The house on Lime Avenue which suffered the break-in was ravaged, with the perpetrators seeming to purposely trash the house leaving the taps on leading to extensive water damage of the property in addition to various other damages including two ceilings being partially ripped out. Valuables were also taken in the incident with the house TV, a laptop, and a camera among the stolen items.

The incident has left the house ‘uninhabitable’, leading to the household, who were not in the property at the time, to ask for a reduced rent owing to the fact they will likely no longer be able to live in the property for the remainder of the contract.

The estate agent however refused the request, even going far as to question whether or not all of the damages were in fact a result of the burglary, insinuating the water damage could have been pre-existing adding that the showerhead was not on the holder with the water damage allegedly ‘suspicious.’ The household firmly disputes this, arguing the damage is clearly a result of the burglar having left the tap running. 

Third year student Snezhina Kashukeeva told Redbrick that ‘we definitely think it’s an attempt to justify not reducing rent or even to get our deposit taken away.’ 

The situation has left the tenants considering legal action, saying ‘I think it’s unfair to make us pay rent during a period of the house being uninhabitable.’

The event follows considerable social media debate over whether students should be paying for accommodation they are unable to live in, although this is an entirely unrelated matter to the so called ‘rent strikes’ currently being contested on student Facebook group ‘Fab n Fresh’ and confession page ‘Brumfess.’