100% lettings valuation accuracy
69% lettings fee satisfaction
Jan 07,2024
Jan 07,2024
3
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With regret, I am leaving Brand Vaughan a 1-star review to reflect my experience with them.
This is not a reflection of all staff at the company, as I did indeed have some positive, professional experiences during my tenancy.
It appears to me that from reviews online, Brand Vaughan seem to earn a good amount of praise from those wishing to buy & sell property. However, like many other fellow student tenants, I have had a poor experience renting with this agent.
I rented a one-bedroom student flat with BV last year with my then-partner. The property was in a good location, was modern, and of just the right size for us.
Regretfully, we noticed a few issues after moving-in.
The ceiling was leaking and a large part of the ceiling therefore had to be removed. The downstairs smoke alarm was damaged by said leak and never replaced. We had to evacuate one night due to the remaining smoke alarms sounding, with the lights indicating a 'gas leak'. On arrival of the emergency gas engineer, they found no fault, but informed us that they were surprised that the property didn't have a carbon monoxide alarm and that we didn't have the correct number of smoke detectors in the flat. Due to the leak, the hallway walls became covered in mould, damp and condensation, which looked bad and smelled worse. This affected my partner's asthma. Despite regular cleaning, use of dehumidifiers and a re-paint, the issue persisted. The bathroom drain was poorly-fitted and leaked. The bedroom curtains came down a week after move-in. One of the windows in the bedroom didn't open. An upstairs window didn't open. Most of the wall edges suffered from paint-cracking. The bed frame was weak. The inventory on check-in missed several issues which I then added. Ironically, on check-out the inventory was very detailed and didn't take into consideration the issues we had logged during the tenancy, which suggests a failure of communication. The check-out inventory also suggested a need for professional cleaning... I had cleaned and redecorated the entire flat and then paid for a professional cleaner to service the flat before moving out... so this seemed unfair. We only had one set of keys throughout the tenancy as this was all we were given. On check-out it took several emails to clarify that we were only given one set and should not be liable to pay for a replacement.
The above issues could have been rectified more quickly, in part, if there was a clearer process for reporting and resolving maintenance issues. Although FixFlo appears to be a very handy online system, ultimately all of my maintenance requests were then sent back to the landlord to deal with. So, in the end, I had to log via FixFlo and email the landlord directly, in the hope of passing the information to them before what would have been 5 working days if left solely with the agent.
These issues aside, the most significant problem we encountered was after our tenancy ended. We paid rent inclusive of the electric bill. Afterward, due to what was framed to be our 'high usage' (more likely caused by the recent increase in energy costs and the need for heating due to poor window insulation) we were made to pay the difference between what the agent calculated to be total usage minus rent contribution. We were therefore left with almost £1.3k to pay. Despite challenging this, we paid the charge after the threat of legal action. The way this charge was raised to us by Tony Sparrowhawk and the subsequent communications showed minimal understanding, simply demanding the payment in full asap. The agent evidently needs to decide if they wish to offer a property fully inclusive of bills, or offer a property where the tenants are liable for the full bill. Instead, they appear to sell the dream and hide behind a 'fair usage' clause. This appears to lie with the agent, not the landlord, as ultimately it is the agent who 'sells' the property and deals with the tenants.
If you are a local student, I would recommend using an alternative letting agent or renting from a university directly.
This is not a reflection of all staff at the company, as I did indeed have some positive, professional experiences during my tenancy.
It appears to me that from reviews online, Brand Vaughan seem to earn a good amount of praise from those wishing to buy & sell property. However, like many other fellow student tenants, I have had a poor experience renting with this agent.
I rented a one-bedroom student flat with BV last year with my then-partner. The property was in a good location, was modern, and of just the right size for us.
Regretfully, we noticed a few issues after moving-in.
The ceiling was leaking and a large part of the ceiling therefore had to be removed. The downstairs smoke alarm was damaged by said leak and never replaced. We had to evacuate one night due to the remaining smoke alarms sounding, with the lights indicating a 'gas leak'. On arrival of the emergency gas engineer, they found no fault, but informed us that they were surprised that the property didn't have a carbon monoxide alarm and that we didn't have the correct number of smoke detectors in the flat. Due to the leak, the hallway walls became covered in mould, damp and condensation, which looked bad and smelled worse. This affected my partner's asthma. Despite regular cleaning, use of dehumidifiers and a re-paint, the issue persisted. The bathroom drain was poorly-fitted and leaked. The bedroom curtains came down a week after move-in. One of the windows in the bedroom didn't open. An upstairs window didn't open. Most of the wall edges suffered from paint-cracking. The bed frame was weak. The inventory on check-in missed several issues which I then added. Ironically, on check-out the inventory was very detailed and didn't take into consideration the issues we had logged during the tenancy, which suggests a failure of communication. The check-out inventory also suggested a need for professional cleaning... I had cleaned and redecorated the entire flat and then paid for a professional cleaner to service the flat before moving out... so this seemed unfair. We only had one set of keys throughout the tenancy as this was all we were given. On check-out it took several emails to clarify that we were only given one set and should not be liable to pay for a replacement.
The above issues could have been rectified more quickly, in part, if there was a clearer process for reporting and resolving maintenance issues. Although FixFlo appears to be a very handy online system, ultimately all of my maintenance requests were then sent back to the landlord to deal with. So, in the end, I had to log via FixFlo and email the landlord directly, in the hope of passing the information to them before what would have been 5 working days if left solely with the agent.
These issues aside, the most significant problem we encountered was after our tenancy ended. We paid rent inclusive of the electric bill. Afterward, due to what was framed to be our 'high usage' (more likely caused by the recent increase in energy costs and the need for heating due to poor window insulation) we were made to pay the difference between what the agent calculated to be total usage minus rent contribution. We were therefore left with almost £1.3k to pay. Despite challenging this, we paid the charge after the threat of legal action. The way this charge was raised to us by Tony Sparrowhawk and the subsequent communications showed minimal understanding, simply demanding the payment in full asap. The agent evidently needs to decide if they wish to offer a property fully inclusive of bills, or offer a property where the tenants are liable for the full bill. Instead, they appear to sell the dream and hide behind a 'fair usage' clause. This appears to lie with the agent, not the landlord, as ultimately it is the agent who 'sells' the property and deals with the tenants.
If you are a local student, I would recommend using an alternative letting agent or renting from a university directly.
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Latest Reviews
2nd Nov 2024
reviewed by 'Chris'
12th Jan 2024
reviewed by 'May Win'
7th Jan 2024
reviewed by 'Jack'
8th Oct 2023
reviewed by 'Krzysztof'
31st Dec 2022
reviewed by 'unhappy renter'
22nd Sep 2022
reviewed by 'Ashley'
Opening Hours
Address
Brand Vaughan
110 St Georges Road, Kemp Town
Brighton
Hampshire
BN2 1EA
01273 683 111
Performance statistics
| Services | Valuation Accuracy | Fees Satisfaction | Min Price of property reviewed | Max Price of property reviewed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lettings | 100% | 69% | £590 | £2,492 |
Review statistics
| From Landlords | From Tenants | From Vendors | From Buyers | Other | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 25 | 1 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
Areas covered
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Nov 02,2024
Nov 02,2024
0
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Terrible agency. Aggressive and threatening staff, caused my daughter severe mental distress.
Avoid...
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Jan 12,2024
Jan 12,2024
1
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I'm really let down! I'm sharing my story to help prevent others from having to deal with the same problem.
In February, I'll be moving to Brighton for work. We started looking for a property in January because we live in London and getting a ...
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Jan 07,2024
Jan 07,2024
3
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With regret, I am leaving Brand Vaughan a 1-star review to reflect my experience with them.
This is not a reflection of all staff at the company, as I did indeed have some positive, professional experiences during my tenancy.
It appears to me that from ...
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Oct 08,2023
Oct 08,2023
2
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My name is Krzysztof Perek, and I am writing to you on behalf
of my partner, Alexander Nadasky, and myself. We are both residents of Brighton, currently residing at 2
Abbey Road since February 2023. We are international students who moved from London to Brighton in
search ...
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Dec 31,2022
Dec 31,2022
2
people found
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our house has rotting floor boards and a reoccurring damp/ mould problem which the land lords are fighting tooth and nail not to fix. we've sent several emails with photographic proof and we've been told that we need to open the windows and run the ...
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Apr 04, 2024
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(1)
Brand Vaughan is an awful letting agency.
I have been renting a flat from Brand Vaughan for a long time.
Unfortunately, after many years of neglect by my landlord, the flat is now in an extremely poor condition.
The problems are serious and include rotten windows, penetrating damp, and the associated humidity, condensation and mould. In legal terms, my landlord has been in breach of the tenancy agreement for an unacceptable amount of time.
Despite the extremely poor condition of the f ...
Sep 22,2022
Sep 22,2022
0
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I have used other agents and consider myself very lucky to have contacted Beth at Brand Vaughan, she was very knowledgeable, polite, easy to talk to and was and is extremely efficient.
I look forward to a long relationship with her and Brand Vaughan....
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Jan 19,2022
Jan 19,2022
0
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Beth was amazing with showing us exactly what we wanted and told us everything we wanted to know about the houses, and she let us look around as much as we wanted and film the houses for our other two housemates which was very much ...
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Sep 25,2021
Sep 25,2021
3
people found
this helpful
this helpful
Needs to improve communication skills with customers. The way this agent came across was quite abrupt and invasive. I will not use this agent again....
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Sep 14,2021
Sep 14,2021
0
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Beth was absolutely brilliant! She was super attentive, very funny and went above and beyond! She helped me with my application and called me straight away when I sent any emails. Really amazing customer service skills....
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Jun 21,2021
Jun 21,2021
0
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Cannot praise Chloe, student lets, enough! So professional and helpful. When your dealing with someone so knowledgable and helpful, you know you've made the right decision with your business....
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Apr 26,2021
Apr 26,2021
1
people found
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this helpful
Beyond useless! Poor communication throughout the lettings process and just abysmal at finding suitable and reliable tenants. The main priority would appear to get anyone in, regardless how their references stack up, and get you on their books. I've now last eight months rent (and ...
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Mar 11,2021
Mar 11,2021
1
people found
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this helpful
Absolute shambles of an agency and property manager. As a young student, I have been treated with no respect or dignity, with deliberately slow and meaningless replies. AVOID THIS AGENCY AT ALL COSTS. They see tenants as money and not human beings....
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Dec 19,2020
Dec 19,2020
0
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Bought and sold a property through their Kemp Town branch in challenging circumstances amidst the pandemic. Michael, Felix, Timothy and the rest of the team were faultless throughout. Always available, helpful, communicative and endlessly patient in dealing with all our enquiries and requests, really couldn't ...
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Oct 28,2020
Oct 28,2020
3
people found
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I was interested in renting a property in kemptown and Brand Vaughn took a sizeable holding fee (many hundreds of pounds.) The company they use to do a credit search ask for incredible amounts of personal and family information and will not take responsibility for ...
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Apr 06, 2022
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I'm in the exact same situation! They provided me with false information and then changed this once I requested my money back. They were also incredibly rude and kept repeating the same information rather than giving me a concrete answer to my questions! The worst letting agent I've ever encountered! ...
Oct 16,2020
Oct 16,2020
4
people found
this helpful
this helpful
Rented out a small studio flat, move in process was smooth, only issues I had for during tenancy was a drainage problem (had plumbers in 4-5 times) as the taps were flow limited (bills were included, flow limited to save them money) They weren't powerful ...
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Sep 14,2020
Sep 14,2020
0
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Terrible letting agency, they will lie, mislead you and waste your time. Two properties we saw with them, the first was a property we saw and put an application in for, only for it to be denied because the landlord did not wish to let ...
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Jul 22,2020
Jul 22,2020
2
people found
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Absolutely the worst letting agents I’ve ever had to deal with. They lie, change locks without consent. Allow viewings when advised it was inconvenient at the time they wanted other students to view property. The actual owner of the company owned the house my ...
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May 13,2019
May 13,2019
2
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i payed £400 towards a deposit to take property off market. then after passing referencing they said my guarantor fell through (although the guarantor had 2 million in assets). i then gave them another guarantor who was also a property developer then they declined finishing the application. ...
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Comment on agent fees
the wavered the agency fees but i have a feeling they were trying to get the £400 which was supposed to be non refundable deposit. they did say they were going to refund me, however, i dont know whether that was because they saw i had some clout behind me with property developers and i knew what i was talking about or if they genuinely were struggling with the application
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Oct 23,2017
Oct 23,2017
1
people found
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An excellent, professional and helpful team / service. Would highly recommend. The team helped us all through the process of purchasing a flat from start to finish and after too! Jon Antony, in particular, went above and beyond in helping us with issues that arose both ...
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Oct 01,2017
Oct 01,2017
0
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These agents acted with great professionalism from the start and kept us informed of every stage of the sale. I really wasn't expecting the quick sale they promised, but we were all astounded that this was achieved within 24 hours of signing the sales contract!
A ...
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Comment on agent fees
Best rate agreed quickly.
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Sep 25,2017
Sep 25,2017
0
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David Vaughn and The B-V team led by Micheal Enever from the Kemptown office, were incredibly helpful and supportive throughout the whole selling process. David at the start (and from time to time, was more a friend than agent) and Michael and 'the boy band!...
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Comment on agent fees
Very fair!
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“excellent team, very helpful, professional and efficient. good communication, super ......”
Sep 22,2017
Sep 22,2017
0
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excellent team, very helpful, professional and efficient. good communication, super website and details of our property. sold within 1 month to completion. Before this; we used their lettings department for 6 years; they were also very good indeed. Toby is an excellent manager who works very hard ...
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Comment on agent fees
good. low for all the work they do.
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Sep 05,2017
Sep 05,2017
1
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We chose Brand Vaughan on the basis of them being the top estate agents selling property in Kemp
town, and good job we did.From start to finish they
have been incredibly professional,helpful and are
always available for you. They're also a seriously
nice ...
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Aug 09,2017
Aug 09,2017
0
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All Brand Vaughan staff were friendly and efficient and would recommend their services to buyers and sellers alike with a helpful specialist post sale service...
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Comment on agent fees
Good
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May 26,2017
May 26,2017
0
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Brand Vaughan recently handled the sale of my four bed period property in Kemptown. Michael Enever was my main contact and he handled every aspect of the sale expertly and was highly professional with what was a long and complex chain.
I felt I was ...
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Comment on agent fees
Excellent
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Feb 24,2017
Feb 24,2017
1
people found
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this helpful
Unlike most Estate Agents, this one proved to be outstanding in their professionalism . They kept me informed of every aspect of the sale of my property, with excellent feedback after every viewing. I was always made to feel welcome at my often visits to their ...
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Comment on agent fees
Good
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Feb 15,2017
Feb 15,2017
0
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Michael was brilliant to deal with. Great communication and easy to have a frank conversation with him. He quickly understood my circumstances and helped me to negotiate a really good price on my house purchase. Strongly recommend. Thanks again Michael :)...
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N/A
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Nov 18,2016
Nov 18,2016
0
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My experience with all the team at the kemp town office was positive. We had bad luck with some buyers but the boys never gave up and always found another buyer quickly.
A big thank you to Michael, Jordan and Justin for going the extra ...
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Comment on agent fees
Fairly priced.
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Sep 28,2016
Sep 28,2016
0
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Very happy with the service that Brand Vaughan offer. I have dealt with them on a few occasions now and found them to be very professional and friendly. On this particular sale, Mike and Karen (sales progression manager) were brilliant. Thanks again to all the ...
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Comment on agent fees
Agents fees are fine, in line with other agents.
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Sep 21,2016
Sep 21,2016
0
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I was only thinking about selling my house but after meeting the manager Toby Smith and learning more about Brand Vaughan I was ready for it to go on the market immediately and confident they were the agents to use. Toby said that he would ...
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Comment on agent fees
I was very happy with the Agent's Fees
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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.
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