Tenancy review for Flat 20 in Coxford, Southampton rented from Chadni Patel rented via Morris Dibben

Landlord rating: 1

My partner and I moved in to that large 3rd floor flat on 03/05/2018. The flat had not been cleaned thoroughly and we spent almost 2 days to remove all the dust and clean the carpets.

The vacuum cleaner of the landlord was so damaged that as soon as we turned it on, smoke came out and the fire alarm went off. We threw it away and had to buy our own.
The mattress in one of the two bedrooms started having pointy springs coming out of it and the landlord instead of buying a new one decided to leave us with no mattress unless we bought one for ourselves (and we did unavoidably).
One of the cupboards near the fridge had not been set up properly because one the screws had not been screwed in at all and it almost fell on my partner's head a few days before we moved out.

Despite all that, we cleaned the apartment thoroughly and even left a few stuff back for the new tenants.
And then the time came to receive the deposit... Originally we had deposited 975 pounds.

The landlord asked for 456 pounds! The reasons were:
1) We left stuff behind that had to be thrown away. We had literally stated that we left them back on purpose. Instead of telling us to remove them (it was a small table and a christmas tree), they charged us 48 pounds just for taking them from the 3rd floor to the bins!

2) The landlord wanted 96 pounds for a chair that was missing. When we had moved in the flat had 3 chairs. The landlord claimed there were 4!! And she wanted us to pay 96 pounds for a chair that was never there!

3) The tenancy agreement stated that we had to pay for a professional cleaning. We did not do that hoping to clean it equally well ourselves. We did not achieve that and agreed to pay for a professional cleaning. The landlord wanted 312 pounds for that!! A professional cleaning for a flat of that size could not be more than 100 pounds for sure.

Needless to say, we raised a dispute with the company that had our deposit.

STAY AWAY. There are much cheaper and better places to stay if you are working in Southampton General Hospital.

Agency rating: 8

Morris Dibbens and Countrywide Lettings have been very helpful. Always answered their emails, always available on the phone. Very objective, no complaint from them.

Property rating: 3

3rd floor, no elevator
Very large flat. 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms. Kitchen and living room connected, the couch in the living room is gigantic and very soft.
Fully furnished, washing machine, fridge/freezer available, a lot of space for storage. Also has available wardrobes

Area rating: 6

Nothing interesting. The Southampton General Hospital is right across the street so if you are working there the commuting time falls to zero. Ideal for those working long shifts. Also many bus stations nearby, very easy access to City Centre.
Unfortunately, shops are not very close. You can always buy food from M&S in the hospital but it is very expensive.