0% sales valuation accuracy
0% sales fee satisfaction
0% lettings valuation accuracy
0% lettings fee satisfaction
Sep 08,2022
Sep 08,2022
0
people found
this helpful
this helpful
It has taken a year, but finally the property ombudsman has awarded compensation to my daughter and her friends which has been paid by LHR.
The house they were expected to move into in July 2021 was literally a house of horrors; damp and black mould everywhere (the walls were actually wet, the smell in the house indescribable) bloodstained and saggy old mattresses, broken furniture, hazardous steps (as described by the schedule of condition) and faulty wiring.
The students spent their first night in a hotel as you just could not sleep there, they handed back the keys the following day, then sofa surfed for a week until they were all forced to come back home for their Summer because LHR refused to find them better accommodation hiding behind the mantra that they'd 'signed a contract' and it wasn't 'their problem.'
It was only when the parents got 'militant' by saying we'd phone on the half hour every hour running down their answerphone that the ball to get this horrendous house sorted began rolling. Before that they'd not answer the phone to me (until I used a different phone) and pass us onto the poor junior in the office. Liane Hanks will reply that she was on holiday, which is true, but Alaistair in charge of maintenance and Hayley Workman (a director) were both working. Alaistair actually hung up on my husband. Hayley has given her own company a 5* review, a tad unethical.
Liane Hanks herself eventually rang me and minimized the issues saying the house was 'tired' and that you'd struggle to find a house in Bath without mould. When I suggested the students looked at some of their other properties she said that if we didn't like Millmead Road we certainly wouldn't like the others and that her own son had to live in substandard accommodation at university. In other words, get on with it. She even suggested the students find other students to take their place, how were they to do that? Who'd rent it knowing the state of the property, were they to lie about it? This was unacceptable to us as was the offer of 4 weeks rent free while they did the work (my husband is a builder with 40 years experience) he knew it'd take more than 4 weeks to sort out the issues and they certainly couldn't 'room hop' as she suggested, while the work was done. We instructed a lawyer.
Environmental health were eventually involved. They found all our faults plus some potentially life threatening ones; insufficient fire separation door, no CO2 monitor, and a blocked fire escape. They were given 8 weeks to resolve the matters. We took the landlord to the 'small claims court' and just this week, 14 months later, he's paid back their rent plus 8% interest.
We are pleased that our efforts have at least got the house in a decent condition for the next group of students. At least they shouldn't die from being stuck in a fire, poisoned by carbon dioxide/monoxide or from a fall down dangerous steps. LHR had to pay compensation to us because "I am critical of LHRL for not notifying the complainants, prior to the start of their tenancy that the condition of the property at the end of the previous tenancy was not as expected." (Property Ombudsman June 2022)
LHR will say that the last tenants were responsible for the state of the property, yet we found them and got their schedules of condition from when THEY moved in and moved when they out. Most of the issues were there over a year ago. Indeed in the week between them moving out and my daughter and her friends moving in, all that had changed in the property was a battery in a fire alarm had been replaced. LHR clearly expected this group of students to suck it up and put up with the state of the place as others had done before.
Sadly the bar is pretty low with renting standards and laws/codes of practice about what is acceptable. I am now lobbying MPs to get a change to this. Wera Hobhouse, the MP for the area has been very helpful.
I advise all students in the strongest terms, to avoid this agency.
The house they were expected to move into in July 2021 was literally a house of horrors; damp and black mould everywhere (the walls were actually wet, the smell in the house indescribable) bloodstained and saggy old mattresses, broken furniture, hazardous steps (as described by the schedule of condition) and faulty wiring.
The students spent their first night in a hotel as you just could not sleep there, they handed back the keys the following day, then sofa surfed for a week until they were all forced to come back home for their Summer because LHR refused to find them better accommodation hiding behind the mantra that they'd 'signed a contract' and it wasn't 'their problem.'
It was only when the parents got 'militant' by saying we'd phone on the half hour every hour running down their answerphone that the ball to get this horrendous house sorted began rolling. Before that they'd not answer the phone to me (until I used a different phone) and pass us onto the poor junior in the office. Liane Hanks will reply that she was on holiday, which is true, but Alaistair in charge of maintenance and Hayley Workman (a director) were both working. Alaistair actually hung up on my husband. Hayley has given her own company a 5* review, a tad unethical.
Liane Hanks herself eventually rang me and minimized the issues saying the house was 'tired' and that you'd struggle to find a house in Bath without mould. When I suggested the students looked at some of their other properties she said that if we didn't like Millmead Road we certainly wouldn't like the others and that her own son had to live in substandard accommodation at university. In other words, get on with it. She even suggested the students find other students to take their place, how were they to do that? Who'd rent it knowing the state of the property, were they to lie about it? This was unacceptable to us as was the offer of 4 weeks rent free while they did the work (my husband is a builder with 40 years experience) he knew it'd take more than 4 weeks to sort out the issues and they certainly couldn't 'room hop' as she suggested, while the work was done. We instructed a lawyer.
Environmental health were eventually involved. They found all our faults plus some potentially life threatening ones; insufficient fire separation door, no CO2 monitor, and a blocked fire escape. They were given 8 weeks to resolve the matters. We took the landlord to the 'small claims court' and just this week, 14 months later, he's paid back their rent plus 8% interest.
We are pleased that our efforts have at least got the house in a decent condition for the next group of students. At least they shouldn't die from being stuck in a fire, poisoned by carbon dioxide/monoxide or from a fall down dangerous steps. LHR had to pay compensation to us because "I am critical of LHRL for not notifying the complainants, prior to the start of their tenancy that the condition of the property at the end of the previous tenancy was not as expected." (Property Ombudsman June 2022)
LHR will say that the last tenants were responsible for the state of the property, yet we found them and got their schedules of condition from when THEY moved in and moved when they out. Most of the issues were there over a year ago. Indeed in the week between them moving out and my daughter and her friends moving in, all that had changed in the property was a battery in a fire alarm had been replaced. LHR clearly expected this group of students to suck it up and put up with the state of the place as others had done before.
Sadly the bar is pretty low with renting standards and laws/codes of practice about what is acceptable. I am now lobbying MPs to get a change to this. Wera Hobhouse, the MP for the area has been very helpful.
I advise all students in the strongest terms, to avoid this agency.
Attachments
Was this helpful?
Yes
Yes
Agent Response / Add a Comment
You can use this form to reply to the above review or a displayed comment on the above review.
Browse popular links for estate agents, letting agents and properties nearby
Latest Reviews
8th Sep 2022
reviewed by 'Carole Munday'
Opening Hours
Address
Liane Hanks Residential
28 Moorland Road
Bath
Avon
BA2 3PW
01225 481219
Performance statistics
| Services | Valuation Accuracy | Fees Satisfaction | Min Price of property reviewed | Max Price of property reviewed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sales | % | 0% | £0 | £0 |
| Lettings | 0% | 0% | £2,375 | £2,375 |
Review statistics
| From Landlords | From Tenants | From Vendors | From Buyers | Other | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Areas covered
Services offered
- Sales
- Lettings
- Block Management
- Surveys
- Conveyancing
- Mortgage Advice
- Home Builder
Advertise on
Members of
Rankings
Overall
Overall
Latest Properties
No Properties
Sep 08,2022
Sep 08,2022
0
people found
this helpful
this helpful
It has taken a year, but finally the property ombudsman has awarded compensation to my daughter and her friends which has been paid by LHR.
The house they were expected to move into in July 2021 was literally a house of horrors; damp and black mould ...
read full review
read full review
Attachments
Was this helpful?
Yes
Yes
No fees information available
Kindly note that legally, letting agents need to publish information about their tenancy fees, government-approved redress schemes and client money protection schemes on their website and on third party websites (on which agents are listed). For properties to lease/rent in England, agents need to keep this information up to date and precise on allAgents or specify within the property description.
Complaints Procedure
No procedure set.
Last updated at 9:33 AM 17/09/2019 by heather heather
