Tenancy review for 26 Princess Road West in Castle, Leicester rented from Bowen Zhang Zhang rented via Reign Real Estate Ltd

Landlord rating: 1

The landlord never spoke to me once. They only contacted me through the agent. But his sister visited my flat once. She came and I was baffled at how completely clueless she was. She brought no tape measure to measure the dimensions of the washer so relied on her phone charger and a marker of mine instead. She also had no idea how to dispose of an old washer in the UK. Can I remind everyone these are our landlords, the guys who are supposed to know these things.
Good thing to know my rent went on her £2000 plus Louis Vuitton bag she brought in my flat, rather than her investing in a tape measure.

Agency rating: 1

on Sapna. Her attitude is deeply patronising, bullying and unprofessional. She appears to be receiving a lot of complaints.
Every single request was either ignored, stalled or outright denied.
Reign were especially very begrudging about supplying meter readings
All my correspondence to Reign was ignored via email and the phone was never picked up until the issue reached urgent levels and I was treated like a nuisance for bringing repairs to their attention. Many of which were already issues before I moved in.
If you don't like tenants complaining about issues then don't supply shoddily made properties that are falling apart.
When I first moved in I had the electricians sort out my oven and they certainly had some strong words for them on how cheap they are - words I can't publish here.
Of course my correspondence was ignored but when it was time to renew the year long tenancy, then they decided to repeatedly hound me about that.
There is a complete lack of empathy in regards to situations beyond your control.
One of the worst things they did was when I repeatedly brought the mould situation to their attention and they finally decided to budge only when the whole bathroom ceiling was caked in black mould. They sent around a contractor when I had lost a loved one and was grieving. I apologised but informed them that I would have to rearrange. There was no sympathy or humanity given and they demanded to have the contractor immediately return despite the fact they knew I was grieving. This was for a mould issue that was there before I moved in and they should have cleaned up beforehand. Now because the mould grew to dangerous levels - that could have been prevented if they were competent enough to clean it before I moved in - they were scrambling to get rid of it.
If someone had died close to you and you couldn't come to repair my flat I'd totally understand. So show some basic human decency and at the very least offer your condolences.
Due to so many of these issues being ignored by them I had to take matters to the council which caused a lot of stress. The fire department also got involved due to alarms going off in the building, of course when I brought this to Reign's attention it was ignored.
The fire alarm would sound multiple times a day and all through the night with nobody turning it off. At that point I didn't know an emergency number for the building existed as Reign lied to me and said there wasn't one.
So the fire brigade would arrive over and over again in multiple fire engines, wasting precious time that could be spent saving lives.
We would usually get THREE fire engines come here, wasting resources. Non-stop over and over again to the point where most of the tenants would ignore the fire alarm because they would know it wasn't a real emergency. Which is a huge health and safety issue!
All because the management couldn't be bothered to sort out the fire alarm issue.


Not to mention, we were forced to stay outside for hours in the dark night until the alarm was turned off, this wasn't just a one or two time thing. It happened many, many times. Due to the neglect of addressing whoever would constantly set the alarm off.
Once I informed them I was to move out I was once again - you guessed it - ignored.
The final thing that prompted me to leave this dump was despite all the neglect they still decided to hike up the rent by a few hundred a year. THAT I DID NOT AGREE TO BUT THEY CHARGED ANYWAY. That was the final straw.

Unsurprisingly, the moving out process was also abhorrent. They tried to get viewings booked while I was still living there, they were that desperate for more money.
I did not get back my deposit either, which I suspected. Despite fighting to try and get it back they refused. I could not clean the flat fully due to needing to leave in a hurry, but was happy to pay for anything that needed doing, as long as I could receive proof of cost.
I didn't get any proof whatsoever and they stalled the process so I was forced to pay 2 months worth of rent for a flat I'm not even living in anymore. And they still have the gall to ask me for even more as of writing.
I was reprimanded for not being able to clean the flat to their standard that I CANNOT do anyhow due to my disability, of which reason is NONE of their business, but once again I was still happy to pay for it done from my deposit.
They actually asked for the money upfront until I argued with them tirelessly that it should come out of my deposit. So yes, I almost handed over yet another £575 to them. They really do clutch at straws.
They framed it in a way that I refused to pay and couldn't be bothered to clean, yet another hurtful lie to add to their countless others.
I was even forced to pay for things that I didn't do. The "excessive marks" on the wall I was forced to pay for were already there all over the walls when I moved in and the condensation was due to being supplied BROKEN old windows of terrible quality that WILL NOT OPEN OR CLOSE AND ARE JAMMED.
Do you honestly expect people who have moved overseas to come back to clean their slum of a flat? You never bothered to help with anything but expect me to clean up the dump?
I can't stress enough how much this company are greedy thieves.
They took almost all of my deposit and I know for a fact it doesn't cost £575 (which is "coincidentally" a month of rent.) to clean and make minor repairs to a tiny studio flat.
Again, they refused to provide any proof of cost.
Oh sorry, I guess they do need more of my money to buy a new Louis Vuitton bag...
I worked it out and have paid EXACTLY £15,500 to them and it's abhorrent that they have took so much of my money and have barely lifted a finger.
I have been forced to move back in with my parents due to being unable to afford their ridiculous costs. I am absolutely devastated and these leeches STILL want more of my money after I've left. They also said they never got the keys back in a desperate ploy for more money, luckily I was having none of the nonsense and kept the receipt for a royal mail signed delivery. Always keep your documentation! I will not be handing any more fees, because they are happy to lie over and over again to suck you dry of as much money as possible.
If this isn't bad enough, my flat is currently listed online for £750.
I feel sorry for whoever takes that flat now! You're paying £200 more than it originally was!
Before there was an end to this madness, I mostly coped alone but it got so bad I had to ask for help from my mum and an external organisation because I was in tears multiple times with it all. According to my mum, Sapna implied I broke the stuff MYSELF in my flat rather than it breaking naturally due to it being CHEAP AND BAD QUALITY.
I was and still am afraid of them but I won't let them silence us any longer.
If it wasn't for me seeking help from a professional to negotiate with them they would have still been charging me more rent even though I don't live there anymore. I'm baffled by how it's legal to force tenants to pay for a place they DO NOT LIVE AT until they find a new one.

Property rating: 1

Some of these issues were to do with the building I lived with rather than my flat. So I asked Reign if there is a number for the building manager. They said no such number exists and I found myself that was a lie. So I think it's only fair to mention those issues here too since they didn't direct me to anyone who could fix them.
There is no review page for the building owners but that would be B.hive property/APW who are also partially responsible for this. The state and neglect of the building they own is enough to warrant their own review.
The bathroom sink and shower are incredibly claustrophobic and nearing inaccessible levels and would be absolutely impossible to access if you are a bigger person.
Everytime I would wash my face/take a shower water would splash everywhere due to the miniture size.
There were ample problems in the flat and building. Far too many to list here but some were:
Sinks that were constantly blocked no matter how many times I unblocked it, all lights in the building corridors going off so it was pitch black and nothing done about it, spider infestation in the building, smashed glass on the window upon moving in, windows permanently jammed so I could not move them to open/close, appliances that broke within 2 years including radiator/washer (electrician and repair people confirmed the shoddy workmanship.)
Broken trip breaker in lift in building making loud noises constantly that can be heard from flat, (took over a year of correspondence to them and eventual escalation to council before it was fixed. And the noise came back a few months later. This goes without saying is VERY dangerous.), door came off washing machine that was ignored when brought to their attention, I had to message them over and over again until something was done.
Of course, I always lived in fear of complaining too much and being evicted so I'd often overlook many things.
To add more to the washer situation, it took them FOURTY DAYS of complaining to finally get their finger out and do something.
Multiple types of alarms going off constantly in the building, fire alarm sounding constantly, my entire flat would SHAKE every time someone outside closed a door, I'm guessing it's due to there being no insulation and the paper thin walls.
Tenants upstairs would also make banging, crashing, thumping, dragging heavy objects upstairs, slamming doors. Hammering. All through the night. The walls are so thin I could hear someone sneezing/coughing from down the hall constantly. And all noises from neighbours. There is no privacy.

Area rating: 1

Another huge red flag would be many people moved out of our building. The turnover rate was staggering. I've only been here two years but it seemed that every day almost there would be new tenants. When speaking to some of these tenants they mentioned Reign also ignored similar issues mentioned. So I was definitely not alone in this.
As well as my flat, there was constant problems with the building. Including sewage leakage that happened multiple times. It was absolutely vile. I cannot stress enough how the entire building was a place of squalor that was falling apart, without a doubt a modern day slum. Did I mention package thieves were abundant there?
Due to my personal circumstances, I literally could not leave. I had no money for any better. I was trapped in this nightmare for two years and scared to post this review until now as the fear of eviction was very real and being thrown out on to the streets should I speak up.
It was an extremely traumatic experience and has seriously affected my mental and physical health.
I only hope that karma does what's due and Reign/Sapna/Pinky/B-Hive/Bowen Zhang/APW and everyone else get investigated, because someone needs to speak up about this, and this goes for all those who have had dealings with these crooks, past and present.
They need to be formally investigated, because the maltreatment and advantage taken of tenants needs to end.
I wasn't sure to share this, but this experience with living in such horrible conditions was so horrific it did cause suicidal ideation in me. I never felt safe. It was a horribly unsecure, polluted, dirty, unsafe area and I recieved sexual harassment from another tenant which I had to contact the police for.