Tag: damp

Keylet

Key Letting Us Down

I signed with Keylet. Moved in, arranged inventory inspection. Booked the morning off work, waited half hour after booked time for the inspection. Called them – nothing in the diary, the person that does it is off sick. I completed one independently and took images (luckily), sent this to them via email and dropped it off to the office.

I reported 18 repairs using their app. Only two of these were actually dealt with (damp – painted over and bathroom door). Things I reported included: mould, damp, oven broken, leak under the sink, mice, rubbish and unclean when I moved in to the property, bathroom door did not close.
– There was someone’s lunch and other rubbish as well as it being unclean throughout the flat when I moved in. Said they would get someone to come and clean it but never did.

Asked them 3 times to send me updated version of the inventory I conducted, never received it.

Moving out: the costs for what they had found on the inspection conveniently totalled up to the total deposit I paid £575. Including charges for a broken sofa (was not damaged), removal of rubbish (nothing left in there apart from furniture they provided & as if they remove rubbish anyway considering the state it was in when I moved in), painting (nothing wrong with the painting whatsoever) and so on. It was all ridiculous and completely false. Conveniently they also could not find the inventory I did and had one on their file which was incorrect.


Luckily I took photos and had the email I sent. They ended up only taking £100. Still not great but I decided to take the hit. It took about 5/6 months to resolve. They stated in emails they would respond within 10 working days but would take weeks.

I have spoke to other people who have rented from them who have faced the same problems and them trying to rip them off.

I am so relieved to not have anything to do with Keylet. They are SHOCKING and I would AVOID them at all costs!!!

Rent: £575

Deposit Returned?: Partially

Interlet

Interlet loves their place to get wet. Like permanent damage kind of wet.

Rented from Interlet during 17-18 academic year and we’re very disappointed. I shared with 5 other people and ended up in a damp, dirty and poorly finished house.

Moving in, the rooms were not cleaned, not just dust from the summer, but the previous tenant had left belongings in the room (you might get away with a duvet bit neuroscience notes are a bit far). The house was damp and included a special little door leading to a tiny, flooded courtyard approx. 1x1m. In which the sink and washing machine drained to. The courtyard drain was blocked and nothing was done about it for the entire year despite complaints.

The heating system was entirely manually controlled, so no timers could be set and frequently malfunctioned. The smoke alarms didn’t work as we had people burning food and eventually (very rarely) smoking in the house as they knew the alarm wouldn’t go off.

We had leak in the bathroom that had several emails sent about it and each was ignored with no response, it wasn’t until I stamped my feet after 3 months in the office it was fixed. I had to look them in the eye, tell them the floor was “spongey”, and was going to cause permanent, expensive damage that they acted. We had mold and a broken window that were not fixed for an entire year. After our tenancy finished we were charged for repainting a damp area, the same damp area we had told them about.

Interlet were so incompetent that they had the deposit amount wrong, despite “deductions” the entire deposit was returned (maybe they deducted it from an increased rent for the new year?). I would never rent from Interlet again. I would advise others to steer clear unless they want to go head to head in person with them on every issue!

Rent: £320

Deposit returned?: Partially

Cardiff Student Letting

Wonder if they put black mould and slugs on the inventory…

Rented a house with Cardiff Student Lettings in 2nd year and 3rd year – we couldn’t be bothered moving. Overall we were pretty happy with the agency. They responded to all our issues within a few days, apart from a broken blind which just stayed broken but we lived with that. They always gave us plenty of notice before viewings

(Something I really miss now being with CPS who gave a 10-minute warning on a Saturday at 10 am!- but that’s another story.)

The house itself wasn’t the best and I was constantly ill due to cracks in the walls and black mould. We had an incessant slug problem which when I completely lost it one morning over, they came and put some polyfiller down which helped a bit… They fixed everything very cheaply if they could do it themselves they would, so a lot of stuff was very haphazard. It was quite a cheap house (£285 pcm and then 300 ) for a 4 bedroom so overall we thought it was decent. We got all of our deposit back minus £50 in total but that’s ok because we did cause a bit of accidental damage.


Overall would recommend as the team were always friendly and helpful.

[Unfortunately, this reviewer doesn’t know the name of their landlord. Whoever they are should be ashamed, as mould can have serious health effects and landlords should never let this happen.]

Rent: £300

Deposit Returned?: Partially

CPS

It’s habitable! So habitable that we’re taking it off the market, so no one new can rent it!

Where do I begin?

Firstly, we were promised that the bathroom would be redone but didn’t get this put in the contract meaning that we couldn’t force them to do it despite the promise.

Once moved into the property there were several issues such as severe mould and damp, a broken gate onto the street, a broken window that faced onto the street downstairs and if a burglar saw it could easily break in, cupboards unclean, broken dishwasher, cupboard under the sink disgustingly mouldy and damp, carpet torn, stuff left from painters and a barely functioning front door. There were also damp issues across the entire house.

So what did cps do?

After emailing and calling at least once a week and going in, the window and front door were fixed… in January (only 5 months after we moved in…). Why did they fix it? Because we called the council and had them come round and they threatened to take away the HMO license. Only reason CPS/the landlord did anything about that.

I will give credit that our dishwasher was fixed within a month which for CPS is pretty decent.

With regards to the mouldy and damp kitchen – the landlords excuse was that he was redoing that following summer. That is a bullshit excuse for the condition.

So we had gotten the council round and they sent a report to CPS/landlord. And so they organised to do works which we were told would be minimal and not disruptive, and would also only take a couple of days.

They started the works about 6 weeks ago… it’s still going on. They tore off the outside render, made holes in our house, completely tore up our back garden and filled it with builders crap. Our neighbours actually had to complain because the builders knocked bricks down their fireplace. Due to the holes in the property, we got rats and had to have pest control. This is all happening during lockdown.

CPS have been unhelpful in communication and take about a week to reply. We have asked for compensation especially as one of us is still living in the property during lockdown and having to live in this shithole. CPS simply stated that the property was habitable because there was someone living there – this is not the definition of a property being habitable. We are worried we won’t get our deposit back because of the damage that the damp had done. The builders have stated that they would never have called the work they are doing minimal and that the damp was diabolical. Which considering half my house has asthma and other lung issues, is extremely dangerous.

The property was actually taken off the market after one of their employees came round for a mid tenancy inspection because of the actual house itself. If you have to take a house off the market, surely there is a bigger issue here?

We pay £330 for the house, if I were to price it, I wouldn’t pay more than £280 and during the works, the rent should have been halved. Because of the works we have no garden during lockdown and can’t even open a window in the hot weather because of the dust.

I know CPS is a hit and a miss. But whatever you do, DO NOT GET A PROPERTY THAT IS MANAGED BY CPS AND NOT THE LANDLORD!!!

Rent: £330

Deposit Returned?: Still living at the hole in question