Tenancy review for 7 Greville Close in Park Barn, Guildford rented from Michael Foster

Landlord rating: 2

Landlord seemed quite nice at first was very chatty and friendly, however the rooms weren’t painted before we moved in which we were told would be done. We did an inventory for damage along with any marks on the walls, we told him what walls needed painting and he only chose certain rooms to do which left some rooms with marks and some not. We noted that the bathroom paint was peeling throughout but he didn’t offer to redo this. The property was left in very clean condition at the beginning of the tenancy but there was random furniture in the garden between the property and fence which was never moved. When we moved in the bins were overflowing which wasn’t very sightly as this was outside the property. However he took the rubbish to the tip himself. Throughout our tenancy the landlord was quite helpful, sorting any issues fairly quickly (within a week). Unfortunately in the middle of our tenancy things changed a lot. Our house mate unfortunately passed away and the first thing he wanted was us to fill this room and pay rent, considering the circumstances none of us wanted this to happen and there was 5 months left of the tenancy. We agreed the rent would be paid by parents which her parents and the tenants were happy with. Behind our back he looked for another tenant to fill our friends room and did not tell us this until it fell through. He was not sympathetic or supportive at all throughout this situation. He was only fussed on how his rent would be paid, not 4 girls upset over the death of their friend. He also moved 50 miles away from the property within our tenancy, meaning he wasn’t around to fix any damages at all. My window was broken and stuck open at the front of the house (literally anyone could climb in easily) and he wasn’t going to come for 5 hours. We addressed some issues with him which he would been happy to have fixed at the beginning of the tenancy but never replied to us. Once we had moved out the communication was poor, he said he was going to charge £1300 for damages which was £200 each from us and our friends deposit. He then didn’t give our deposit back for nearly 3 weeks after the tenancy had ended, he refused to listen to us when we argued getting the whole deposit back until one of our mums phoned. We got our deposit back in the end but it was never protected which is very sketchy.

Property rating: 5

The property is a five bedroom house, unfortunately due to as many bedrooms being put into the property as possible there is no living room and the downstairs bedrooms aren’t that big. The kitchen is quite modern and has a fridge freezer along with a half fridge, there is also another full fridge freezer upstairs so plenty of storage for food. There is enough cupboards for 1 each for each tenant, however you can’t fit pans into the cupboards so they are on a shelf. Unfortunately there isn’t a lot of work top space and the kitchen can get quite crowded. The bathrooms are modern however the downstairs bathroom has no window or ventilation, so the whole bathroom is a harbour for mould and the paint was peeling off throughout the tenancy. The whole house is poorly insulated, so the house gets really cold in winter and quite damp, with mould growing on the window sills - it doesn’t really get warm even with the heating on and you can hear peoples conversations outside the house. The bedrooms are very well equipped with a bedside table, mirror, desk and wardrobe in each room. However one room doesn’t have a wardrobe only a bar which is a shame as everything is on show. All rooms were double however the quality varied a lot and one room is considerably smaller so someone would have to take a short straw. Overall the house is in good condition but there are a few issues which are discovered living there long term.

Area rating: 4

The house is in an ideal location, right behind the Tesco superstore and only about a 15 minute walk to either campus. The neighbours were both older couples and were very friendly and helpful, they always took parcels in for us. Unfortunately no properties have parking down greville close, and with the road being so close to the hospital it was always full of hospital staff parking. This meant if you were to park in the middle of the day during the week it was almost impossible to do, people park on the kerb and on the corners. Unfortunately there was also a neighbour who left snotty notes on cars for parking on the kerb but when you live down the road you don’t have much choice. Park barn is not the best area at all in Guildford, we had a night where someone tried to get into the property and the walk way between the road and Tesco is quite sketchy at night. The house is tucked away so it is fairly quiet but due to it having a secluded walk way you never knew who was walking through. The area had many buses running meaning it had good links to Guildford town and the trainstation.