Real Life Renting Experiences Shared On Asktenants.co.uk

This post originally appeared on Asktenants.co.uk

Tenants have been rating their rental properties and landlords on Asktenants.co.uk since the launch of the website. The website has survey style rating process which covers all the major problems tenants face while renting. Depending on now the tenants answered the survey every property gets a score.

58% of tenants say they are/were happy with their rental property and would recommend it to other tenants. The average score on recommended properties is 8.7/10 with properties scoring well on all counts. 42% of the properties are not recommended by tenants with their average score being 3.0/10. We have a lot of reviews but have handpicked few good and bad experiences. These reviews have been shared on Asktenants.co.uk and have not been edited.

The data has been gathered together and used to paint a compelling picture of the UK rental scene – with many landlords slammed for poor practices and others praised for going the extra mile for tenants.

Bad experiences

SW8 Two bed 1-bath. Rent £1,430 per month. Moth and Gas safety issues and was evicted when I complained.

“The flat was infested with moths, didn’t have a gas safety certificate in place, didn’t have working heating in the largest area of the property for seven months, had bad damp and condensation problems, and the alarm was faulty (it would go off at random times, waking us up and bothering the neighbors). There was a range of other slightly less serious issues.

After constant pressure from me to sort out the most serious issue (gas safety), they sent two different gas engineers. Both concluded that various gas appliances were unsafe. As this and other issues were not resolved promptly, I had to involve the Council. As soon as the landlord knew about the Council\’s involvement, he served a Section 21 notice, making use of the 6-month break clause. I asked for a couple of months so my daughter could finish her school year but the landlord was adamant and even took me to court as retaliation. He intended to keep a substantial percentage of my deposit – we even had to go to arbitration. I finally got my full deposit back but the process was draining and time-consuming.”

W5 London Studio Rent £825 per month. Mould, damp and invasive landlords

“Riddles with mould and damp which destroyed expensive bags and shoes. The landlords just insisted that this was my fault for having a shower (?!) and that no other tenant had ever had an issue. I found the previous tenant on a social networking site who confirmed she did have a terrible mould problem. To top it off the landlords are attempting to not only keep my entire deposit but also to charge me extra to \’treat the damp problem and to redecorate.\’ Landlady walked in without my prior consent (I was home sick so opened the door) landlady also walked away with letters that were on my windowsill and not addressed to her! Nice area but terrible, terrible landlords and terrible mould problem. Rent was reasonable but only rent if you fancy developing asthma, losing your deposit and having invasive landlords.”

1 Bed – Abbey Road London NW8, £1300 per month – Bitten by millions of bed bugs.

“I have been renting in London for the past 5 years and this was by far my worst experience. I was very excited to rent a 1 bed and move out of a house-share. And I agreed to pay a sizeable amount for this flat, which seemed in a nice building. Little did I know that I was not alone in the flat. The flat came infested with millions of bedbugs and I submitted photo proofs of them (including one of me being bitten all over).

I received help after 2-3 days of living in that condition. Even then the issue was not solved as the landlord tried to for a cheaper solution rather than the effective one. After weeks of complaining, I was asked to pack up all my belongings and let the bug terminators 4-6 weeks. Please don’t get surprised when the landlord expected me to leave the flat for 4-6 weeks and expected me to pay in full. After much negotiation, we agreed on landlord waiving the rent for 4 weeks.

And just when I thought I was getting comfortable, the ceiling started leaking. Again after many cut paste cheap jobs and weeks later, when the problem wasn’t solved, I was asked to not use electricity in the living room. Basically not occupy it as the water interfered with electricity. And was asked to pay the rent in full, despite not being able to use the flat in full. The reason cited was I still have a bed to sleep in. This went on for another 4-5 weeks and despite trying to seek legal help, I was told that the agreement was drawn in favor of the landlord. Meaning, the landlord tried to help! Had he not tried to help, the legal case would have been stronger. However, since he tried to help, despite it taking 6 + weeks, I had to pay the full rent.

I decided the stop my tenancy right there. And wouldn’t recommend anyone going through such a harrowing experience by dealing with that landlord / managing agent again!

I would not recommend this landlord or agency to anyone.”

Wembley High Road, 1 Bed £855 per month. Great property but unexpected visitors (bailiffs and police)

“The property was in excellent condition with very good amenities. The location is excellent but very very busy especially on match days. The owner let out the house to us as he was fed up of London and moving out of the country to start a business in another country. He knocked off several ££ from the rent and it was a good deal. In reality, he fled the country to escape bailiffs. A month after we moved in, we started getting regular visits from the police and bailiffs looking for the owner to recover debts. There were lots of letters that came in the name of the owner and his family members which were seized by the police. The police and bailiffs were very polite and did not harass us but we did not want to deal with his mess and have them coming so often looking for the owner. During our moving notice period, we got to know that the owner had missed his mortgage payments and the house was going to be repossessed so it was a good thing we decided to move earlier. We are yet to receive our deposit which was not protected.”

Illford, 1 Bed £850 per month.  Rodent infestation  & bed bugs – slept on the sofa for weeks.

“We complained about a faulty Tap in the Kitchen, which the landlord paid no attention to. That is, until the day we moved out. After we moved out, he cared to repair it.

There was heavy rodent infestation.

The bathroom was given to us in extremely dirty condition.

Bed mattress was infested by bugs, but eventually, the landlord arranged for pest control after we slept in the sofa for weeks.

There was once an intruder incident, who broke windows and glasses. Not very friendly neighborhood.”

London NW10 Building works, blocked toilets, cockroaches. Half the deposit deducted.

“Both the estate agent and the landlord failed to inform us that a conservatory was to be built off the back of the downstairs bedroom, which started being built at the beginning of our 6 months let, then was left leaving the downstairs bedroom dark. and looking out onto a concrete room.

There was an infestation of cockroaches from the beginning which still wasn’t gone when we left.

-There was a rat on the top floor.

-The toilet was blocked then temporarily fixed then blocked again.

-It was advertised with a dishwasher which never worked.

-The washing machine broke and took 6 weeks to fix, but we were never offered money towards the launderette.

-They never gave us half our deposit back due to dirt in the sink and the inside of the oven door not being clean. They charged us for a cleaner and never showed us the bill for this.

Looking back on it I don\’t know why I didn\’t put up more of a fight, I was only 19 at the time.”

 London EC1, Shared room £650 a month. No male guests allowed, clogged toilets, cannot choose service providers.

“Landlord lives out of the country most of the time but will return to flat to stay for a whole month about twice a year. Tenancy is not a lodger tenancy, it is AST. Invites his friends/family to use his room as well. Notice is given but it is awkward with them there. Tenants are told no male guests. Certain drawers and items within the flat cannot be touched as they are the landlord\’s personal items. Does not allow tenants to choose their own bill providers, but also bills are not included. No deposit protection scheme used. Silverfish in poorly maintained bathroom. Landlord clogged toilet while staying, charged tenants and blamed sanitary pads.”

Wembley 1 Bedroom – £1,300 per month. Drugs and drinking in communal areas.

“Antisocial problems in the building (people taking drugs and drinking in the stairwell) means common spaces are a mess + inaccessible at night. The pricing of the rent in the building does not reflect this problem. Regularly lost water supply, if this happened in the afternoon this was not fixed until the next day and then there would be an evening/morning with no water. When water loss occurred in the day it was usually fixed by the evening. Regular power cuts. The flat was not clean when we moved in, clumps of hair were in the bedroom and glass on the roof terrace.

An amazing landlord, really friendly, helpful and honest. Assisted us with unhelpful estate agents + a few initial issues when moving in.”

London E3, Shared accommodation. £900/- month. Airbnb guests too often with poor communication.

“PROPERTY TO BE AVOIDED – Property full of Airbnb guests : no ability to bond with anyone, high level of turnover  – Not trustworthy: the managing agents tried to get extra money from me TWICE (wanted me to pay for gardening service AFTER I left by removing £45 from my deposit for a task that hadn\’t been done yet ; as I hadn\’t canceled a standing order to pay my rent, the managing agent removed £125 from the rent I transferred by mistake, to transfer it back to me, due to \”extra work\” !!) – Didn’t feel safe : as the managing agents didn’t say when a new tenant was moving in, I was afraid of meeting strangers in my own house every day  >> one night I came back and found a “stranger” in the house. How could I know he was a tenant if I didn’t know someone was moving in?!! – Rude: the managing agents never told when they were coming, came into the house when they wanted, opened the door and walked into the house without waiting for me to open the door. – Poor quality of service : one of the managing agents was supposed to speak French (told me by email before we met) and when I wanted to speak in French, spoke in English on purpose, even though no native people were around… not helpful when you just arrived in a new city. – Really expensive for the area: £820 (bills NOT included) > £900 pm for a 9m2 room.” 

Good experiences

Isleworth TW7 – 2 Bedrooms, £1,200 per month.

“Amazing property! Great decor, good road links, well maintained, nice kitchen, buses are right at door step and very frequent. 237 goes to Chiswick and Westfield and comes every 5 minutes or so. Not too far from Richmond when you are in a mood to jog in Richmond Park and not too far from Hounslow when you are in a mood to eat a curry. Never saw the landlord as it was never required – nothing broke. Bassets Estate agents were great and very friendly. Had most memorable moments in flat and would highly recommend to anyone.”

TwickenhamTW1 – 2 Bedrooms, £1,450 per month

“We had a wonderful time living in flat B.  The light and spacious atmosphere with a park just around the corner and a great pub with a friendly and vibrant local church.  Friendly neighbors who always seemed to keep an eye out for us. The Estate Agent, Parkgate, were fantastic and always very helpful.  The Landlord was a bit tricky towards the end, but nothing that Parkgate was not able to help us with. Parking can be an issue due to the Bridge Club opposite, particularly on a Sunday evening, but mostly you are able to park nearby and certainly within a couple of minutes’ walk. The other owners/tenants of number 5 were generally very pleasant.  I would highly recommend living in this area as we had the most fabulous start to our married lives here, and even left with a baby in tow!”

London E3 – 2 Bedrooms, £1,700 per month.

“We enjoyed renting this flat so much, the landlord is fantastic and so helpful. Any problems were fixed the same day or as soon as possible. The location is great too and we loved overlooking the canal and occasionally hearing the sounds of ducks and geese. Peaceful and lovely. No problems with neighbors or noise.”

Richmond TW10 – 3 Bedrooms, £1800 per month.

“One of the best flats ever – Chancellor’s estate agents were good and so was the landlord. Fixed any issues straight away, responded to emails as well. Few things I particularly liked about the flat area) Huge storage in every room b) View from the kitchen overseeing St Mathias church c) Kids room.

Great memories – happily recommend to anyone.”

Leominster HR6 – 1 Bedroom, £405 per month

“Amazing landlady who was not just a landlady but a friend. Any problems fixed straight away. Had a new bathroom suite put in? When I moved out I moved my sister in didn’t want anyone else to have the house!”

Eastbourne BN – 4 Bedrooms.

“Thoroughly enjoyed living in this property. The landlord was brilliant and always dealt with any problems promptly. He even brought gifts around at Christmas time for everyone in the house including a child and one tenant with a serious gluten allergy.”

Newport 2 Bedrooms – £450 per month.

“Very good landlord experience, Barry has a high level of integrity and always showed an interest in how we settled in.”

SE22 London -2 Bedrooms, £1,500 per month.

“Excellent landlord. We had a very pleasant stay at this flat and all issues were promptly dealt with and resolved. We were sad to move on when we changed jobs and have recommended this to our friends. The flat is within walking distance of Dulwich Park and Horimans museum and a short bus ride or 10 min walk to forest hill station. It’s also very close to the lovely shops on lordship lane in Dulwich.”

The aim of Asktenants.co.uk is to build a Trip Advisor style website for tenants where every tenant can read past experiences of tenants who had lived in the property. We cannot succeed without tenants giving us 2 minutes of their time to share their experiences. Please help us by rating your rental on Asktenants.co.uk.