Student ‘permanently disfigured by bedbugs’ in rented 2Let house
A YORK UNIVERSITY PhD student has been scarred for life after she was attacked by bedbugs which had infested her room. It was her first night in accommodation rented from the 2Let agency.
Having arrived from Frankfurt this autumn to study under a Marie Curie Fellowship at University’s Centre for Women’s Studies, Christine Vogt-William’s first night was followed by a visit to York Accident and Emergency and over a week in emergency accommodation which was provided by the University. Doctors have informed her that marks on her neck, arms and legs will not fade over time and that she is in fact permanently scarred.
Vogt-William and her housemates, Sarah Churchill and Dave Caswell, say that Tony McNichol, a partner in 2Let who has acted as their letting agent, “believes students are there to screw”. Despite his repeated assurances that the house would be thoroughly cleaned before they moved in, they allege that many areas of the house were covered with dust, cobwebs and mould. They have also kept a bag of toenail clippings which they found on the main stairs.
It is said that they enquired about a residue on the wall of the infested room and were told that it would be cleaned. At the time they thought it was mould, but were informed by environmental health officers after the event that “that’s bedbugs, that is”.
Had the house been properly cleaned, said Churchill, a 3rd year English and History student, “it would have become obvious that the residue was not normal mould and the problem could have been dealt with before Christine had moved in at all.”
McNichol, however, considers the bedbug infestation “totally unforeseeable”, and said that he “had never had to deal with a case like this before. I suppose they do say ‘don’t let the bedbugs bite’, don’t they?”
The house on Burniston Grove, Tang Hall does not meet the standards of the University’s Code of Best Practice for Student Accommodation. McNichol admits, “it never has been registered with the University because it never could. We would not let that house through the university.” 2Let, however, remains on a recommended agency list supplied by the University’s Accommodation Office.
McNichol has informally alleged slander and harrassment charges against the tenants, who have compiled a dossier of evidence of problems they have had with the house, such as damaged walls and fittings and a leak from the shower which drops onto the kitchen sink below.
McNichol noted that despite complaints and an enquiry, the UK Association of Letting Agents has not revoked his membership. He also noted that 2Let responded upon hearing about the infestation arranging appropriate measures within two hours of McNichol’s hearing about the incident.
In his response to the complaint, dated 27 November 2006, he states that “[t]he only conclusion I can draw as to the reasons for these fabricated complaints are due to no compensation being received from the other tenants. I do not believe that any of these tenants are entitled to compensation for any mattersdiscussed.” Christine Vogt-William has, however, accepted payment for her emergency accommodation and a month’s rent as a “goodwill gesture without prejudice”.
