COMPLAINTS
Property Moves complaints procedure
We are committed to providing a professional service to all our clients and customers. When something goes wrong, we need you to tell us about it. This will help us to improve our standards.
If you have a complaint, please put it in writing, including as much detail as possible. We will then respond in line with the timeframes set out below (if you feel we have not sought to address your complaints within eight weeks, you may be able to refer your complaint to the Property Ombudsman to consider without our final viewpoint on the matter).
WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT?
We will send you a letter acknowledging receipt of you complaint within three working days of receiving it, enclosing a copy of this procedure.
We will then investigate your complaint. This will normally be dealt with by the office manager who will review your file and speak to the member of staff who dealt with you. A formal written outcome of our investigation will be sent to you within 15 working days of sending the acknowledgement letter.
If, at this stage, you are still not satisfied, you should contact us again and we will arrange for a separate review to take place by a senior member of staff.
We will write to you within 15 working days of receiving your request for a review, confirming our final viewpoint on the matter.
If you remain dissatisfied, you can then contact The Property Ombudsman to request an independent review:
The Property Ombudsman Ltd
Milford House
43-45 Milford Street
Salisbury
Wiltshire
SP1 2BP
01722 333 306
www.tpos.co.uk
Please note the following:
You will need to submit your complaint to The Property Ombudsman within 12 months of receiving our final viewpoint letter, including any evidence to support your case. The Property Ombudsman requires that all complaints are addressed through this in-house complaints procedure, before being submitted for an independent review.
Last updated at 9:25 AM 25/04/2024 by allAgents
“I am emailing in regards to**Address retracted**, the tenants contacted us due to concerns of mould in their property. I visited last week & found very small amounts of mould around the bedroom windows. I have given advice to the tenants to wipe this down using an antifungal and to open windows slightly to allow some ventilation. They were concerned how the mould was being blamed on them, they said it was due to the extractor fans in the bathroom not working but are being told it is due to lifestyle. I just wanted to make yourselves aware of the damp and mould guidance. Specifically it states ‘as this guidance also makes clear, tenants should not be blamed for damp/mould. Damp/mould in the home are not the result of ‘lifestyle choices’, & it is the responsibility of landlords to identify and address the underlying causes of the problem, such as structural issues or inadequate ventilation.’
There is no action that I will be taking with this case as there are no disrepairs however, the tenants just wanted me to contact yourselves as they are concerned they are being blamed for the mould. I will now be closing the case but if you have any queries, do let me know.
Kind regards, Environmental Health Officer | Private Sector Housing | Brighton & Hove City Council”
With regards to the deposit, we provided a full inventory & checkout as ultimately we have a duty of care to all parties involved to ensure no bias, please let me stress that any final deposit deductions are the landlords decision & not PM.
In this instance there were in the landlords opinion (And in accordance with the checkout report) issues with both the wooden flooring & redecoration. For example at the start of the tenancy an addendum was signed that it was ok for pictures to be hung on the wall if the decoration was reinstated to the same standard, unfortunately this was not the case when the property was vacated by yourselves. These two elements unfortunately led to a major part of the deposit deductions.
Moving forward and as advised the deposit is protected under the “mydeposits” scheme & every tenant has the right to use the free arbitration service if they disagree with any deductions made.
To clarify your final point about the noise complaint, with all due respect I feel you are dramatising this point for the purposes of this review so have provided a copy of our standard email to you both below;
“It has been brought to our attention that there have been complaints from other residents over excessive noise within the property.
We ask that you keep any noise to a level which is not audible outside your property and to respect your neighbours. We would also take this opportunity to remind you of the terms of the tenancy agreement regarding noise levels.”
In conclusion, I am sorry if you feel let down by our service & as previously stated we do have a duty of care to all parties so rebuke your accusation that we work in the landlords favour.