Concept Estate Agents

I have been renting for over 12 years and the one year in a house let by concept is honestly the worst experience I've had by far. There are many things that they did (or did not) do but mainly: - lack of responsiveness in dealing with issues. They really don't care as long as they are pocketing money. They did sort some things out but it takes them a really long time and they certainly do not communicate with you as if you matter. - we had a list of serious issues with the house that meant we eventually had to get environmental health around who produced a report covering the damp and fire safety issues. Concept did nothing. Not even acknowledging we were living in these conditions. The only thing that helps is that I believe they were fined because of their lack of action. - the damp meant Iost a lot of my possessions - clothes, shoes and pretty much anything else. Still now my clothes smell of damp after several washes so I need to throw out more. The room was horrible to sleep in. Concept / the landlords wouldn't even engage with us when we asked if they could at least buy dehumidifiers so we had to. The environmental health report clearly showed there were issues with the property causing the damp - we'd been telling them about the rising damp downstairs for the whole time I was a tenant there but they didn't appear to take it seriously. - the damp also meant several of us got quite sick over the tenancy with chest infections and mental health problems with the conditions being a contributing factor. - to top it off when we left they tried to take around �1000 of our deposit. Only through consulting people like Shelter and friends who work in housing were we able to put together a response that took a lot of out time and was vet stressful. People in a more vulnerable position would not have been able to do so. Within a few hours of receiving the email they agreed to only take �250 ish of deposit (still too much but they cannot clearly have believed �1000 was accurate - just a scam to make more money / recoup the fine money I'm guessing). - they also charge you at any point possible. If any other company charged you in this way but provided this service it would not be allowed. Clearly the industry needs regulating. I don't think we're alone in having bad experiences with them. I could continue to list them. They have a very impersonal approach with tenants (AJ in particular might appear now and again but nothing gets done). Even thinking about the experience now causes distress, I can only feel for people in a more vulnerable position and the impact such agents and landlords are having. If the industry was at all regulated as it should be I don't they would survive.