Please help us :(

[Benz901123]

Dear All,

We're a group of 4 students from the University of Nottingham. We're planning to rent this 4 persons house approximately 15 minutes walk from the university. We really need some help because we're in quite a tough situation now. We paid our deposit for the house (4*300 pounds) and we're suspecting that one of the "rooms" our landlord is renting to us isn't legally habitable.

Please see the attached picture. The room is an attic room and from its looks, it was initially built only for storage. The ceiling is really really low (around 1.9m and only 40% of it isn't slanting down) and the windows are really low as well (we literally have to squat down to open them). As I read on the planning portal website for loft conversion regulations, the side opening windows of the room has to be 1.7m above the floor.

We're thinking of getting our deposit back for this room (£300) but the landlord insists that the room is fine and it has been previously occupied by students too.

Can you kindly advice us on what we should do? Also on whether or not this attic room meets the legal requirement of a "habitable room" in the uk. If not, I think what we'll do is that we'll get the local authorities to come and make sure that it's not, then to also have them tell the landlord that it is illegall to be renting this room out and we'll be able to ask him for the deposit for this room.

Thank you, any help is greatly appreciated.

Kind Regards,
Benjamin

[New Homes Expert]

Why not get your university welfare officer or student union to have a look at it.
I think the minimum height used to be 2.3m and 2m in a bay window I think that has gone now.

The real question is "Who would want to live in this room?"