16th Sep 2026 (6 weeks ago)
We were asked to leave a review for our experience with Lancasters on the day we picked up the keys. I did not feel like I could without retaliation while the tenancy was active. We primarily dealt with Daniel White and the agency's managing director, Kevin Crossfield.<br><br>We had a viewing where we were verbally informed the works on the house would be completed. They were not by the time we picked the keys up. Photos attached: incomplete works, visible debris, carpet still covered in plastic to protect from works, ladder left behind in a room, food rubbish still left in the fridge etc. The property needed hours of deep-clean by ourselves. On raising concerns, we were initially met with an understanding of the situation and an assurance to fix this quickly.<br><br>Nearly a month later of constant inspections for remedial work, constant emails, many phone calls of escalation, and formal complaint we managed to get into a position to be able to live in the house. We were told we couldn't cancel the tenancy as it is a fixed tenancy and so it was too late. We were then told it was our fault for wanting to move in on the date we wanted. We were also told we knew what the property looked like on viewing despite clear assurance the works would be completed prior. We were also blamed for being unreasonable that the property had only minor issues, despite the pictures attached. A whole month of rent felt wasteful.<br><br>We were also repeatedly informed that as agents they were only able to act on what the landlords can authorise, which is understandable but they were continuing to take commission from our rent hence also responsible.<br><br>Further problems with the house through the tenancy included: a delayed response to replacing an internal smoke alarm (1 month), a completely missed expired gas certificate where we were contacted nearly a month after the expiration to set a date at which point we had a response a month later to this. At this point we decided to move out and not continue to be involved further.<br><br>Any further evidence to this review would be available as they have all been neatly organised.<br><br>Update: I have noted the reply from Lancasters. The pictures speak a thousand words. This post is to warn other potential customers. I would genuinely avoid this company. It was an incredibly stressful renting process and we were treated very poorly. Things only improved slightly following involvement of the property redress scheme, who was also quite unhelpful overall.... Read more