Interview with the 'Editors'
Dingy flats, disgusting housemates, nightmare landlords – you’d be pretty exceptional if you managed to graduate without a few housing horror stories. Here Editors drummer Ed Lay spills the beans on student living to Shelter.
Although they didn’t form the band they are today until after they graduated, Editors met in their first few days at Staffordshire University.
“I met Russell [bassist] at the open day, and the other two were down the hall,” says Ed. “There were a group of about ten of us who started hanging out and it just felt really comfortable.”
The guys moved into a house together at the start of their second year and have been living in each other’s pockets pretty much ever since. “We were really lucky as students, our landlord was a thoroughly reasonable bloke. The worst thing that happened in our house was when I came back from Christmas holidays about 9pm on a Sunday night to discover that the electricity had run out and we’d forgotten to set the heating to come on. The pipes had burst so there was no water, and the shops were shut so I couldn’t top up the electricity. I’d had a great break and suddenly I was alone in a pitch dark, freezing cold house. “
“I know how lucky we were with our landlord though – some of our friends moved into their house to discover all their living room furniture had scabies in it, and the landlord refused to replace it. Another group had their full rent deposit withheld because they left a tiny burn mark in their living room carpet.”
Because they know of all the housing problems students can encounter, Ed and his bandmates are urging students to check out their housing rights using Shelter’s Know Your Rights service: www.shelter.org.uk/knowyourrights
“It’s really important that you know the practicalities of renting and what your rights are if you have any problems”, says Ed. Other than that, “Just try to live in harmony.”
Last updated on: 13 November 2008