Tenancy review for Gl7 5sh Ampney Saint Peter in The Ampneys Hampton, Cirencester rented from Ian And Myra Bye rented via Ridgeway Estate Agents

Landlord rating: 1

In one word - avoid! We experienced such upsetting issues with Ian and Myra Bye, the landlords of The Old Packhorse Inn Ampney St Peter, that despite the £10k we spent moving and setting up the house, we very quickly decided to register with local agents in an attempt to find an alternative property. We shared a 5 page formal complaint over the ongoing harassment, abuse, and gross invasion of privacy which destroyed our family life in the time we lived there, but unfortunately did not receive any response whatsoever. Once we finally found a property to move to (in a very challenging property market) the landlord went on to fabricate multiple claims against our deposit which are currently still in dispute. We are now preparing a claim for significant damages. A truly miserable experience, which sadly was only solved by taking ourselves out of the situation.

Agency rating: 1

We found Ridgeway to be entirely unhelpful in solving our significant issues with the landlord. Having submitted a 5 page complaint about ongoing unlawful behaviour including harassment & invasion of privacy from the Landlords, and been promised in writing a swift response by the agent, we heard nothing further at all until check-out, at which point we were advised they would be attempting to keep our deposit, based on a list of entirely fabricated issues. Now in dispute and raising a formal complaint to the Tenancy Deposit Scheme
***DELIGHTED TO UPDATE INTERESTED PARTIES THAT THE TDS ADJUDICATION REPORT FOUND NO GROUNDS TO RETAIN THE DEPOSIT, AND DIRECTED IT TO BE RETURNED TO US***

Property rating: 1

The Old Packhorse Inn, Ampney St Peter is a pretty but we found rather grotty and ramshackle property, that could be made lovely with the appropriate investment.
Main issues include:
-Constantly runs out of hot water (not enough for 3 ppl)
-Exceptionally tight staircase meant we had to buy new furniture for upstairs - such as beds that break down into small pieces. Forced to rely on clothing rails for the duration of our time living at The Old Packhorse Inn as no build in cupboards and wardrobes will not fit up the stairs.
-Old plumbing leads to sinks backing up with waste water, solved by manual clearing of very smelly waste!!!
-Garden hugely expensive to maintain as no weed membrane under gravelled areas so endless weeding required.
-Property managed by the landlord directly, which proved extremely problematic...!

Area rating: 1

Pretty village with kind and sympathetic neighbours who were a great support during our time at The Old Packhorse Inn Ampney St Peter.