Tenancy review for Jacks Cottage Wickwar in Ladden Brook, Wotton-under-edge rented from Chris Cookson

Landlord rating: 2

The landlord and landlady, while being pleasant, were both working full time. This meant that any request for minor repairs was not attended to or repaired poorly by themselves or me. They did not want to spend the money on professional workment for interior repairs. Their amateur attitude was also a factor in the cleanliness of the property as deep cleaning had obviously not been done for many years over many tenancies.

Property rating: 6

Jacks Cottage is a beautiful stone structure with a fascinating history as an ostlers attached to the larger house next to it which was a pub and is where the Landlord and Landlady live.

It has been extended and modernised and has space and light in the extended portion but is very cramped upstairs and in the shower room downstairs. The shower room is directly opposite the front door and was full of dirt when I moved in. The bathroom upstairs is very low and also small and had leaks due to poor plumbing.

The heating is oil based and your bills will fluctuate with oil prices, it also more work monitoring oil levels and ordering deliveries. The property was very hard to keep at a constant temperature due to incorrect radiator sizing and lack of central room thermostat. Despite offering to have one installed by my brother for free, the landlord and landlady prevaricated and would not accept that the cottage needed one. My brother is a 25 year heating and airconditioning technical expert who runs his own company and the local heating engineer even mentioned that he could not understand why they did not install central thermostats in the cottage or the main house and then complained that the heating was expensive and that breakdowns were regular. Both of these issues would have been reduced by a central thermostat.

There is a very small garden with astroturf, but it is very private with a large stone wall around it.

The lighting is mostly spot lights, banks of 4 in each bedroom upstairs. Personally I think the lighting design is not good. Too bright and direct but that is a subjective opinion. I replaced many halogen bulbs with LED equivalents out of my own pocket due to the cost and heat generated having them on.

The privacy is severely lacking due to the main house right next to you. I noticed I was being watched but ignored it until multiple visitors mentioned it to me. I suggest you get net curtains, which of course darkens the property as the sun shines through the windows on the side of the cottage where the main building is located.

The landlord and landlady, whilst being pleasant, were both working full time. This meant that any request for minor repairs was not attended to or repaired poorly by themselves or me. They did not want to spend the money on professional workment for interior repairs. Their amateur attitude was also a factor in the cleanliness of the property as deep cleaning had obviously not been done for many years over many tenancies.

As I expected the owners tried to take a good portion of the deposit from me that was due to damage caused by issues I had verbally pointed out but were not resolved. I won the Deposit Protection Scheme arbitration that I entered due to problems with the contract and their lack of reactivity when I mentioned issues. I recommend you very carefully check everything on their manual list of the state of the interior.In addition, take photo's of every room, every item, in every cupboard and behind every appliance if you decide to move in. When raising issues, make sure they are via email or in writing and keep them for future proof.

The privacy is severely lacking due to the main house right next to you. I noticed I was being watched but ignored it until multiple visitors mentioned it to me. I suggest you get net curtains, which of course darkens the property as the sun shines through the windows on the side of the cottage where the main building is located.

Area rating: 8

The location has fantastic scenery, and the towns in the area a joy to visit. You really need a car to live here, but two spaces on a modern driveway are provided. However, the cottage was very difficult to find due to the lack of a sign at the entrance. It took me 8 months to condense the directions into 200 characters to allow delivery drivers to find the property. It is close to Bristol, but the roads become absolutely packed at peak hours, however this is similar to many other cities. There are always multiple routes into Bristol if there is an accident, and the property is well situated for access to the M4/M5 for longer commutes.