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Bill Free Homes
3.8/5, 14 Reviews
64% Recommended
100% letting valuation accuracy
83% letting fee satisfaction
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"I would strongly advise not..."
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2 Star Review
By : 'NotHappy'
Services :
Rent PCM : £400
Would you recommend ? : No
Postcode : DH1
1 Jul 2015
People found this helpful18
I would strongly advise not to use Bill free homes. During our tenancy we had multiple set backs with them. We were unaware that the property we had chosen was under renovation, during our tenancy. The boiler broke which took nearly a week before it was seen to, meaning we only had cold water. After which our internet failed to connect, we were advised to sort it out ourselves even though we had not engaged in the contract. It was finally sorted after constantly phoning with them back and forth and managing to sort out a temporary solution. All the while when we are swamped with our studies. It seemed whenever we had a problem it took them roughly a week to get it sorted, but if there was a problem with payment they were right on your tail. We had constant visits from them for one reason or another, some made clear in in advance others failed to and merely showed up. Emails went ignored, when we moved in there things left from previous tenants, the house was not clean and several light bulbs were missing or broken. We listed these items to bill free homes but they went ignored. Luckily we had taken pictures upon moving in. The icing on the cake came when our studies and time with bill free homes come to a close, we were issued with a 'moving-out pack'. Information and essential rules of what we had to do upon leaving. All of a sudden we had to hire a cleaning company and make sure all light bulbs were replaced that were broken. In the contract there is no mention of a cleaning company, it states that tenants should leave the property how they found it. This wouldn't have been difficult as the standard we found the house was poorer than how we left it. If the house failed to be up to their standard we would have our deposits deducted. It felt as if we were constantly battling with bill free homes. Luckily we got our deposits back in full but the threat was very much felt from them. I was in contact with them more than my own mother.
What agent could do to change your mind?
Too high for what we got and others around the area were paying.
Comments on Agent Fees
Too high for what we got and others around the area were paying.
Was this helpful?:
By : Billfreehomes
14 Jul 2015We are sorry that you seem so aggrieved however we cannot comment on your issue as we are unaware of your property address. I understand that you may wish to remain anonymous . However I can comment on most of your issues in a general sense. As regards renovations – we do carry out repairs to all properties as they arise but renovations are different in this case we do shut the house down. Boilers do break and we have to deal with repairs, how these are dealt with depends on availability of parts - but in all cases when the internal temperature of the house is below 16 degrees we provide temporary heaters and as a matter of policy all houses have at least one electric showers to allow hot water for bathing. In exceptional circumstances boilers can take a week to fix but we cannot see how you would be having no hot water. Regarding the internet - we make it very clear via the repairs policy posted in every house and given in all moving in packs that we subcontract out all troubleshooting of internet provision to our suppliers. We simply do not have the knowledge and very often they have to tests direct to the house involving your personal equipment – in cases of longer interruption we do offer MIFI hubs I assume that is what you mean by a temporary solution. I cannot see what more we can do, if for example your road is dug up and at the cable breaks and we give you temporary MIFI hubs these seems like a good thing and not a bad one. We have a very traceable contact management system and 94% of tenant emails are replied to within 24 hours the balance are largely accounted by mails that come in after 6pm on a Friday which are not urgent by nature, however we do ask that tenants use our online reporting system for faults which means that nothing can ever get missed. As regards visits – I think that we cannot comment on this without more information - we attempt at all times to give 24 hours' notice of visits which we send by email only, these are generally notices and not requests so if you have not seen the email we can only apologise but we feel that our procedures are very robust in this area. As for your icing on the cake, we give you a moving in leaflet to help you move in so it is logical that we do the same at the end of the tenancy, the sole aim of this is to ensure that all deposits are returned in full which you say that they were so in that respect surely we deserve some credit for proactively arranging this. One thing that still puzzles us is your comments about agency fees – we do not charge any additional agency fees so we are not sure what that relates to. I have attached various document in support of the above including a complaints procedure as we would welcome an independent review of your claims.
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Latest Reviews
Performance Statistics
| Services | Valuation | Fees | Min Price of property reviewed | Max Price of property reviewed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Letting | 100% | 83.00% | £400 | £756 |
Review Statistics
| From Landlords | From Tenants | From Vendors | From Buyers | From Other | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |  | | | | | | | | |
| 2 | 0 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Areas covered
- DH1
Address
Bill Free Homes
85 New Elvet, Durham, County Durham
DH1 3AQ
0330 330 0999
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- 09:30 - 17:30
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- 09:30 - 17:30
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BFH held back some deposit ...
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1 Star Review
By : 'Philip'
Branch : Durham, 85 New Elvet
Services : Letting( As a Tenant )
Would you recommend ? : No
Postcode : DH1
20 Aug 2020
People found this helpful4
BFH held back some deposit due to them claiming a professional clean was needed, even though the property was left cleaner than it was at the start of the tenancy agreement. I strongly advise tenants to take hundreds of photos of any dirt, dust, marks etc at the start of the tenancy agreement as ... Read Full Review
Comments (1)Was this helpful?:
By : Peter Smith
8 Sept 2020Dear Mr George, The process of returning deposits is not a simple one. Most houses are left in a great condition and if there are any deductions for breakage etc they can usually be agreed...
Excellent tenacity and use of ...
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5 Star Review
By : 'David'
Branch : Durham, 85 New Elvet
Services : Letting( As a Owner )
Would you recommend ? : Yes
Postcode : DH1
4 Feb 2020
People found this helpful0
Excellent tenacity and use of data to get properties let . The team work well together to achieve the result for the landlord. Will use ... Read Full Review
Comments (0)Was this helpful?:
Great ...
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5 Star Review
By : 'Andrew'
Branch : Durham, 85 New Elvet
Services : Letting( As a Tenant )
Rent PCM : £756
Would you recommend ? : Yes
Postcode : DH1
19 Nov 2018
People found this helpful0
Have been with BFH for 2 months now, and they have been great at working with both my flatmate and I as we were settling in. As we were both coming from overseas, and couldn't view the place ahead of time, this was very much appreciated. Only quibbles we've had are regarding ... Read Full Review
Comments on Agent Fees
Fees are a bit steep, but don't seem to be out of line with anyone else.
Comments (0)Was this helpful?:
Outstanding customer ...
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5 Star Review
By : 'Alexandra'
Branch : Durham, 85 New Elvet
Services : Letting( As a Tenant )
Would you recommend ? : Yes
Postcode : DH1
6 Oct 2018
People found this helpful0
Literally the best costumer service, I got locked out of my house during the weekend out of office hours and a member of staff came all the way back in as soon as I notified them to give me my keys- so warm and ... Read Full Review
Comments (1)Was this helpful?:
By : Sean Lawless
6 Oct 2018Thak you...
Exceptional Customer ...
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5 Star Review
By : 'Adam'
Branch : Durham, 85 New Elvet
Services : Letting( As a Tenant )
Rent PCM : £450
Would you recommend ? : Yes
Postcode : DH1
4 Sept 2018
People found this helpful1
We stayed in a Bill Free Homes property last year and had a fantastic year. The repairs service was spot on, every time we needed to report an issue, a response was created and a handyman came around to fix it. All in all, a great ... Read Full Review
Comments on Agent Fees
We got lots included for the admin fee that we paid
Comments (0)Was this helpful?:
Great house, bad ...
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3 Star Review
By : 'Beware'
Branch : Durham, 85 New Elvet
Services : Letting( As a Tenant )
Would you recommend ? : No
Postcode : DH1
31 Aug 2018
People found this helpful1
As a credit to Bill Free Homes, the house they provided us with was absolutely lovely - three stories, five bedrooms, two bathrooms, nice kitchen/living room, absolutely perfect for students. However, their service was absolutely appalling - we paid £500 deposit, £180 of which went to agency fees, ... Read Full Review
Comments on Agent Fees
An absolute scam - for the amount you pay you get absolutely terrible customer service. Agents are aggressive, rude and slow to reply.
Comments (1)Was this helpful?:
By : Bill Free Homes
3 Sept 2018Dear tenant, We are very sorry that you feel that you were given a bad service by the staff at Bill Free Homes. We are surprised to see your comments as we received positive feedback from all...
We stayed in a Bill Free ...
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5 Star Review
By : 'Hugo'
Branch : Durham, 85 New Elvet
Services : Letting( As a Tenant )
Rent PCM : £658
Would you recommend ? : Yes
Postcode : DH1
20 Sept 2017
People found this helpful0
We stayed in a Bill Free Homes house during our second year at Durham University and I can highly recomend them as a great company to use for student accommodation. We stayed in a property in the Market Place and not only was the property uncredible, the service we recieved during our tenancy was ... Read Full Review
Comments on Agent Fees
good - we paid £180 each but got lots of things for this including prime tv and a meal at a resturant
Comments (0)Was this helpful?:
The location of the house in ...
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1 Star Review
By : 'Beware!'
Branch : Durham, 85 New Elvet
Services : Letting( As a Tenant )
Would you recommend ? : No
Postcode : DH1
14 Sept 2017
People found this helpful13
The location of the house in the middle of Durham is fantastic, ignoring the fact that there are several nightclubs in the vicinity. The room sizes are good and there is ample communal space, as well as a good number of bathrooms, all reflected in the premium price. However, the place was not ... Read Full Review
Comments on Agent Fees
We don't feel we had our money's worth!
Comments (0)Was this helpful?:
A great letting agent for ...
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5 Star Review
By : 'johnalty'
Branch : Durham, 85 New Elvet
Services : Letting( As a Tenant )
Rent PCM : £478
Would you recommend ? : Yes
Postcode : DH1
1 Sept 2017
People found this helpful0
A great letting agent for Durham University students. We stayed at a property in The Sands, Durham for 6 people and we found that everything we could hope to be dealt with in way of repairs during the tenancy was done so, and was done ... Read Full Review
Comments on Agent Fees
Not an issue, we paid £180.00 but that seems to be have good value for money.
Comments (0)Was this helpful?:
I trust this company ...
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5 Star Review
By : 'Adolphusplace'
Branch : Durham, 85 New Elvet
Services : Letting( As a Owner )
Would you recommend ? : Yes
Postcode : DH1
23 Aug 2017
People found this helpful1
I trust this company completely to handle my house letting, and I find them to be really helpful and efficient. They offer lots of green incentives to students, and letting is streamlined and ... Read Full Review
Comments (0)Was this helpful?:
Awful, house was not clean at ...
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1 Star Review
By : '57Gilesgate'
Branch : Durham, 85 New Elvet
Services : Letting( As a Tenant )
Rent PCM : £96
Would you recommend ? : No
Postcode : DH1
15 Aug 2017
People found this helpful14
Awful, house was not clean at all when the rent started, including condom wrappers. This was not properly cleaned and had to complain on multiple occasions about this. At the end of the tennancy the deposit was not returned for nearly 7 weeks. ... Read Full Review
Comments (0)Was this helpful?:
What a great year we had ...
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5 Star Review
By : 'Clair'
Branch : Durham, 85 New Elvet
Services : Letting( As a Tenant )
Rent PCM : £455
Would you recommend ? : Yes
Postcode : DH1
1 Feb 2017
People found this helpful1
What a great year we had staying with Bill Free Homes. Any problems that we faced during the year were dealt with quickly and efficiently. The house, although expensive, was luxurious throughout and we had a repairs service to ... Read Full Review
Comments on Agent Fees
Not an issue
Comments (0)Was this helpful?:
Had a great year staying in a ...
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5 Star Review
By : 'Jonny'
Branch : Durham, 85 New Elvet
Services : Letting( As a Tenant )
Would you recommend ? : Yes
Postcode : DH1
21 Oct 2016
People found this helpful1
Had a great year staying in a Bill Free Homes property in Durham. All of our bills were included and the response to any repairs or issues was fast and ... Read Full Review
Comments (0)Was this helpful?:
I would strongly advise not ...
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2 Star Review
By : 'NotHappy'
Branch : Durham, 85 New Elvet
Services : Letting( As a Tenant )
Rent PCM : £400
Would you recommend ? : No
Postcode : DH1
1 Jul 2015
People found this helpful18
I would strongly advise not to use Bill free homes. During our tenancy we had multiple set backs with them. We were unaware that the property we had chosen was under renovation, during our tenancy. The boiler broke which took nearly a week before it was seen to, meaning we only had cold water. ... Read Full Review
What agent could do to change your mind?
Too high for what we got and others around the area were paying.
Comments on Agent Fees
Too high for what we got and others around the area were paying.
Comments (1)Was this helpful?:
By : Billfreehomes
14 Jul 2015We are sorry that you seem so aggrieved however we cannot comment on your issue as we are unaware of your property address. I understand that you may wish to remain anonymous . However I can...
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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.
Complaints Procedure
Complaints policy can be viewed at www.billfreehomes.com/complaints
Last updated at 10/21/2019, 3:32:14 AM by allAgents
