The Student Housing Company Reviews 

I moved into Bentley House in Birmingham in September 2019 and had some initial problems but they were sorted out fairly quickly. The guys who work on site, Lee & the rest of the accommodation are amazing! Really friendly and if I was reviewing just them it would be a 5 star review.

I've had issues with mental health previously and booked here as they said they helped with that but it was all a lie! They have done nothing but make things worse. The guys who work in head office for The Student Housing Company and Global Student Accommodation don't care about anything but money. They've ignored us and students from other buildings since March, not returning any messages, e-mails or calls. They have caused unnecessary stress, keep posting how they care about student wellbeing but all they are doing is causing issues.

Holding students to ransom when claiming they care. Blocking and ignoring its tenants on social media by their student welfare teams. Overpriced accommodation, staff pretend to care when in fact are actually very rude.

Exploiting students and their families by making them pay for facilities we are unable to use. Lack of communication from the company. Disgusting, greedy company

I’ve stayed at both of their Southampton residencies, Austen House and Crescent Place, over the span of two years. The staff have always been very friendly & welcoming, and the buildings are kept clean (my friends that have visited have even been told off by reception for littering). Whenever I’ve had a problem in my room, which was usually the shower drain blocking, they were quick to fix the problem. I had cleaners visit once a week, which would help out but not clean completely, they would take out bins and wipe down the floors, occasionally wipe countertops too.

During the coronavirus pandemic, they did fail a bit in the beginning, not letting students out of rent. However, after a large portion of students complained, the company changed their offers and let some people off their contracts, and others 50% off depending on their situation. (There has been a lot of bad reviews because of this - I think they’re just mad they’re not getting what they want, despite the company coming to numerous compromises) ((this is also why I have made my name anonymous, as they can be rather aggressive towards people that don’t think the company is wrong))

I think it’s hard to review the company as a whole, as from what I’ve heard, every building is run differently and has varying conditions.

We had an investigation of silver fish in our showers throughout the accommodation that wasn’t dealt with at all
We are still having to pay for accommodation we are not living in even though a government issued order forced me to go back to my country due to corona

Last 7 weeks of my life has been a living hell with them. Finally they did the right thing but originally with their money grabbing objective they are an awful company and I would stay away to avoid it happening in the future!!!

They are after their profit they don’t care about the safety and well-being of their student they should be shameful of what they are doing through the pandemic that the world is going through

During the first week of University my flat was infested with bed bugs which meant me and my flatmates had to move out separately for 7 weeks with some of the rooms having to be treated twice due to not being treated properly the first time. This was an extremely stressful start to my final year at University.
When University announced they were stopping face to face teaching I happened to be at home for the weekend so there was no reason for me to return to my accommodation at the time and I would rather have been at home to work in a safe and comfortable environment to complete the remainder of the semester of teaching and exams.
We were given some initial offers which were quite frankly insulting given the current situation, these were then revoked and given an offer of 100% reduction in rent was given to students who were rebooking for the next academic year, but if you were not returning to TSHC you were only given 50% which was discriminatory towards final year students who have no reason to return for the next academic year.
This has been unnecessary stress added to my final year at a time which is already difficult. TSHC have given no care for the students in their buildings they just want to take money from students.

All they care about is money, money, and more money. They may smile and be nice to your face but whenever theres an issue they will do their best to choke you into a decision giving limited time and delaying replies. AVOID THIS COMPANY AT ALL COSTS

If I could give less I would!!
They have put me and my family under a huge amount of stress in this very difficult time. When other caring quality providers have recognised the difficult situation people are in and taken a human approach these guys appear to be on the face of it putting maximum profit before anything else. It’s a real kick in the teeth to be expected to pay for a service that cannot be delivered due to the legally enforced lockdown situation we are in through no fault of our own.

I have stayed at Catherine House in Portsmouth during my first year of uni, sadly cut short by the Covid-19 situation.

To begin with, a flat mate of mine was insufficiently “self isolating” due to showing symptoms of the virus. The Catherine House team did not deal with this properly and it forced myself and 5 other flat mates to move home as to not become infected. Multiple emails were sent and TSHC and Catherine House did nothing to support us as residents, despite taking pride in their student care.

Further to this, when considering that the Covid-19 situation has caused stress for people across the world, some people losing jobs to pay their rent, or having to help provide for their family where someone may have became unemployed, The Student Housing Company has shown absolutely no compassion towards their residents. They have caused more stress for us as residents by not giving any information for 4 weeks, for ridiculous offers to be given on a insufficient student portal, to finally give only one accommodation a straight answer of being released from our contracts. This process has taken 6 weeks to get any communication from TSHC, and I don’t doubt that the only reason they have responded is due to the pressure students were forced to put on the company. This will have undoubtably been to try and save their reputation, however this is too far gone now.

I’m sad this has happened, as up until Covid-19 TSHC and the Catherine House team have been helpful when necessary, but this experience has tarnished and ruined my whole opinion of the company.

My experience with the student housing company has been awful since the moment I moved in.
The mattress initially provided was uncomfortable and had broken springs this took a while to be replaced, making my first few weeks as a third year student extremely uncomfortable.
My flat then encountered a BED BUG problem, THSC did not have a policy in place to deal with this resulting in being moved out of my flat for a total of 7 weeks which again added considerable amounts of stress to the first semester of my final year, which could have been avoided if treated properly the first time!
I was offered no support during this time and THSC accepted no responsibility even though there was a breach in the contract (where I was unable to quietly possess my room).

When lectures were cancelled and my university closed all buildings, I made the decision to return home to allow myself to work in a safe, comfortable environment and complete my final essays and exams.
TSHC requested highly personal information regarding one's financial status, medical records and other unnecessary documents, in order to decide 'case by case' what each individual should be offered. Their response instead was to offer (1) Free summer rent (2) 1 weeks free stay in one of their other residence (3) to be entered into a prize draw for the Olympics.

Their next offer was 50% off the final rent instalment or 100% off but only if you rebook for the next academic year.
As a final year student I will not be returning to university and so rebooking is automatically not an option. I should not be penalised for something that is out of my control. When I approached them about this they seemingly did not care as 'they are the only offers available".

They have added unnecessary stress and anxiety to what was already a difficult time for everybody.
THSC has no care or compassion for the students in their residence, the only thing they care about is making money. Although the onsite staff were lovely, I would not recommended this company to anybody.

Awful value for money. Complete lack of communication during Covid 19 as well as a complete lack of understanding or compassion.

My daughter stayed with these for her first year, the accommodation was good however the backing was appalling - many times I reported the fact the smoke detectors had been covered over & they were not at all interested. Since Covid19 my daughter returned home due to universities being closed & they still expect the students to pay there rent, the only student halls in the UK to continue to charge, after this behaviour I would advise any tenants looking for accommodation, to avoid this company.

Do not stay here - unite students offer way better service and support to their students. Bad experience

I’ve never dealt with a company this awful and disappointing. Had thousands of pounds out of my own pocket and the way I have been treated is shocking. Total lack of regard for students during worrying times. Ignored students for weeks and left us with no information about what is going on leaving many of us with bad anxiety and stress. It’s appalling that a company can behave this way at all in 2020! I would highly recommend AGAINST using this company.

WORST handling of covid-19

They have exceeded my expectations of being THE WORST company I've ever dealt with. During the covid-19 crisis, they CEASED all communication on their social media channels, ignoring messages, posts and emails from hundreds of students, parents and carers. The way they have dealt with the crisis is DISGUSTING, refusing to release students from their contracts despite universities closing and students being unable to even travel back due to the lockdown. Students, like me, who came back to their non-term time home to look after their at-risk parents and am now facing HUGE financial crisis due to sudden unemployment.

The company talks and talks about its focus on student wellbeing but this is an utter JOKE. Instead of replying to messages from students, they preach about mental health awareness and providing support but absolutely NO support has been given from this company. Makes me sick to end my undergraduate degree with this fiasco, in the middle of writing my dissertation and caring for my parents.

PLEASE do not give this company your money. The residences aren't worth the hassle, money or time this company will drain from you. They don't care. Their sole focus is and will always be profits.

The Student Housing Company are the only company I know to date that enjoy the exploitation of students because of COVID-19.

We students were asked to pay the full rent whilst observing government lockdown procedures and rules. In addition to this, the Student Housing Company (TSHC) has required students to submit highly sensitive financial and health information to a support panel in order for them to provide "tailored" tenency agreements to students that are struggling. Also, whilst doing so, TSHC also advised students on how to spend their student loans and have told students, on many occasions, that you should be using your loan to pay the rent.

This is a massive invasion of privacy, if even excluding the supply of sensitive financial information like wage slips, furlough agreements. What the company offered as tailored agreements was a chance to win a holiday to Tokyo and even then you were not guranteed to win. It's a huge insult to students that are financially struggling due to the impact of covid-19 to be offered such terms and it felt as if TSHC were gambling valid tenant concerns.

Furthermore, the support panel setup by TSHC offered very little support throughout this period and provided students with homogenous responses. Instead of understanding the situation many students like myself are going through (I needed to provide for my family as I was living at home) we were all given ultimatums and discretely warned of the consequences of not following the tenancy agreements in place.

Having seen that this approach failed along with tenants withholding rent payments, TSHC introduced a flat 50% reduction in rent payments. However you are no longer allowed to occupy any accomodation and still pay for unusued utility charges. Furthermore, the rent payment is still required from those who have already fully moved out leaving those who have done so, paying for something they cannot use anymore. We are also being pressured to accept the current proposals and if we do not, by 5th May, the previous contractal terms will stand.

I’d vote zero if I could, their response to the COVID-19 has been appalling. They are trying to profit off students in financial difficulty.

We cannot stay in our rooms because we are in lockdown, yet we are expected to still pay rent?
They claim to be fun and better than halls but they just honey pot you in with ”free” events and facilities which are few and far between.

Awful management. They don’t care your mental health or wellbeing.