38% lettings valuation accuracy
38% lettings fee satisfaction
Oct 18,2018
Oct 18,2018
12
people found
this helpful
this helpful
Leaders is one of the worst real estate agents, at least in Cambridge.
First of all, their charges are exorbitant. Absolutely unjustifiable for the service they provide. Apart from rent and 1.5x rent as deposit, I almost ended up paying them a month's rent as fees before taking up the property for rent. They collected £180 checkout fee at the start of my tenancy, even though check out is done only at the end! The application fees they collected is one of the highest in Cambridge.
Second, their service is pathetic. I had broken window frames in the house I rented. When I contacted them regarding the situation, it took them almost a month to send word across to the relevant person! I had to live with a broken heater in a room for a month in January! They never answered my emails. I spent my initial days trying to send them email after email, only to be lost in their ocean of unanswered emails. I had to phone them and tell them to look at my mail, which they will while keeping me on hold and then reply - which kind of negates the purpose of email!
Above all, I find the staff very rude. My own property manager was Ruth from Leaders Cambridge. She never answered her phones or mails in a polite manner. Every time I talked to her, she made me feel like I was doing a crime disturbing her, even though she was my property manager. Even after a year of managing my property, she had no clue of the tenancy, termination dates, and the other procedures, even though I talked to her so many times over phone explaining everything. She was always dismissive and said things like, "oh, we receive a ton of emails", "It is a very busy time of the year, we are dealing with a lot of work", etc.
The final straw for me was when I caught them lying to me outright. When I was looking to move out of the house, Ruth said (paraphrasing) that I cannot keep changing my mind and that my decisions have repercussions; there was so much going on behind the scene with every decision of mine; they had to advertise the property, clean and find a new tenant; and that I was not giving them time to do this. When at this point, I had already heard from my landlord that she was not going to re-let the property and in fact she was okay with me leaving the house without any reservations!
It is just unacceptable how they make people feel apologetic for no reason! I hear from my landlord that she has been paying very high fees as well and they never took good care of her property - she has ended her business with them as well.
First of all, their charges are exorbitant. Absolutely unjustifiable for the service they provide. Apart from rent and 1.5x rent as deposit, I almost ended up paying them a month's rent as fees before taking up the property for rent. They collected £180 checkout fee at the start of my tenancy, even though check out is done only at the end! The application fees they collected is one of the highest in Cambridge.
Second, their service is pathetic. I had broken window frames in the house I rented. When I contacted them regarding the situation, it took them almost a month to send word across to the relevant person! I had to live with a broken heater in a room for a month in January! They never answered my emails. I spent my initial days trying to send them email after email, only to be lost in their ocean of unanswered emails. I had to phone them and tell them to look at my mail, which they will while keeping me on hold and then reply - which kind of negates the purpose of email!
Above all, I find the staff very rude. My own property manager was Ruth from Leaders Cambridge. She never answered her phones or mails in a polite manner. Every time I talked to her, she made me feel like I was doing a crime disturbing her, even though she was my property manager. Even after a year of managing my property, she had no clue of the tenancy, termination dates, and the other procedures, even though I talked to her so many times over phone explaining everything. She was always dismissive and said things like, "oh, we receive a ton of emails", "It is a very busy time of the year, we are dealing with a lot of work", etc.
The final straw for me was when I caught them lying to me outright. When I was looking to move out of the house, Ruth said (paraphrasing) that I cannot keep changing my mind and that my decisions have repercussions; there was so much going on behind the scene with every decision of mine; they had to advertise the property, clean and find a new tenant; and that I was not giving them time to do this. When at this point, I had already heard from my landlord that she was not going to re-let the property and in fact she was okay with me leaving the house without any reservations!
It is just unacceptable how they make people feel apologetic for no reason! I hear from my landlord that she has been paying very high fees as well and they never took good care of her property - she has ended her business with them as well.
Comment on agent fees
Exorbitant. Not worthy of the service they provide.
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Latest Reviews
31st Dec 2023
reviewed by 'Mistreated Migrant'
30th Nov 2023
reviewed by 'Catherine T'
10th Apr 2023
reviewed by 'Prospective tenant'
28th Feb 2023
reviewed by 'Valerie'
Opening Hours
Address
Leaders
140 Hills Road
Cambridge
Cambridgeshire
CB2 8PB
01223 500387
Performance statistics
| Services | Valuation Accuracy | Fees Satisfaction | Min Price of property reviewed | Max Price of property reviewed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lettings | 38% | 38% | £400 | £2,350 |
Review statistics
| From Landlords | From Tenants | From Vendors | From Buyers | Other | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 3 | 5 | 32 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11 |
Areas covered
Services offered
- Sales
- Lettings
- Block Management
- Surveys
- Conveyancing
- Mortgage Advice
- Home Builder
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Dec 31,2023
Dec 31,2023
2
people found
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The most unprofessional and disappointing agent I've ever dealt with.
When I moved in I saw how dirty and unkempt the room was. The walls were extremely mouldy, and the bed mattress hasn't been cleaned or replaced at all for a long time so it ...
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Nov 30,2023
Nov 30,2023
3
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Believe the 1-star reviews. I would give 0 if I could. From my initial onboarding as a tenant, to the very end, it was like pulling teeth. It's the worst of the worst in terms of professionalism. Expect curt one-liners to BIG issues, passive-aggressiveness, them giving ...
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Sep 20,2023
Sep 20,2023
1
people found
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this helpful
Utterly incompetent, useless and uninterested in helping. Terrible communication, I spoke to a different person every time I contacted them about the property I wanted to rent, and each time I was brushed aside. I reached out to them about this property over a month ...
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Sep 20,2023
Sep 20,2023
1
people found
this helpful
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Utterly incompetent, useless and uninterested in helping. Terrible communication, I spoke to a different person every time I contacted them about the property I wanted to rent, and each time I was brushed aside. I reached out to them about this property over a month ...
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Apr 10,2023
Apr 10,2023
1
people found
this helpful
this helpful
Took a holding deposit for a property that was totally unprepared. They booked a viewing without having keys to the property so couldn't view. Tried to force me to pay insurance and first month's rent despite contract not being signed. After we cancelled, few days ...
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Feb 28,2023
Feb 28,2023
0
people found
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Today I received the result of my first tenant inspection which I am very pleased about. I was able to see my house well looked after. I would like to thank Andre Payne who is looking after my property. His work is professional, always very ...
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Feb 17,2023
Feb 17,2023
3
people found
this helpful
this helpful
15 years of renting and owning property in the UK and I have never come across a company as bad as Leaders.
Please note that my issues were not with a single individual or a branch, it has been with the company as a whole in ...
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Jan 20,2023
Jan 20,2023
1
people found
this helpful
this helpful
Deposit scheme is terrible. Property manager is completely unhelpful and bordering on dishonest. Changed gas and electricity meters when I was in the US, ended up with a 300 pound bill just for one months gas even though I wasn't in the country! Claims to not ...
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Jan 03,2023
Jan 03,2023
0
people found
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Thank you team leaders Cambridge for my new home. The team is very efficient,very friendly and instant problem solvers. Thank you kaite for your help and hassle free support....
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Sep 15,2022
Sep 15,2022
3
people found
this helpful
this helpful
If I could, I would give this company NEGATIVE STARS.
DO NOT RENT WITH THIS COMPANY.
This has been by far the worst rental experience Ive ever had, and I've been renting now for over 17 years.
First of all, we are internationals. Before moving in, ...
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Oct 24, 2022
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Follow up:
This has been by far the worst rental experience Ive ever had, and I\'ve been renting now for over 17 years.
First of all, we are internationals. Before moving in, we asked how to get electricity and gas sorted. They advised us that these would be available for 2 weeks when we moved in, and that would give us time to sort out more formal contract. We moved in - of course, no electricity whatsoever.
Moreover, the house was FILLED with garbage when we arrived. Mould in the washin ...
Sep 07,2022
Sep 07,2022
1
people found
this helpful
this helpful
Very poor service provider.... The customer care representative doesn't even have an idea of what apartment they have listed as she kept arguing that the apartment I enquire for does not exist and was never listed for rent..... I called back about 1 minute after and ...
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Aug 08,2022
Aug 08,2022
0
people found
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Best service ever, informative, and instant reply.
Very polite and kind. I highly recommend leaders to anyone moving to this wonderful place....
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Jul 18,2022
Jul 18,2022
1
people found
this helpful
this helpful
Leaders manged my property for over a decade. It use to be good but then I realised every time a called them I had a new property manager who new nothing about me, my property or the tenant.
Then the incompetency and deceit started. I ...
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Jun 25,2022
Jun 25,2022
1
people found
this helpful
this helpful
In 2021 we rented a house from leaders in Cambridge. Almost all the agents were very rude, not at all helpful and have an attitude of ‘ya whatever’.
I agree that Cambridge rental market is a sellers market and renters don have much say or option. ...
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May 24,2022
May 24,2022
0
people found
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Just wanted to share my experience renting with Leaders Cambridge for about an year.
I don't have any complaints during our stay at the property. The check-in experience was not perfect, but I wouldn't go out of my way to talk about it.
It was ...
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May 18,2022
May 18,2022
1
people found
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this helpful
They forced me to rent a house with the no deposit option, and during the process they forced me to provide all of my credit card details including security code which they store in their own system. My card has been stolen, not physically but ...
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Apr 11,2022
Apr 11,2022
4
people found
this helpful
this helpful
PLEASE never let with Leaders (see photos).
1.) Our property was not cleaned when we moved Sep 2021. There was:
- A DEAD RAT amongst piles of trash and old tenants items
- A 3 month old full carton on milk inside flooded and rotten fridge.
- Pots ...
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Dec 02,2021
Dec 02,2021
2
people found
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Terrible service. Slow replies and time wasters. Why take on a property and then have no keys to view the place. Say that pets considered, take my personal details and then Reject the application because you own a pet?...
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Nov 12,2021
Nov 12,2021
0
people found
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It was a difficult process getting into our home but Katie was very helpful throughout and brought us through all the paperwork. She was very friendly and kept us progressing all the time....
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Sep 26,2021
Sep 26,2021
3
people found
this helpful
this helpful
I got a call last Wednesday to schedule a viewing for à flat in cambridge. The agent did request for us to com in on Friday but due to work obligations we could not made it therefore the agent agreed to do the viewing on Saturday.
...
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Jun 12,2021
Jun 12,2021
7
people found
this helpful
this helpful
Awful! They are borderline criminal and out to exploit people. We tried to view a property and they were basically unreachable by telephone or email. They promised us a video viewing of a property but never sent it, then coerced us into paying a holding ...
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Feb 21,2021
Feb 21,2021
0
people found
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Leaders have successfully found tenants, most recently Katie and Matt have secured a new tenancy. Katie has kept me informed and updated during the whole process and gone out of her way to manage the negotiation with photographs and suggestions....
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Feb 20,2021
Feb 20,2021
0
people found
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We have always found Katie to be cheery and helpful.
She always keeps us up to date with what is happening....
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Feb 19,2021
Feb 19,2021
1
people found
this helpful
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It was my first time using a letting agency and I got a little overwhelmed but the service I received was amazing and helped make the process run a lot smoother, in particular Leah, she was extremely patient with me and went above and beyond ...
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Feb 17,2021
Feb 17,2021
3
people found
this helpful
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It took Leaders over 6months to fix the floor in the house. Wrote 20+ emails to report the issues every time insisting that this need to be fixed ASAP. The same with the whole in the bathroom. Very disappointed by Hannah and the manager, forgot her ...
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Feb 16,2021
Feb 16,2021
0
people found
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Jade has been managing my properties for several months. There were many problems over this time that required attention and Jade has always been efficient and communicated well during this time. I know if I require any thing Jade will always respond and seek out ...
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Feb 15,2021
Feb 15,2021
2
people found
this helpful
this helpful
Terrible service from Lukasz the alleged 'property manager' - unresponsive, and dismissive. We have had no hot water or heating for 3 days and this will not be fixed for a further 3. He only responded to my phone calls and emails about this after I called ...
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Dec 18,2020
Dec 18,2020
1
people found
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this helpful
If you have had Leaders as a letting agent, it may sound familiar to you sentences such as "this is a new property for management", "I wasn't aware of the issue"...either this is what they do to gain time or there is a huge ...
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Oct 07,2020
Oct 07,2020
0
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I am very grateful for the Leaders Cambridge for their friendly and professional reviewing of my property: very fast and responsive to my need! It was a pleasure to deal with Dominic, thank you so much!...
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Aug 10,2020
Aug 10,2020
2
people found
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would give less if i could. such a shame for such a nice property to be managed so poorly. property was no where near sorted when i moved in and they have been so incredibly slow at getting things sorted since....
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Aug 21, 2020
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Leaders have since resolved the outstanding maintenance issues, a month after the start of the tenancy. ...
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