Students report leaks at Portsmouth Stanhope House

Student Yusuf Ahmad photographed water on his floor, streaming down his walls and soaking into upholstery

A £30m student accommodation block in Portsmouth, beset by delays, is still an "unfinished construction site", residents have said.

More than 250 students were placed in temporary accommodation when Stanhope House failed to open in September.

Students have reported issues including water leaking into their rooms.

Operator Prime Student Living (PSL) said it was aware of a "range of construction issues" which contractors had been asked to fix.

The 17-storey city centre private development was advertised as having 138 studio apartments and 118 en-suite flats that cost from £161 per week.

Stanhope House in central Portsmouth was meant to open at the start of the 2019-20 academic year

Second year student Yusuf Ahmad, from Birmingham, said he regularly had water leaking into his bedroom and the kitchen of his fifth floor apartment.

'Inconvenience and discomfort'

He said repeated leaks were "causing significant damage to students' belongings as well as the building interior".

"It has remained unfinished and a construction site over the past five months. The leaks were coming from the walls and not the windows," he added.

He said other students had been woken with "water splashing on their faces".

A University of Portsmouth spokeswoman said: "The problems have gone on for long enough and we have no legal ability to compel PSL to address them."

She said it was providing free legal advice to students and had offered alternative accommodation to anyone who wanted to move out.

"To inform students considering a tenancy in Stanhope House next year, the university is updating our accommodation handbook to ensure it reflects the university's and our students' experience," she said.

A PSL spokesman said the issues with the building were "completely unacceptable" and were be investigated by an independent surveyor.

"We are acutely aware of the inconvenience and discomfort this is causing to students. We apologise once again and continue to try to work to try and resolve these issues as quickly as possible."

The Prime Student Living website advertised "deluxe ensuite" studio accommodation