“Get everything confirmed in writing...”
1 Star Review
Jul 30,2018
By:
'Doug'
Jul 30,2018
Branch: London, 143 Tottenham Lane
Services: Lettings (as a Tenant)
Rent PCM: £1400
Would you recommend?: No
Postcode: AB31
Branch: London, 143 Tottenham Lane
Lettings (as a Tenant)
Rent PCM: £1400
Postcode: AB31
4
people found
this helpful
I rented a flat through the Property Company last year. TPC follow a Foxton's business model: separate teams for pre- and post-contract signing. This meant that although we negotiated a number of things over the phone prior to signing the contract (a new mattress, a fresh lick of paint, carpet cleaning), these had not been followed through when we moved in. We pushed for the new mattress, however where we had agreement for the paintwork we were then told 'it's not possible' when we had been passed over to our managing agent. Key items in the flat had also been left in disrepair when we moved in - the slats on the bed were falling through, there was a broken lamp which had obviously been left by the previous tenant, and a sodden dirty white towel draped over the bath. When we complained about these, we were told to leave as is and they were even included on the inventory!
We kept to ourselves during the tenancy and kept the flat well maintained. However, in November of the first year, we lost hot water in the shower. We raised this with the managing agent, who advised that a TPC engineer would visit to repair this. Apparently one did, but nothing changed. This resulted in a back and forth where we would keep raising that the water was tepid, only for Agi to state that the engineer had visited and didn't know what we were talking about as he couldn't find a problem. This lasted for 3 months.
Eventually, out of despair, I tracked down the landlord directly via the internet. He had been advised that the repair was conducted in November, and to his credit got an independent engineer arranged the same day - this engineer confirmed there was a clear, easily rectified problem and that the hot water temperature was sitting at 32C in the tank (legal limit is 50C+). He repaired this within days - we had been left to use tepid water for showering for most of the winter.
At the end of tenancy, we had a professional clean and left the place spotless. Managing agent claimed that the check-out clerk had advised we are charged for some issues however he had waived these as a gesture of good will: these turned out to be the absence of the dirty towel and broken lamp from check-in! He also requested that we "post us a review praising the management / maintenance department and of course me your dedicated property manager!".
Three key lessons from this - firstly make sure you get the landlord details from TPC before signing the contract: this is your legal right but can take some time if you request it later. This may be useful, as despite the fact that TPC are acting on behalf of your landlord, it may not be in their best interests.
Secondly, do all your correspondence in writing. We had a lot of phone calls before and after contract negotiation, and it's clear from other reviews that TPC's word doesn't count for much. Get everything in writing or record it via email.
Finally, bear in mind that the requests on TPC website/Google are prone to selection bias. TPC go out of their way to request positive reviews - for example my wife was asked to provide a review for TPC when she picked up the keys to our flat, before she'd even seen it. I've tried to be as objective as possible with this one, but there's not anything positive I could say.
Comment on agent fees
The same as many london fees - too high
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