“Unfortunately I had the misfortune of renting out a property ......”
1 Star Review
Jan 06,2015
By:
'Resident'
Jan 06,2015
Branch: Swindon, 165 Victoria Road
Services: Lettings (as a Tenant)
Rent PCM: £625
Would you recommend?: No
Postcode: SN1
Branch: Swindon, 165 Victoria Road
Lettings (as a Tenant)
Rent PCM: £625
Postcode: SN1
3
people found
this helpful
Unfortunately I had the misfortune of renting out a property from gatekeepers in Chain Court, Old Town, Swindon. The problem started from first viewing when the gatekeeper agent lied to about damp marks on the walls. We were told they were historic issues and had been fixed however a few days after we moved in we realised that the wall had mould growing on it. Six months ahead, after countless number of visits from supposedly damp experts and a large hole in the wall to investigate the issue, nothing has been done yet. Me and my wife are both developed breathing problems and my numerous tries to get released from the contract have failed on the basis that the damp issue is under investigation and there is nothing else the landlord can do about it.
We are forced to sleep in the lounge of a two bedroom flat because both bedroom are in unliveable conditions due to exposure to mould.
Furthermore when we moved in the bed in the second bedroom was broken. On contacting gatekeepers, rather then apologising the landlord sent a message through them to say ¢â‚¬Å“I allow the tenants to buy their own bed however they will have to store the broken bed in the property and put it back up when they leave¢â‚¬Â. After a few heated arguments they agreed to replace the bed, a month after we moved in.
There have been numerous other issues in the 5 months we have been in the property ranging from washing machine breaking down, mould in kitchen cabinets to finding used razor blades behind the toilet sink from previous tenants.
I am not sure how they are with other tenants but from this experience I would not recommend gatekeeper to anyone and would advise any prospective tenants to contact current tenants about behaviour of the landlord with tenants.
What agent could do to change your mind?
Should be more mindful of tenants rather than just being a landlord's agent. Tenants are the ones who suffer from any problems with the property. The landlord and estate agents should appreciate that any delays in rectifying these issues have a huge impact on their standard of living especially issues that can impact tenant's health e.g. mould. At the end of the day tenants are your customers and you have no business if you have no tenants.
Attached Filesnbsp;
Comment on agent fees
In comparison to the service I received, I think this was the worst investment I have ever made. Highly overpriced for the level of service/
Beware of the end of tenancy fee and renewal fee
3
people found
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Was this helpful?
Yes
Unfortunately properties are not always straightforward and despite our experience and efforts, it is sometimes hard to forecast future issues - or indeed the reoccurrance of past issues. We concede that there is an isolated condensation issue with this individual property, which we believed to be a historic and rectified problem. We let and manage other properties within the same development which are unaffected. Investigative steps were taken by a damp specialist when the problem reocurred, which confirmed that it is due to a lack of ventilation. We have provided the tenants with a humidity meter and given them advice about measures to fix the situation, including keeping window dressings open during the day and opening windows while cooking or running hot water to reduce humidity trapped within the property. Our Senior Property Manager and Director of Property Care have both visited the property on numerous occasions to assess and monitor the situation.
Sadly issues such as washing machines breaking are beyond our control, but we pride ourselves on offering a quick repair/replacement service in these circumstances. We do always ensure that properties are domestically clean before a new tenancy begins, plus provide a fully photographic inventory, so if we and the previous tenants had both missed something that had fallen behind the sink, this is unintentional and unfortunate.
The fault with the bed was reported on 14th August and, after a new one was delivered, the tenants kindly emailed their Property Manager to thank her for sorting everything out, so it is a shame to see this being raised here too.
We would never advise potential tenants to contact the current tenants of any property as we don't think it is fair to expect our tenants' lives to be disrupted by prospective tenants' questions. We will however always give a fair and honest description of anything we have had to attend to during the time we have managed a property and we will pass on any questions we cannot answer to the landlord to obtain answers for you.
We do consider our tenants to be very important to us; we agree that they are our customers too and while we are the landlords' agent and must act on their behalf, we are always quick to advise when we feel something should be done for the benefit of the tenants. Further, our tenants have a direct line to contact a dedicated Property Manager should they ever have any problems, plus an out of hours line in case of emergency issues with their property. We are usually very pleased with the customer survey responses we receive on a daily basis from both landlords and tenants at gatekeeper.co.uk/feedback, which is why we are so disappointed to receive such a bad review here.