Tenancy review for Ls15 7rb Sycamore Avenue in Halton, Leeds rented from Matthew Dawson rented via Reeds Rains

Landlord rating: 1

Matthew Dawson and Catherine Hammond aka wolves in sheeps clothing. Will come across as so nice when you meet them but they are anything but, and they should not be responsible for something as important as the roof over someones head. They served us a section 21 as we didn't agree to a rent increase, they didn't even bother to discuss with us directly and went straight to hiding behind the letting agent. The reason we didn't agree to a rent increase was because they left us, during the coldest part of winter when it was hitting -5 overnight, without a properly working boiler for over 1 month. They kept sending the plumber to try and fix it in the cheapest way possible and in the meantime offered us no alternatives such as space heaters. It costs us a fortune to buy and run them to keep ourselves just a little more than freezing. They never even apologised, just expected a big thanks when they finally replaced it and even lied about how much they spent on the new boiler for reasons unknown. So after serving us notice they then have the audacity to come and measure up for a new kitchen for the new tenants whilst we were still there. Then came getting the deposit back when we left, which we did well within the notice period and without fuss, even leaving the place frankly cleaner than it was when we moved in. We chased and chased for our deposit, as did the letting agent (supposedly), as did the deposit scheme. They completely ignored everything meaning we were out of pocket over 1k for over 2 months until the deposit scheme sent it back to us. Kicking us out of our home wasn't enough for these people but they, again for reasons unknown, purposely withheld our deposit from us. Vile people.

Agency rating: 1

Reeds Rains Crossgates - We didn't really deal with them during the tenancy as they didn't manage it. However upon leaving we had to deal with them to get our deposit back and I have never been fobbed off or lied to more. Promised updates and never received them, passing information on to the landlord without our permission, I could write for hours but I will just simply say avoid like the plague.

Property rating: 5

Looks nice at first glance, decently sized. There are cracks down the ceilings and walls and when you look at the brick work in the garden you can see signs of subsiding on the property, and we noticed our furniture was slanted because of this. The walls are paper thin and at the point of leaving one of the neighbours was a nightmare playing loud music all of the time, she owns her place so assume she is still there. Carpets upstairs are really old and grotty, we had to give them a good clean when we moved in.

Area rating: 7

It's alright, we never experienced any trouble except from the 1 neighbour. Lots of shops and amenities within walking distance and easy to get to the city centre by bus.