Tenancy review for 28 Alma Road in Clifton, Bristol rented from Ian Dowse
“Nightmare landlord - his behaviour is so awful it's shocking”
Overall Tenancy Rating: 3
★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
Moved In: 25/08/2019
Rent: £550
Date reviewed: 8 May 2020
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Landlord review for Ian Dowse, Hanham
Landlord rating: 1
The landlord demanded we start paying rent less than a week after agreeing to take the property - he then refused to answer his phone for 5 days when the letting agency called - so by the time he finally replied we had to start paying rent in 2 days time with none of the paperwork done, and then the letting agency kept making mistakes in the contract and had to keep reissuing it, the end result was us having to pay rent for several weeks with no access to the keys!
Over the first couple of months the cooker, washing machine and fridge all broke - and we were given the option of having a very quick cheap replacement, or waiting for a "quality replacement" so that the landlord could shop around for a bargain on sale - causing us to be without a washing machine and a fridge for a month. He then acted like he was doing us a favour by getting better equipment even though it was an investment for his own property - he then jacked up the rent from 550 to 615 for the next group of students to pay for having to replace broken appliances with 2nd hand appliances he got on sale!
When we complained that he seemed to intend to rent out the property to the next group of students without an appropriate gap to repair anything - he accused us of lying and threatened us!
We discovered that the maintenance man "Neil", who regularly ragged on the landlord and acted friendly with us and pretended to look out for us is actually the landlord's brother! Neil keeps this a secret and talks about the landlord as if he's just someone he works for, but then secretly passes along information to Ian Dowse which could be useful.
Neil told one of the girls it was ok to have a key to her room, but then went and told his brother Ian Dowse who threatened us with "expensive locksmiths" when I complained to the estate agent that he was trying to rent out the property to the next group of students without fixing any of the maintenance issues. He also said I should "think carefully" and that expensive photographs would need to be taken to assure him of the maintenance of his leaking property, and that keys are against the tenancy agreement (even though his own brother said it was ok) - a threat to steal our deposits if we didn't stop complaining
Neil then made contact with my housemate who plugged the leak in his ceiling with leg wax strips - an issue the landlord claimed to both me and the agency didn't exist despite photos being provided!
He also refused to reconsider our tenancy during the corona crisis, giving him 4 months rent for an empty house. He said he considered us to already have a discount as we were paying £550pm and he was jacking up the rent to £615pm for the next group of students. When our MP contacted him to ask him to be reasonable with the rent during the pandemic he was rude and sarcastic, and asked why he should give students a discount during the corona pandemic and asked if the council was giving council tenants a discount.
He is a wealthy property developer and runs the company "HIGHFIELD DEVELOPMENTS" and has multiple properties he is renting to students, the students who had the place last year report he has about 7 properties he's renting to students.
The previous tenants told me he kept renovating the house when they were living here, causing them to live in poor conditions, and that the council keeps having to take him to court.
More reviews for Ian Dowse ⇒
Over the first couple of months the cooker, washing machine and fridge all broke - and we were given the option of having a very quick cheap replacement, or waiting for a "quality replacement" so that the landlord could shop around for a bargain on sale - causing us to be without a washing machine and a fridge for a month. He then acted like he was doing us a favour by getting better equipment even though it was an investment for his own property - he then jacked up the rent from 550 to 615 for the next group of students to pay for having to replace broken appliances with 2nd hand appliances he got on sale!
When we complained that he seemed to intend to rent out the property to the next group of students without an appropriate gap to repair anything - he accused us of lying and threatened us!
We discovered that the maintenance man "Neil", who regularly ragged on the landlord and acted friendly with us and pretended to look out for us is actually the landlord's brother! Neil keeps this a secret and talks about the landlord as if he's just someone he works for, but then secretly passes along information to Ian Dowse which could be useful.
Neil told one of the girls it was ok to have a key to her room, but then went and told his brother Ian Dowse who threatened us with "expensive locksmiths" when I complained to the estate agent that he was trying to rent out the property to the next group of students without fixing any of the maintenance issues. He also said I should "think carefully" and that expensive photographs would need to be taken to assure him of the maintenance of his leaking property, and that keys are against the tenancy agreement (even though his own brother said it was ok) - a threat to steal our deposits if we didn't stop complaining
Neil then made contact with my housemate who plugged the leak in his ceiling with leg wax strips - an issue the landlord claimed to both me and the agency didn't exist despite photos being provided!
He also refused to reconsider our tenancy during the corona crisis, giving him 4 months rent for an empty house. He said he considered us to already have a discount as we were paying £550pm and he was jacking up the rent to £615pm for the next group of students. When our MP contacted him to ask him to be reasonable with the rent during the pandemic he was rude and sarcastic, and asked why he should give students a discount during the corona pandemic and asked if the council was giving council tenants a discount.
He is a wealthy property developer and runs the company "HIGHFIELD DEVELOPMENTS" and has multiple properties he is renting to students, the students who had the place last year report he has about 7 properties he's renting to students.
The previous tenants told me he kept renovating the house when they were living here, causing them to live in poor conditions, and that the council keeps having to take him to court.
Property review for 28 Alma Road, Clifton, Bristol
Property rating: 1
When we moved in the place was filthy and hadn't been cleaned, there was a tub of rotting icecream on the kitchen table, and one of the girls still didn't have a mattress despite us having already been paying rent for 2 weeks.By the 3rd week of paying rent she got a mattress
The landlord also fly tipped a huge amount of rubbish out the back and on the pavement, after being reported to the council the landlord moved it all into the shed.
The garden was also littered with rubbish and one of the girls rooms leaked water - dehumidifier was given until Christmas until a "patch" was put over the chimney.
There is damage on the walls in the kitchen, living room and hallway which suggests long term water damage from the roof leaking.
One of the bathrooms has soil coming through the floor and black mould on the walls
In march one of the other bedrooms started leaking and one of my flatmates had to seal the leak with leg waxing strips
All the windows seem to have a draft coming through them even when closed
More reviews for 28 Alma Road ⇒
The landlord also fly tipped a huge amount of rubbish out the back and on the pavement, after being reported to the council the landlord moved it all into the shed.
The garden was also littered with rubbish and one of the girls rooms leaked water - dehumidifier was given until Christmas until a "patch" was put over the chimney.
There is damage on the walls in the kitchen, living room and hallway which suggests long term water damage from the roof leaking.
One of the bathrooms has soil coming through the floor and black mould on the walls
In march one of the other bedrooms started leaking and one of my flatmates had to seal the leak with leg waxing strips
All the windows seem to have a draft coming through them even when closed
Area review for Clifton, Bristol
Area rating: 8
The area is nice, there are multiple supermarkets near by and it's reasonably close to the university.
There is a lot to do in the area too!
More reviews for Clifton ⇒
There is a lot to do in the area too!
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