Verde residents have started a petition to get compensation for building work disruption

Accommodations Verde and Liberty Plaza have been undergoing building work following the release of the Government's definitive cladding system fire test results in August last year.

Because of this, Newcastle University student Robbie Henery has started a petition to get Verde residents compensation. "I started the petition after I heard about Liberty plaza residents getting £750-1,000 back for their ongoing works on site and knowing that the works on Verde had been going on for much longer than the works on Liberty Plaza", Robbie said.

"I thought that we deserved some compensation for the disruption we experienced over the five months, considering also they covered the January exam period."

The petition currently has over 490 signatures.

The project to replace cladding panels commenced in November 2017. Despite Downing Students, the developers of Verde, saying that feedback from residents living at Verde has been "extremely positive", students have been left unsatisfied.

Plenty of other students have come forward with their own experiences of the disruption the building work had caused, with many saying that they were awoken numerous times and found it difficult to concentrate on work throughout the day, with the pressure of exams and deadlines looming.

One resident at Verde said: "I couldn’t even get changed in my own room because of a broken blind which I repeatedly requested to be fixed. Being on the ground floor meant builders were constantly right outside my window for six months and it made me feel extremely uncomfortable!"

And it's not just students who are annoyed, one parent said: "My daughter lived here for the whole academic year 2017-18 and it was an eyesore, not a very nice environment to live in along with the disruption; noise, dust and machinery. Students should be compensated, they pay enough!"

Students also said that the two main gates which are used to access the complex were out of use for several months and that the main access to actual buildings was blocked on several days. On top of this inconvenience, students said that drilling and machinery could be heard, emphasising the point that even if the noise was after 10am, it was disruptive to students who wished to work throughout the day in a quiet environment.

In an email from Downing Students, they stated: "There was no impact at all on the rooms or the inside of the building, and the disruption was minimal."

If you'd like to help, you can sign the petition here.