It’s fact; the cost of student accommodation is rising. While the hefty price of student digs may come as little surprise to many readers, the sorry state of their new home will.

Understandably, many of you will no doubt expect swanky halls of residence or tip-top student housing to go hand in hand with that increasingly large sum putting you out of pocket every month.

If you do (worryingly) find yourself categorised with this unsuspecting lot, I sincerely hope you reconsider your thoughts once finished with this article.

If an infestation of creepy crawlies, mouldy carpets and uncommunicative landlords are your thing, no doubt will you find yourself at home in one of many student houses located here in sunny Bournemouth.

The thought alone of being stuck in one of these situations above is bound to be enough to make any sane tenant shudder.

Yet, unbelievably, one group of students were unlucky enough to have endured all three of these nightmarish scenarios when moving into their new house.

After the students received a visit from pest control on discovering some unwanted guests already living in their sofa and bedroom mattresses, the unknowing students probably thought they had experienced all the horrors their new property had to offer. Yet, with the newly acquired knowledge of the landlord not having stepped foot in the rented house for more than three years, a fungi growing carpet was therefore no shocking feature within this particular humble abode.

If discovering a carpet saturated in damp upon arrival at your new property is not enough to alarm you, fear not. Unfortunately, the encounter of damp my housemates and I experienced seems to indeed outshine the mould infested carpet.

Naively, us unsuspecting lot assumed we’d dodged the various demon landlords of Bournemouth by going through a recommended letting service, boasting to be driven in assisting students finding good quality housing at an affordable price.

Yet, despite this comforting statement, an ill-fated housemate of mine found that damp had not only spread itself in and around her room, but on her belongings too. A shoe festering in mould as a result of a damp ridden bedroom may seem slightly humorous, but is certainly no laughing matter.

Damp in housing poses a serious health issue, being particularly dangerous for asthma sufferers and posing the risk of respiratory problems. Unsurprisingly, a mouldy pair of shoes is certainly not the only shining example to rain on BU’s parade when it comes to their mission in finding students “a safe place to live”.

Alongside discovering hairs of the tenants who previously resided in our house, many other surprise features were still yet to be discovered within this ‘quality’ property. Much to our delight, two open vents (designed for a non-existent tumble-dryer) large enough to fit a generously sized rat through were cleverly placed in the same room as a heater.

However, our landlady’s first suggestion of covering the vents with masking tape unfortunately did nothing to soothe our worries of a dilemma concerning either a mammoth heating bill, or an igloo of a house.

We all recognise that student houses are not five star hotels, but like any other tenant, university students should not have to endure absolute hell holes of houses at ridiculously unsuited prices.

Students, if need be, hassle your landlords. If you don’t then you need to be prepared to cope with the rather uncomfortable and incovienient consequences.