30th Apr 2026 (9 days ago)
This was not a good experience and I would recommend avoiding this agency. Firstly though, the positive:
They responded to a concern that we had regarding the status of the property that would have constituted a health hazard. They commissioned works to fix the issue and they were promptly and effectively carried out. They were also always polite and friendly in their communication.
However the reasons I recommend avoiding them is as follows:
They took over management of our tenancy from a previous agency and neglected to perform any checks of the status of the property.
When they did take over, they called us to up our rent by 1/3rd. It's quite unusual to raise rent by such a high amount like this. They made it clear that we would have to leave if we couldn't comply, but we grudgingly did as we knew our rent was lower than the market value due to Covid making rents generally lower at the time we signed the contract.
When we moved out, they tried to deduct the cost of our professional clean (£170+) from our deposit despite the fact that we'd cleaned it to a high standard and knew we weren't liable.
They relied on the assumption that we would be too intimidated to challenge them and that we wouldn't know the law. We fought and won all of our deposit back, and they wasted our time for months and attempted to deny us money which they knew was rightfully ours.
Because they didn't have any evidence, as they'd neglected to take any stock of the inventory or the status of the property when they should have, they didn't have any way to prove their claims, which already had no basis.
At this time and other times during our tenancy, they also showed a willingness to lie outright, both in person and in written communication, and didn't seem concerned or aware that they were contradicting themselves.
For these reasons, I would recommend avoiding the agency, both as a prospective tenant and as an owner.
They cannot be trusted in their words and engage in intimidation and manipulation as part of their standard business practice.
Their approach might have worked in the past, even leaving aside the ethical issue, but it is very unsuited to the future, where renters rights are ever increasingly protected and people have access to more information and ways to communicate.... Read more