Which Manchester Letting Agents do I need to avoid

[frye]

Evening

So I may be moving soon however I need some advice on what letting agency's I need to avoid in Manchester.

I've seen some very bad reviews for Philip James, Thornley Groves, Ascend, Manchester Life (common theme is they rob your deposit at the end for "cleaning", let properties in unfit states and generally dont answer their phones / carry out maintenance)

Are there any others out there?.

Alternatively any decent ones  out there you'd like to mention?.

Its such a shame the last landlord I had before doesnt have anything going, he was sound, sorted everything out quickly and easy to speak with.

cheers!

[sammersmith]

Avoid Thornley Groves at all costs. Scummy agent who are even more landlord-centric and tenant-screwing than those you'd experience in hot London.

11 minutes ago, frye said:

Alternatively any decent ones out there you'd like to mention?.

I rented through Residential Estates in Chester https://www.residential-estates.co.uk/ before. I wouldn't say they were good but they were so disorganised that they basically left me alone and never chased for renewals/etc even prior to the fee ban. They did try to claw back some deposit but as they screwed up the check-in they had no real chance of a claim so didn't fight it when DPS asked them for evidence.  

I viewed a few properties through https://www.complete-ltd.com/ who actually seemed pretty nice and open to price / fee negotiation. Again they also seemed quite disorganised so I hoped they would leave me alone to rent in peace. 

[frye]

Cheers Sammersmith for the links.

Its frustrating in Manchester at the moment, all the agencies I've listed seem to be the ones offering the most properties but I wont be touching them.

Ill try M.E.N also for private landlords ads, but those days seem to be long gone.

 

[spacedin]

Regards that cleaning fee scam, when you move in I'd maybe take pictures of the place, or maybe even get someone else in to do this for you. Legally, you only have to leave the property in the state you found it.

This requirement that a place be professionally cleaned has been found an unfair term in a contract by the OFT. So if you ever encounter demands like that and you've covered your tracks above, then I'd just make it very clear to the DPS of this. I guess it's difficult as the DPS/Mydeposits/Crapita may not rule in your favour. But I dunno, if it were me and that happened I'd take them to court as this kind of shit needs to stop.

Edited October 16, 2019 by spacedin