Horror as pest infestation strikes UCL halls

Cockroaches, mice, flooded bathrooms, broken toilets. Welcome to the most expensive student accommodation in the country.

Freshers at UCL halls including Max Rayne & Ifor Evans on Camden Road, and John Tovell House on Gower Street, say they’re living in squalor.

The shocking news comes before reading week has even started and centres on a cockroach infestation at the Camden Road halls, which houses 500.

An artist’s impression

One Max Rayne resident complained on Facebook: “I woke up to find out that I have a new roommate walking around my sink – a lovely cockroach-like insect”.

A Geography student living in the same halls reported that when students complained they were “shouted at by the cleaner”.

They added: “We’ve even shown the cockroaches to the staff during room inspections but they’ve still done very little or nothing.”

An emergency meeting has been called for tomorrow

The union’s Democracy and Communications Officer Hannah Sketchley, a one-time Max Rayne resident, said: “The pest infestation has been a problem since I was a Fresher… in 2010 and 2011.”

Meanwhile newly installed bathrooms are flooding and toilets are not working at Max Rayne and Ifor Evans, where one fresher’s windowsill is stuck to the wall with duct tape.

A windowsill stuck to the wall…with duct tape

Some residents in John Tovell House say their living conditions are no better.

Student allege that the halls are infested with mice and that the launderette is frequently left locked.

One poor student told The Tab: “We have had mice in the house, which we still hasn’t been dealt with.

“None of the lights in our rooms are working, they broke over the weekend yet the accommodation residences office is closed over the weekend.”

Evidence of flooded bathrooms in Ifor Evans

David Dahlborn, the UCLU Halls Accommodation Representative, said: “I have seen and heard of far too many cases of floods, missing or broken furniture, cockroaches, mice and birds in kitchens and derelict rooms and corridors.

“Fundamentally, the root of all these issues can be traced to a lack of investment by UCL.”

Students in Max Payne & Ifor Evans are holding a Halls Assembly this Thursday to address the accommodation crisis.

Fellow Accommodation representative Maisie Harrison said: “It would be nice to have a healthy environment to retreat to at the end of the day without constantly filling out maintenance reports.

“If only UCL residences were a bit more proactive and remembered its duty of care to its students above its bank balance.”

An emergency meeting has been called for this evening.

A toilet where plumbing and waste pipes are brutally exposed