Students Report More Ongoing Problems at One Pool Street
Photo Courtesy: UCL
The first term has nearly come to an end, but students living at One Pool Street - a UCL brand new accommodation - are still struggling with poor living conditions.
One Pool Street is a self-catered hall for undergraduates and postgraduate students on the UCL East campus, which was scheduled to open last September. However, due to technical issues, students could not move in and were instead assigned to temporary halls – John Dodgson House, The Gantry London, Hyatt Regency Hotel Stratford, and other hotels.
After a month and a half of delay in the construction works at One Pool Street, students finally moved in at the beginning of November. However, technical issues that severely affected the students were found in the building.
Some of the rooms have had no hot water nor functioning heaters since students moved in. Andi, a postgraduate studying Health Management, has to travel home for 40 minutes just for a warm shower. She further reported that issues in her room grow daily: “There are broken windows, a broken toilet, and the repair team doesn’t show up when it is meant to. I felt 100% better when staying in a temporary hall [The Gantry Hotel]. At least there were basic human rights such as hot water and a proper toilet.” Andi is still asking UCL to fix the problems, but she found it ridiculous that they did not give any response.
Wang, from the Anthropology Department, experienced similar issues and moved out after a week of living at One Pool Street. The lights in Wang's room turned on automatically due to the failure of the motion sensor, causing her to suffer from insomnia. She said: “I could not focus on my upcoming tests.” The accommodation office never kept their promise to fix her room, and Wang decided to stay at a friend’s place as living at One Pool Street became unbearable.
Other students that are experiencing faulty lights in their rooms tried sticking tape on the sensor so that the light would not unexpectedly turn on in the middle of the night. More issues in the rooms include high-frequency noises from pipes and sockets, and water in the toilet flushing itself.
The hall facilities also cannot satisfy the demands of more than 550 residents, where one of two laundry rooms has not yet been completed. There are currently only four washing machines and four dryers, two of which are broken.
Invoices for One Pool Street were requested a week after students moved in. However, students found no reason to pay due to all the problems experienced. Jess, MPA student, sent an email to UCL with some of her flatmates to request a waiver on the invoice. Although Jess paid for the accommodation, she still tried to push for a refund: “I got a response saying they would get back to me in 7 days, and then never heard anything else.”
To seek a response from UCL on issues at One Pool Street and students' living conditions, the accommodation office was sent an interview invitation. UCL responded after two weeks: “With any new building, there can be a few teething issues, but we're working hard and fast to address any concerns, and we are very sorry for any inconvenience caused. If there are any outstanding issues, students should report these to the Accommodation Reception so that we can rectify them immediately.”
According to the UCL Accommodation General Regulations 2022-23, compensation will be made when having no essential amenities for 36 hours or more, and students at One Pool Street have been bothered with technical issues for nearly a month. Although UCL has sent a group email saying that they are working to fix the issues, students are still struggling.