⭐ Ratings and reviews
Reviews of house or flat to rent at 19 Sunderland Road, Perry Vale, London, SE23 2PS
2 ★★☆☆☆
Average property rating
Property reviews (1)
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4 May 2024
★★☆☆☆
Worst tenancy I’ve ever had. A constant stream of problems from the beginning to the end that didn’t let me rest. When it wasn’t the house itself it was some of the tenants.
The room was advertised as a studio flat. In reality, it was in a big house with seven rooms. Some of them I assume were actual studios with their own toilets and kitchens. Others like mine were just normal rooms. My bathroom and kitchen were separated from it and I had to share them, but only with the tenants of one more room.
The bedroom was big. However, the kitchen and the bathroom were small, and they had almost no storage space. They seemed to be built in rooms that were not originally made for that purpose, to stuff the building with as many people as possible. The bathroom sink was so small it was almost useless, and there wasn’t even a mirror. Everything that would normally go inside it and the kitchen had to take space in the bedroom instead, including the fridge and the rubbish. The room was also very tall, but it had no furniture to make use of all that height for storage. The only furniture was a small cupboard. So, half of the belongings had to be laying around on the floor, taking all the space. The bed mattress was horrible for my back, so make sure they give you a good one if you have the disgrace of living there.
The bedroom door was a fire door, so it closed automatically. And it had a lock that closed automatically too. Every time I wanted to use the toilet, the kitchen or go downstairs to take out the rubbish or something else I had to worry about keeping the bedroom key with me to avoid locking myself out. It was a constant source of worry. The most constant one, but not the biggest one.
On the good side, I never learnt how to regulate the heating because I never needed to. This house has the best heat retention I have ever experienced. Moreso for a UK house, which have a reputation of having bad heat retention. Sometimes I left the window open in winter for a long time and it was still not cold. However, the window, which is very big, is only covered by a very thin curtain that barely blocks the light. If you end up in this room, make sure you ask the agency for a proper curtain that blocks the sunlight properly. Especially during the summer heat waves.
The house has no internet. It only has the socket in the outer wall that comes from the telephone line, and it’s there only because I chased after the agency to let me install it. But it doesn’t have any wire connected to the inside of the house. If you want to bring internet to your room and it’s not facing the street, you’ll not be able to bring it unless the cable goes through the room of another tenant whose room is looking to the street. That, or rely on mobile data internet.
Through the course of the tenancy, there was always something that needed fixing. The main door, the shower, the bathroom light, the kitchen light, the washing machine and the boiler all needed fixing or replacing at some point. There was also a dump in the bathroom and an ant infestation in the kitchen.
The damp was painted over before I moved in and again before I left, but it quickly grew back both times because the agency doesn’t solve the source of the problem: there is some tile missing in the roof, and without it, the rain water doesn’t get properly delivered to the gutter. Instead, it is spilled all over the outer wall, which I suspect causes the damp. The window is also damaged by this and water gets inside its glass. I took the time to explain this to the agency, but they just painted over the damp again.
About the ant infestation, the agency’s solution was having me buy ant poison to kill the ants when I saw them, and reimburse me the cost. At first, I thought they were coming from outside through the window. Then, I realized they were actually coming from inside the window frame. And they were doing so on a second floor, which makes me believe they had their nest inside the walls of the house. They stopped appearing after I blocked the cracks with dirty papers, but I bet they are still there.
The room was advertised as a studio flat. In reality, it was in a big house with seven rooms. Some of them I assume were actual studios with their own toilets and kitchens. Others like mine were just normal rooms. My bathroom and kitchen were separated from it and I had to share them, but only with the tenants of one more room.
The bedroom was big. However, the kitchen and the bathroom were small, and they had almost no storage space. They seemed to be built in rooms that were not originally made for that purpose, to stuff the building with as many people as possible. The bathroom sink was so small it was almost useless, and there wasn’t even a mirror. Everything that would normally go inside it and the kitchen had to take space in the bedroom instead, including the fridge and the rubbish. The room was also very tall, but it had no furniture to make use of all that height for storage. The only furniture was a small cupboard. So, half of the belongings had to be laying around on the floor, taking all the space. The bed mattress was horrible for my back, so make sure they give you a good one if you have the disgrace of living there.
The bedroom door was a fire door, so it closed automatically. And it had a lock that closed automatically too. Every time I wanted to use the toilet, the kitchen or go downstairs to take out the rubbish or something else I had to worry about keeping the bedroom key with me to avoid locking myself out. It was a constant source of worry. The most constant one, but not the biggest one.
On the good side, I never learnt how to regulate the heating because I never needed to. This house has the best heat retention I have ever experienced. Moreso for a UK house, which have a reputation of having bad heat retention. Sometimes I left the window open in winter for a long time and it was still not cold. However, the window, which is very big, is only covered by a very thin curtain that barely blocks the light. If you end up in this room, make sure you ask the agency for a proper curtain that blocks the sunlight properly. Especially during the summer heat waves.
The house has no internet. It only has the socket in the outer wall that comes from the telephone line, and it’s there only because I chased after the agency to let me install it. But it doesn’t have any wire connected to the inside of the house. If you want to bring internet to your room and it’s not facing the street, you’ll not be able to bring it unless the cable goes through the room of another tenant whose room is looking to the street. That, or rely on mobile data internet.
Through the course of the tenancy, there was always something that needed fixing. The main door, the shower, the bathroom light, the kitchen light, the washing machine and the boiler all needed fixing or replacing at some point. There was also a dump in the bathroom and an ant infestation in the kitchen.
The damp was painted over before I moved in and again before I left, but it quickly grew back both times because the agency doesn’t solve the source of the problem: there is some tile missing in the roof, and without it, the rain water doesn’t get properly delivered to the gutter. Instead, it is spilled all over the outer wall, which I suspect causes the damp. The window is also damaged by this and water gets inside its glass. I took the time to explain this to the agency, but they just painted over the damp again.
About the ant infestation, the agency’s solution was having me buy ant poison to kill the ants when I saw them, and reimburse me the cost. At first, I thought they were coming from outside through the window. Then, I realized they were actually coming from inside the window frame. And they were doing so on a second floor, which makes me believe they had their nest inside the walls of the house. They stopped appearing after I blocked the cracks with dirty papers, but I bet they are still there.