Great Court, London SE1 5DU

Very bad management. Lift has been Broken since forever and they are still providing excuses instead of solutions. Heater keep braking as well. Theres always issues with this place

I’m writing this review completely honestly because accommodation quality is crucial for international students, and I don’t want anyone to experience what I did here. The biggest issue was heating. The room heating kept turning on and off, roughly one hour on, one hour off. At night the gaps were even longer, and rooms were freezing cold. This continued throughout the entire winter. Hot water was also frequently unavailable. Residents across the building complained, and I have WhatsApp screenshots as evidence. The radiator in my room was checked several times for repair, but it never worked properly. It was almost impossible to stay in the room during winter. The kitchen radiator did not work for the whole winter either. I reported this multiple times to the manager, Karene. Karene sent someone to check it, and afterwards said, “there’s no problem; you must be keeping the window open.” However, everyone on my floor had to cook while wearing coats. Eventually, because I kept raising the issue and tried to change accommodation, Karene sent me an email accusing me of making it up. Afterwards, my flatmates emailed Karene to confirm that I wasn’t the only one complaining about the kitchen radiator, but still, nothing was fixed. Another major issue was the unpaid refund. In February, Karene told me I had been overcharged for the first two weeks and that a refund would be issued once I signed a new contract. I had paid a total of £1300, so the overcharged amount was approximately £600. Since I had told Karene that the heating situation constituted a breach and that I was considering small claims court, receiving a new contract right after that felt suspicious. I compared the old and new versions Karene sent and saw no difference; I asked Karene to explain the changes. She didn’t, but I signed it in good faith based on Karene’s promise that the refund would be processed. It has been nine months. I have emailed and messaged Karene and, later, the new managers many times. Despite assurances, the refund was never paid; no one provided a explanation. As management kept changing, I forwarded Karene’s original emails to every new manager and clearly explained the situation, still, nothing was resolved. In August, a new manager told me they owed me £60 and asked for my payment details, but even that hasn’t been paid. In total, they owe me around £660, and Karene and the management have failed to take any responsibility. Rooms are very small. If you stay on lower floors (I was on the 2nd), cigarette smoke from the smoking area fills the room whenever you open the window. On the positive side, the furniture and bathrooms were new, and the common areas were spacious and clean. I’m sure they will try to deny what I’ve written here, but everything above is documented. I have WhatsApp messages and emails. I’m happy to share proof if needed. I’m not posting this to attack anyone, I just don’t want other international students to go through the same experience.

I stayed here this year and to be honest it wasn’t great. The staff can be unhelpful sometimes and not very approachable. I had a horrible experience checking out where there was confusion about the time that we had to check out. Other residents who I talked to in the elevator were also confused. This miscommunication caused me to have to take a morning off work and use annual leave time. There is always a weird smell around the place. The rooms are ok but there were a few occasions where there was no hot water, this was particularly inconvenient in the winter months. The location was not very safe and I would normally have to take either a taxi or a bus from the tube to get home in the dark as I wasn’t comfortable walking that road. I was going to rebook but decided against it

My time at Great Court was nothing short of a complete and utter disappointment, representing shockingly poor value for money and a blatant disregard for basic tenant well-being. The rooms are small and poorly designed that you will immediately feel cheated, as it is painfully obvious the entire building was engineered to milk as much rent as possible from international students by cramming in an unreasonable number of rooms. This lack of care extends to maintenance, where reported issues are perpetually ignored; the dishwasher in my kitchen was broken for the entire duration of my tenancy, a full year, and was never once repaired. Most alarmingly, the chronic moisture problem caused the walls around my bathroom to expand and warp so severely that I could no longer close the door, presenting what I believe to be a serious health and safety hazard that management willfully neglected. Everything was poorly designed- I accidentally dipped a plastic bottle in my toilet and it broke through leaving a hole!! I cannot stress enough that you can, and absolutely should, find significantly better accommodation for this price. This place is an exploitative venture that preys on students, and I deeply regret my decision to stay here.

I have been living here for 4 months and I find the staff quite approachable, friendly and the manager Karene quite accommodating of my requests. The rent is on the higher side, but it includes amenities such as free bike rentals, gym, and a cinema room. Additionally, the management and staff often organize social events and gatherings for residents.