London Property Agencies

Short review of London letting agencies based on my personal experience.

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Keenstate ltd.

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What is it?
This agency actually doesn't advertise itself as agency, they pretend being privates with many properties, most probably they want to satisfy those who preffer privates rather than agencies.
You can find this agency on Spareroom hidden under the name Nicky or Marcelo.
This agency is suitable for people looking for accommodation in a shared house.

Contacts:

Address: 26 Western Avenue, Acton (Nearest Tube station is East Acton)
Email: jupiter.marcelo@gmail.com
Telephone: available on Spareroom
Web: none

How long I stayed with them:
2 months

Pros.

• Good for newcomers in London, short lets possible
• Proof of employment not required
• References not required
• They always have properties available
• All bills are included
• Quite flexible for payment, cash, card, bank transfer (no stupid fees for card  payment)
• If you don't like the house, you can wriggle out from contract (1 month notice + 75 GBP deduction)
• They give you your deposit in full amount, they don't try to find any kind of damage and convince you that it was your fault (which unfortunately happens in some agencies in London)
• Usually they do not try to create unnecessary problems

Cons.

• Extra charge for Security & Maintenance - one week rent worth (which is not mentioned in ads)
• Poor quality of houses
• Not always working sanitary facilities
• Maintenance workers take a long time to come and solve problems (usual excuse: "they know about  it")
• I heard some people complaining about bugs in their beds
• Big flow of comers and leavers (sometimes you cannot be sure if the person is housemate or random stranger)

This agency can be recommended for newcomers desperately looking for a short let (not longer than 3 months). Staying longer can have bad impact on your health.

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Accommodationlondon

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What is it?
They describe themselves as a budget accommodation for students, singles, couples or groups.

Contacts:

Address: not provided
Email: info@accommodationlondon.net
Telephone: +44 (0) 20 8459 6203
Web: www.accommodationlondon.net/

How long I stayed with them:
Still staying, so far 3 months

Pros.

• Good for newcomers in London, short lets possible
• References not required
• Properties are in a good quality (usually refurbished houses)
• All bills are included

Cons.

• Their system of fees is very weird, maybe even worse than in low-cost airlines, for example
• £12 for early payment (any day before pay day)
• £12 for payment in cash in order to cover bank charges (despite banks usually do not charge you for putting cash to your account)
• 5% fee for payment by card (i.e. £50 extra if your monthly rent is £1000!)
• For late payment, there is £20 notice fee plus £5 per person, per day
• As a late payment is considered even if you miss cash collectors about 5 - 10 minutes
• Their system of fees discourages everybody to pay by card, which is done probably deliberately
• Rent collection takes place on the day they notice (around lunch time), which is absolutely not flexible for people doing office jobs.
• You can leave the rent in cash inside your apartment but you risk they overlook it and then of course charge you for late payment (unfortunately it happened to me).

External reviews of Accommodationlondon:

http://www.yelp.co.uk/biz/accommodation-london-london


Another reviews

Keen on seeing more reviews from someone else's experience, follow the link below, there you'll find many

http://www.uklettingagent.co.uk/reviews/

How to protect yourself

It can be hard to defend yourself when you get into unnecessary troubles with agencies, for this situations it is important to know your rights. Follow the link below to see the article by BBC which might help you.

How to protect yourself from cowboys

Another one, couple of tips what to be careful about when you rent a property.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/mortgages/rent-a-property