their room.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t know there was a lack of heating in the alternative room provided and a portable heater was provided as quickly as possible once we became aware of this.
“We have enacted clearer lines of communication to ensure any students facing accommodation difficulties are kept informed about our progress in handling them.”
Were you affected by chronic maintenance issues at UCL Accommodation? Get in touch with our journalists at investigations@cheesegratermagazine.org
