Students have raised privacy concerns at several accommodation facilities provided by the University of Edinburgh.
These include Mylnes Court, Pollock Halls, Moran Court, Riego Street, Fraser Court, New Arthur Place, and Domus flats (offered to 2nd, 3rd, and 4th years).
Students have complained that cleaners and repairers have entered their flats and/or accommodations with little to no notice, making them feel their privacy has been violated.
This is because they have not received emails to their university email addresses detailing when such visits will occur. And even if they do, little notice is given.
One student who was fortunate to receive an email said they received “2 [sic] hours warning.”
Reasons for people from ResLife (which organises Edinburgh University accommodations) vary, with some including cleaning windows and removing mould.
Described as providing “maintenance,” the 2006 Scotland Housing Act requires that the university ensures accommodations are fit for habitation.
The University spokesperson said, “Our staff routinely access properties for cleaning purposes and to carry out repairs, fire alarm tests and other regular maintenance.”
Cleaning days at University accommodations also range from three times a week to fortnightly. Students are informed usually by notices in their kitchen of what time and day this will occur.
Regardless, it is the nature of some maintenance checks that have left some students, in the words of one anonymous complainant, feeling “very violated.”
A common feature of such complaints was that, regardless of the accommodation in which they occurred, such incidents often took place in the mornings, between 8am and noon.
Feeling their privacy was violated during such occurrences has been exacerbated by the fact that these situations often took place in the morning or, in one case, at midnight.
One student described how they were “still in pyjamas” when someone entered.
Others have gone further, detailing incidents of people being walked in on while “getting changed.”
Another described how a “flatmate was in the bath without the door locked … as we were all gone for Christmas and eight men came into our flat to fix something with no notice.”
These incidents have not always been ‘one-off’ occurrences, with some students saying they happened more than once.
A University of Edinburgh spokesperson responded to these claims: “We always give 48 hours’ notice before visiting a property, and on arrival, our staff will ring the doorbell or knock loudly on doors and bedroom doors before entering. Students are also informed of dates of fire tests and monthly safety checks by display notices on site.”
“Dorm parent door – Russia (S.S.)” by Pesky Library is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.