Tenancy review for 2 Mount Pleasant Terrace in Menai Bangor, Bangor rented from Andrew Hunter

Landlord rating: 3

Andrew Hunter, or Drew, was at first impressions a genuine and honest landlord. Generally, as the year went on he was helpful in responding to various issues and repairs that were needed. However, towards the end of our tenancy there were some difficulties.

Firstly, Drew asked us to 'ensure the lounge was clear' to enable next year's tenants to store their belongings in two days time.
At first this was not an issue, Drew had been helpful and although by no means ideal we assumed this would not be much and we were only there for another month.
However, we were all shocked when we saw that our living room was stacked high with boxes and items, the sofas and the kitchen table were completely covered. It was now a challenge to sit down at the table or on the sofa without having to move other people's possessions out of the way without damaging them. It was frustrating for us, but also it seems for the foreign student who arrived to move into the house before we had all left! I had a lot of sympathy for him as he did not speak English very well and had to negotiate moving next year's tenants' stuff into the living room with the help of my fellow housemate because Drew was not present.
Having someone unknown to us move into the house, and a living room packed full of other peoples' stuff was something we made little fuss about despite the encroachment and restriction we had to deal with to the house we had paid to live in.

Yet to add insult to injury, we soon learnt that Drew had decided that it was fair for me and one other to pay him £115 of the £150 deposit, and the other three £50. He argued that he needed money for cleaning costs of the communal areas despite the fact the house was being occupied by someone else in breach of the contract we signed. We all left the house's communal areas as clean as we could (with pictures to prove) considering the lounge was stacked with boxes and someone was still using these areas. So when Drew asked for £50 from each of us to clean these areas that were still being used, it was infuriating and frankly laughable. This has completely changed my view of Drew, especially when we treated him with courtesy and consideration and even paid rent early due to some money issues of his.
Drew went further and claimed two chairs and a blind were broken by us and needed replacing, on top of his view that the kitchen was disgusting. This was simply wrong, there was obviously some wear and tear but nowhere near enough to warrant replacement at the expense of a third and nearly all of our deposits respectively. Nor is this a matter of opinion, certainly and categorically we did not break anything.

Consequently, in the end we all felt let down by this landlord. Overall I personally would warn against staying here unless he changed his attitude towards respecting his tenants and deposits. Unfortunately, this is another clear example of a landowner trying to exploit students for financial gain.

Property rating: 7

Large spacious rooms, pleased we had double beds to replace the small singles half way through the year to try and attract next years students to rent the property. Comfortable desk chairs although in my room very squeaky. Apparently broken beyond repair but worked fine when I left.

Neat toilet and shower rooms, all worked okay. Kitchen and lounge quite small but perfectly adequate.
Mostly quiet, although you can hear conversations from neighbours like they were in the same room.

Nice place to sit outside when the sun eventually shines. Bike shed was promised for January but still not built when we left, maybe it will have by the time you have seen this!

Area rating: 8

Perfect distance between the Main University building and pubs! No parking except for the university parking area very close by but that worked out ideal. Some issues with litter on the road above, with bins often spilled over but nothing too troublesome; our neighbour seemed more upset and blamed us for it.