Rosie Bye
I lived at The Collective Old Oak for six months and the COVID-19 lockdowns started a few weeks after I moved in. The contract said "this document is not intended to create a landlord and tenant relationship" even though it clearly was a tenancy agreement. Upon investigating this due to some issues that arose I discovered that the agreement is most likely an Assured Shorthold Tenancy agreement (I'm not a legal expert but I was considering taking legal advice). The studio flat itself is tiny. The bathroom in particular was frustrating. Showering was difficult as there's no space to move around. When sitting on the toilet I was also right up to the sink. The communal facilities are the selling point of this accommodation but due to COVID-19 I didn't get to experience this to its potential. There were regular and diverse events which they continued to provide remotely. On two different occasions throughout the lockdown maintenance contractors were sent for non-essential work. I asked repeatedly why this was essential and got no response. On the second occasion the dates didn't work well for me so I asked to find a more suitable time. The response was slow and I was panicking the maintenance contractors would come whilst I'm in the middle of an important meeting. We did just about manage to agree a more suitable time but that message wasn't passed on to the contractors who let themselves into my home whilst I was in the middle of an appointment with my doctor. They should not have entered my home without my permission -- this is illegal. The Collective did give me a kind of apology. I moved out 14 days ago and still haven't received my deposit (they responded to my email today and said I'll have the money back next week).