The Letting People
Leamington Spa, CV32
1.1/5, 15 reviews
0% recommended
0% sales valuation accuracy
13% sales fee satisfaction
0% lettings valuation accuracy
13% lettings fee satisfaction



Property Features


“I have recently had the misfortune of being a tenant ......”

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Mar 24,2014
Minithumbdown
By: 'MattShill'
Mar 24,2014
14 people found
this helpful
I have recently had the misfortune of being a tenant of The Letting People for 6 months in a 1-bedroom flat in Leamington Spa. On the door to their office is a quote saying how great they are, credited to ƒÂ¢¢â€šÂ¬…“Mr. A. LandlordƒÂ¢¢â€šÂ¬, and this hilariously transparent attempt at self-promotion sets the tone quite aptly for the experiences that follow.

I can only confirm and reiterate what others have said regarding this organisation - AVOID dealing with these people.

The main issue can be summarised as the lack of concern they show for their tenants, amounting to wilful evasion and deception. I would not have encountered this so much if I had no issues with the property - in their defence the initial signing of contracts was as helpful as you would expect. However, as soon as I moved in the trouble began, and from then on I was consistently ignored, fobbed off and frustrated at every turn.

One thing to understand is that the Mr and Mrs Kempster, the owners of the agency, also own a number of the properties they let out (this was the case for my flat). You will not be told this, but this obviously means there is no landlord acting as a customer to whom the 'agent' is answerable. Once you have signed the contract, the agency has no interest whatsoever in providing an adequate service. The agency staff will refer to the 'landlord' as if this is some distant third party, and will use this as an excuse to delay or avoid responding to issues. The whole process seems to be designed to lock tenants into a contract and then have as little involvement or contact as possible, spending nothing on maintenance or repairs, as long as you continue to cough up the rent.


Alarm bells first started to ring when I was issues an inventory for the property which had not been updated since 2009 (four years ago). This was obviously not representative of the current condition, leaving the responsibility to the tenant to record the condition of all items. Wholly unprofessional. On top of this, the state of the flat was well below expectations (large stain to lounge carpet hidden under an old rug, single glazing where EPC cert. had stated double, washing machine infested with mould, hot water system blocked with limescale and not functioning, fridge not functioning, kitchen table held together with gaffa tape, I could go on).

The first issue I tried to resolve was the functioning of the fridge. This was broken when I moved in (how had this not been checked?), and it took over TWO WEEKS for the agents to mobilise to pay for a replacement. Not acceptable, and I was treated as a nuisance throughout.

The electric shower was functioning so I was able to wash, but there was no hot water through the taps from the main tank for the entire period of my tenancy. Over the six months I was visited by 3 plumbers and the infamous Mr. Kempster himself, who brought a bag full of excuses and no solutions. One plumber diagnosed that the coil in the hot water cylinder was blocked with limescale, but TLP refused to replace this, leaving no domestic hot water supply for six months. Doing washing up using the kettle gets to be a real drag after half a year. The cause of the issue was that the flat still featured the original 1970s hot water cylinder, something which any conscientious landlord would have replaced two decades ago - a great example of their cost cutting in the extreme. I also contacted the previous tenants, who confirmed that they too had no hot water, so this was not a new issue.
It is worth noting that in failing to fix this, the landlord-agents were in breach of their legal obligations, and of their own tenancy agreement.

Aside from the water issue, the most galling problem arose after a half-term property inspection. This was performed by Letting People underling Chris. At this inspection, I raised my issues with the hot water and the condition of the carpet. Two days later, I received a letter in the post stating that the condition of the carpet was unacceptable, and I would be held liable for the cost of a replacement. This is after my recording the condition on the original inventory, and pointing it out to the agency employee on their visit. The timing of the message seemed to imply that if I was going to make complaints, the agency were willing to make things difficult. Luckily after stating my case this was not chased up further, but this behaviour either shows purposeful deception or else staggering levels of incompetence.

Further to their inability to rectify problems, studying the contract carefully you will find hidden costs at every turn (numbers may not be entirely accurate, working from memory):
‚£30 to borrow a spare key from the office if you find yourself locked out (yeah ok, my mistake).
‚£170 'check out administration fee' (remember the inventory doesn't get routinely updated, and nothing is cleaned between tenants, so god knows what this pays for).
A punitive 10% ƒÂ¢¢â€šÂ¬‹Å“admin fee' from your deposit ADDED to the cost of any work they have carried out following your checkout (sure this wouldn't stand up to dispute however).

The level of evasiveness I have described is shared by all the employees I dealt with (you will rarely speak to the same person twice). I can only assume the owners either provide some kind of training in how to ignore problems, or else have a robust vetting process to employ only those who share their passion for customer neglect. The level of disgust with which 'local entrepreneur' Caroline Kempster manages to treat the tenants who have the misfortune of dealing directly with her is really something.

All I can say to conclude is that if these people are set on owning a property empire, they would be better off letting them via a real, professional letting agent rather than their own incompetent two-bit operation. A better solution still would be to put their investment into something less demanding, like premium bonds. Renting a property via this agency was a frustrating, stressful, expensive, and thoroughly unpleasant experience.
What agent could do to change your mind?
Ensure cleanliness of flat before moving in. Ensure functioning of fridge and hot water. Arrange proper repairs in a timely manner. Offer reduction of rent to cover period in which they were in breach of agreement (by providing no hot water). Offer apology when wrongfully accused of damaging carpet. Ensure professional demeanour of all staff. Not be such a greedy, ignorant, cost-cutting, unprofessional gaggle of clowns.
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Opening Hours
Address

The Letting People
1st floor, 113 Regent Street
Leamington Spa
Warwickshire
CV32 4NU
01926 882 555

Performance statistics
Services Valuation Accuracy Fees Satisfaction Min Price of property reviewed Max Price of property reviewed
Sales 0% 13% £0 £0
Lettings 0% 13% £650 £1,200
Review statistics
From Landlords From Tenants From Vendors From Buyers Other
0 1 0 11 0 0 0 0 0 3
Areas covered
Services offered
  • Sales
  • Lettings
  • Block Management
  • Surveys
  • Conveyancing
  • Mortgage Advice
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“A wholly unpleasant experience - a mistake we won't make twice...”

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Sep 22,2018
Minithumbdown
By: 'Angry'
Sep 22,2018
1 people found
this helpful
PLEASE READ: We have been tenants with a number of letting agencies up and down the UK. Of course, we have had our fair share of issues, but never to the extent that we felt angry enough to write a review in order to warn ...
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Comment on agent fees
Unreasonable. No transparency.
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“It took 130 Days to get my Deposit back. 130 DAYS! 4 and ......”

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Feb 08,2017
Minithumbdown
By: 'Chris.'
Feb 08,2017
4 people found
this helpful
It took 130 Days to get my Deposit back. 130 DAYS! 4 and a half months!! After creating a fake dispute, taking an age to argue the case. Other than that they seem to be professional. . .maybe they need more staff. . .but if you like getting your deposit ...
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Comment on agent fees
Bad
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“Absolutely dreadful service. Lied about the property to encourage me ......”

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Jan 30,2017
Minithumbdown
By: 'Disappointed'
Jan 30,2017
3 people found
this helpful
Absolutely dreadful service. Lied about the property to encourage me to let it and then charged for my leaving the property when I found out what they promised was actually not true. Completely incompetent! Billed several times for the same months rent and when provided ...
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Comment on agent fees
Bad
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By: Tenant
Jul 03, 2018
View all comments (1)
Can you please put this comment on google reviews...they are ripping off tenants ...

“Incompetent service and business practices verging on fraudulent from a ......”

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Apr 26,2016
Minithumbdown
By: 'Tenant'
Apr 26,2016
4 people found
this helpful
Incompetent service and business practices verging on fraudulent from a company out solely for themselves. They claimed high administration fees for bad service, carried out property inspections without notifying us, and upon leaving the property, invoiced for work that was not necessary. All done with ...
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Comment on agent fees
Poor.
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By: Tenant
Jul 03, 2018
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Can you please put this comment on google reviews...they are ripping off tenants ...

“Worst letting agency ever! They charge you for ANYTHING. I ......”

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Feb 28,2016
Minithumbdown
By: 'T'
Feb 28,2016
4 people found
this helpful
Worst letting agency ever! They charge you for ANYTHING. I regret since the day I signed my contract with them. Really bad professionals, don't know at all how to deal with their clients....
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“I called to book a viewing... The lady took my ......”

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May 23,2015
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By: 'Un'
May 23,2015
4 people found
this helpful
I called to book a viewing... The lady took my details said she'd call the landlord and tennants to arrange... She never got back to me that day so I call the next day to ask again with the same woman. Again 2 days went past ...
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What agent could do to change your mind?
Poor customer service and expensive rental prices. People rent for a reason! They cannot afford to buy!
Attached Filesnbsp;
Comment on agent fees
Similar houses go for around ƒâ€š‚£850 to ƒâ€š‚£900 max for that type of property.... As the one at Helmdale road too.... As both houses to rent don't seem to be in immaculate condition! Fair prices please and most of all customer communication!!
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“Please please do not even think of using this letting ......”

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Nov 27,2014
Minithumbdown
By: 'Charlie'
Nov 27,2014
3 people found
this helpful
Please please do not even think of using this letting agent. I wish we had listened to people's advice before we used them to manage our property. They are very slow at responding to issues and we found quicker and better for our tenants to ...
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What agent could do to change your mind?
The Letting People - Leamington - Anthony Kempster - worst letting agent - bad customer service - poor communication - no personal touch..!
Attached Filesnbsp;
Comment on agent fees
Easier and quicker to get involved yourself to sort issues - most of the staff follow their 'leader' ie to have no respect for the landlords and their views but to make as much money as possible.
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By: Tenant
Jul 03, 2018
View all comments (1)
Can you please put this comment on google reviews...they are ripping off tenants ...

“As a technical contractor I move around every 2-3 years ......”

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Oct 16,2014
Minithumbdown
By: 'Julie'
Oct 16,2014
5 people found
this helpful
As a technical contractor I move around every 2-3 years and have rented many properties, never have I come across such a cold and deceptive company, I was left devastated after my experience with the letting people. The unjustified hidden charges were a shock but ...
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“My experience with this Agency has been really bad from ......”

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Apr 29,2014
Minithumbdown
By: 'Disapointed'
Apr 29,2014
4 people found
this helpful
My experience with this Agency has been really bad from the beginning. Please be careful if you need to deal with them and if you can avoid them, I would recommend it. After you pay the reference fees (‚£250) you will be given an A4 paper ...
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By: B
Jun 02, 2017
View all comments (1)
I find them to be racist as they don't seem to want people of Afro-carribean background viewing properties. I asked for a viewing and was told there wasn't any slot for three days. A friend phoned and was told there's a slot for 9am next day. In this time and age a racist letting agent. Disgusting!!! ...

“I have recently had the misfortune of being a tenant ......”

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Mar 24,2014
Minithumbdown
By: 'MattShill'
Mar 24,2014
14 people found
this helpful
I have recently had the misfortune of being a tenant of The Letting People for 6 months in a 1-bedroom flat in Leamington Spa. On the door to their office is a quote saying how great they are, credited to ƒÂ¢¢â€šÂ¬…“Mr. A. LandlordƒÂ¢¢â€šÂ¬, and this hilariously ...
read full review
What agent could do to change your mind?
Ensure cleanliness of flat before moving in. Ensure functioning of fridge and hot water. Arrange proper repairs in a timely manner. Offer reduction of rent to cover period in which they were in breach of agreement (by providing no hot water). Offer apology when wrongfully accused of damaging carpet. Ensure professional demeanour of all staff. Not be such a greedy, ignorant, cost-cutting, unprofessional gaggle of clowns.
Attached Filesnbsp;
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“I have been letting a 2 bedroom flat from the letting ......”

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Aug 02,2012
Minithumbdown
By: 'freewaycola'
Aug 02,2012
8 people found
this helpful
I have been letting a 2 bedroom flat from the letting people since august 31st 2011, and can say that my experience is that they do not value their tennants in the slightest. Reporting issues has to be done by e-mail, not much of a problem, but ...
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“An absolute disgrace of a letting agents ---- AVOID AT ......”

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Aug 02,2012
Minithumbdown
By: 'Disgruntled'
Aug 02,2012
9 people found
this helpful
An absolute disgrace of a letting agents ---- AVOID AT ALL COSTS. The other negative reviews on this site are completely true and testament to what a shady, corrupt and odious individual Mr Anthony Kempster is! Had a terrible time with him as the landlords ...
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“The Letting People in Leamington Spa, were the worst estate ......”

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Jul 07,2012
Minithumbdown
By: 'Anon'
Jul 07,2012
8 people found
this helpful
The Letting People in Leamington Spa, were the worst estate agents I have ever experienced. There customer service skills were none existent. From the minute we signed the tenancy agreement - they had forced us into hidden costs that we not explained at the start. ...
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“We viewed a property without a hitch with them and ......”

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Mar 22,2012
Minithumbdown
By: 'What'
Mar 22,2012
7 people found
this helpful
We viewed a property without a hitch with them and they seemed pretty expensive in comparison to most letting organisations charging in excess of ‚£300+ for 2 adult applicants(me and my wife). When I called their offices to discuss an issue with the prospective landlady of ...
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“WARNING!! I had the misfortune of attempting to rent a ......”

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Jul 31,2011
Minithumbdown
By: 'David'
Jul 31,2011
5 people found
this helpful
WARNING!! I had the misfortune of attempting to rent a property through The Letting People in Leamington Spa. In May 2011 I found a property and paid an administration fee of ‚£199. Once my references had cleared I paid a further ‚£1990 deposit and rent for the first ...
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No fees information available
Kindly note that legally, letting agents need to publish information about their tenancy fees, government-approved redress schemes and client money protection schemes on their website and on third party websites (on which agents are listed). For properties to lease/rent in England, agents need to keep this information up to date and precise on allAgents or specify within the property description.

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Awards won by The Letting People, Leamington Spa CV32 4NU



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