Tenancy review for 33 Bowker Street in Broughton, Salford rented from Simon Fitton

Landlord rating: 1

Simon Fitton, Eli Neumann and Claire Fitton are responsible for the tenants and the properties under Manchester Domestics (as far as I'm aware). They have an auction business based in Heywood which I'm guessing is their base of operations and the parent company of Manchester Domestics (and possibly other companies based off a quick company search on the .gov website).

Simon appears to be the main man involved with major operations of Manchester Domestics. He's an arrogant abusive and nasty piece of work who will change like a chameleon the day you move in and notice any issues. I got warning signals upon our first communication over the telephone in terms of agreeing a move in fee, upon discussing with them the fees he abruptly told me he didn't have time to talk to me, despite a week of back and fourth via email attempting to secure a move in date. I should have admittedly heeded my own instincts but I hope in writing this others can learn from my mistakes and proceed with caution! I've got oodles of nasty abusive messages from him, many of which came from complaints I put in and the state of the properties and/or tenants behaviour. The same has been reported by other tenants, many of which stated to me he turned their grievances around so to make them question themselves as to why they spoke out. This is manipulative and downright nasty as far as I'm concerned and not what you'd expect from someone whose income revolves around providing a level of service to those renting rooms. The general atmosphere whenever you speak to Simon; you are a victim and he is the righteous landlord. He ignores all complaints, all attempts for him to identify his cold hearted attitude and any attempt to resolving issues. His attitude towards all tenants past and present (up until my tenancy ending) has been nothing short of appalling.

I firmly believe he has gotten away with abusing his tenants for a long time, many of which appear vulnerable and unable to intellectually form a response to the experiences they face. Many basically put just accept things for how they are despite feeling awful about their experiences in the property. Over the year I have been a tenant he has mainly welcomed foreign people in his properties and when things have gone wrong, he has illegally evicted them by simply changing the locks. I understand many foreign people come for the money available in the UK and I firmly believe Simon uses their naivety to British customs and law and exploiting these vulnerabilities. The same applies for other tenants, many of which detailed briefly in the 'Property' section of this review are incapable of formulating a plan of action to defend themselves and their right to a peaceful, decent standard of living.

Eli Neumann is (as far as I'm aware) the owner of the properties under Manchester Domestics. He doesn't play an active role in frontlining the company. He's the 'good guy' in the bad/good cop roleplay between him and Simon. He's often well spoken and articulate yet still fails to address issues and turn his talk into action. He doesn't care one bit about his tenants yet has the audacity to put on a show for new prospective tenants with his well spoken communication - do not be fooled!

Claire Fitton is the wife of Simon Fitton and allegedly the manager of the properties (according to Simon). She is just as bitter and aggressive as her partner and often texts immediately when rent is due yet can take days to reply when complaints are made. Upon complaining about the lack of cleaner we were promised (and paying for out of our rent no less) she offered to buy cleaning products for the house but then stated even though a cleaner was part of the tenancy and we were paying for the cleaner (which didn't exist) we had to foot the bill for anymore cleaning products! Available as soon as rent is due but disappears when you really need assistance in regards to matters in the household.

I have been assaulted twice in both properties I have lived in. The first instance was by a drunk and drugged up Romanian who weeks before had told me he was on license from prison and boasted about selling cocaine in the city center. I reported this to the police and due to the nature of the incident (4 people vs 1 and all of these people saying I instigated it) the police took no further action. I went to the landlord, with evidence of my injuries (no-one else had any apart from me) and I was met by further abuse from Simon telling me I'm no good and that everyone hates me in the house. I managed to get Simon to move me into another property a few miles down the road, in Higher Broughton but his reason provided for this was to give me a second chance in another property otherwise he was going to evict me! I was assaulted and yet I was punished and made to feel like I had done something wrong. A few months later in this property at Bowker Street I was again attacked by another tenant who was psychotic and severely mentally unwell. After several weeks of trying to befriend him and form a relationship he could trust someone in he eventually began to manipulate me. This turned into an argument one night after he stole a parcel destined for an ex-resident not connected to this parcel thief. I was headbutted and subsequently had to subdue this violent dangerous individual until the police came. I again reported it to the landlord only to be met with him banging on my door a few days later with the police handing me an eviction notice telling me through the door how dangerous I was. I had to quickly give Simon a piece of my mind, in an articulate calm manner and ensure the police knew about his manipulative and cold hearted tactics to hurt his tenants. I was then left in peace and I have now been harassed for several days from Simon demanding rent and telling me how much of an awful person I am and how I will go nowhere in life. I have told him I will report him for harassment and that he will get the rent I owe him but in the mean time I intend to secure monies to move out. As you can guess, he wasn't happy about this!

I have been through living hell with this landlord and I hope by writing this so personally and in-depth you get to see an undiluted account of my experience with Manchester Domestics so you can better make an informed decision.

Property rating: 1

Both properties I have lived in owned by Manchester Domestics were poorly maintained. If it wasn't basic touches like a lick of paint on the outside and maintenance of the front and rear yards it was the sheer filth of the carpets in and around the house, the quality of work done to install most appliances and the overal upkeep and standard of the properties. The houses owned by this property company are kept to a very bare minimum standard of quality, are devoid of any personal touches to make you feel at home and the houses have clearly never seen a decent landlord watching over them.

Seeing as there isn't another box to comment about other tenants I'm going to put it here. Where to begin? Unless you want to live with shady characters, many who are mentally unwell (and refusing to seek treatment), intentionally antisocial, controlling and aggressive then I wouldn't move in. I've met 'gangsters', hoodlums, racist foreign tenants, drug addicts and dealers and depraved messy and disturbed individuals who frequently talk to themselves without second thought of other tenants. I've been met with period blood on toilet seats, constant smoke coming from several rooms despite smoking not being permitted, tenants snorting cocaine off worktops, drinking and shouting out in the back yard, bullying, harassment and general antisocial behaviour. All of which upon being reported to the landlord is sent back with a nice big F YOU. All the landlord has done with me and also various other tenants is denied responsibility and blamed the tenants putting in complaints! The cheek! Nothing is ever done in the property. One room in the property had a caved in roof and took several months for the landlord to fix it. The electricity trips often due to faulty wiring yet the landlord blames the tenants 'for not cleaning the cooker properly', even after the cooker is cleaned as you can guess, the problem persists. The shower at Weaste Lane in Salford appears to be connected via a plastic hose pipe (or something very similar). Both showers at Bowker Street barely trickle water for you to be able to wash yourself with the downstairs bathroom succumbing to damp often, again, nothing is done. At Bowker Street we have had numerous sightings of rats including finding rats dead on the upstairs hallway. There is one small fridge to provide storage of food for six rooms and that excludes additional freezer space and/or cupboards, this goes as protocol for both properties I've lived at. Often petty squabbles over fridge space has broken out despite everyone asking the landlord to invest in another fridge so everyone can have their own space.

Area rating: 5

The area for both properties wasn't to be bad, the neighbours are friendly and there are plenty of transport links to the city center and surrounding areas.