I stayed with a property managed by Pendley Estates for roughly nine months, and it was an extremely stressful and expensive experience. When I first viewed my future flat with Pendley Estates, the letting agent who showed me round was polite enough, but frankly knew nothing useful about the property. For example I asked what the council tax band was and she didn't know, nor did she seem to think this was something she should know. What she did know about however was all the fees that Pendley wanted to charge me to rent this property. Firstly there was the £200 “holding deposit” I had to put down to potentially be able to rent the property. This would then be returned once they done all their reference checks and I had put up my first month's rent and deposit. For them to do the reference checks and draw up the contract (what they call a “contract and agency fee”) I had to pay £180. Once all of this had been sorted out, I was then given the chance to sit down and view the property's contract on the day I would move in. I had a nasty shock at the sort of clauses they had in there. The most ridiculous one stated when I leave I had to accept the decision of the “Inventory Clerks” (hired by Pendley Estates) regarding the condition of the property. Effectively saying that Pendley could say the property was in whatever condition they liked and I had no right to dispute this. Unfortunately I'd already paid £200 for a “holding deposit”, such that if I then wanted to walk away from renting this property due to the ridiculousness of the contract, I'd lose the £200. So, I signed it, paid the first month's rent, deposit and their fees (of £180) and moved in. A few months after I moved in Pendley started contacting me to arrange dates for them to visit the flat, as the landlord was selling it and they needed to take measurements and such. I was a little annoyed that they weren't able to do these checks during the viewings that they were already doing every two months (these also being in the contract, and for some bizarre reason, I was told that if I lost the dates of the viewings, they wouldn't be able to tell me again what they are. I'm pretty sure that's illegal as they can't let themselves in whenever they feel like it. Perhaps more importantly though it was highly suspicious and extremely inconsiderate). Regardless, I would always tell them I was happy for them to come round. I asked if this would affect my tenancy, and was told it almost definitely wouldn't as the landlord would likely sell to another manager of properties who would then let it to me. Seven months into my twelve month contract I get a hand posted letter from Pendley Estates through the door. It's an eviction notice. Reading it I see that the landlord wants me gone as he wishes to sell the flat. Not only is this the opposite of what I was told, but more importantly I was given no warning of this whatsoever. That's right, no phone call, no email, just an eviction notice saying I had to be gone in two months. Later I try to contact the person who deals with my property. After receiving no response after a few emails I give Pendley a call and am told she's left the country. They didn't feel the need to tell me. A couple of weeks before my leaving date I received another letter from Pendley. This contained what they call a “helpful guide” to moving out. What it actually is an aggressively phrased (and extremely long) list of things that will result in Pendley trying to charge me, printed in bold on red paper. Most of the conditions were excessive, here are some examples; “The carpets are to be professionally cleaned at the end of the tenancy. The use of hired machines is not permitted.” “Curtains/drapes – carefully wash or dry clean as necessary, but do be careful to ensure that they are not damaged or shrunk etc. Net curtains should be washed carefully and re-hung.” Pendley also enclosed a condition for them to receive payment should there be any charges; “Pendley Estates reserves the right to levy additional charges to cover their costs which is generally £25 per task.” This is all separate to the £96 “check out fee” Pendley Estates charged me upon moving out. After moving out I contacted Pendley to find out about the status of my deposit. When I got a response it was evasive, and didn't answer my questions about when the deposit would be returned or the manner in which it would be returned. The next time I contacted them I was told that my deposit was now being handled by their finance department. Long story short, after a lot of chasing and hassle, I got some of my deposit back. In summary, my time with Pendley was expensive and extremely stressful. They try to levy charges at every possible opportunity for the most spurious reasons. Necessary correspondence is lacking and when you talk to them they're evasive and unhelpful. Never use Pendley Estates.