100% lettings valuation accuracy
83% lettings fee satisfaction
Apr 13,2014
Apr 13,2014
13
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AT LEAST DICK TURPIN WORE A MASK!!
Not so *Let Direct NE
I met up with David at the above property at the pre-arranged time of 1 pm on Wednesday 2 April 2014.
The property was in a state of slight disrepair with wallpaper peeling off the walls in both the main bedroom and the living room (there was also a bin bag stuffed with an old duvet left in the bedroom); loose/bunched up carpet in the main bedroom and the passage cupboard was filled with various paint cans and assorted rubbish.
I may be wrong but I thought that it was a pre-requisite of any Letting Agent to clean a property before allowing it to be viewed; not in this case. Having previously worked in an Estate Agency myself, we never showed a property until it had been cleaned and cleared throughout.
Still, even though this property was not up to my exacting standards, I decided to take the tenancy as, due to serious health problems I am desperate to move as soon as possible. After learning that the 'Admin Fee' was ‚£195 I offered to pay the cash there-and-then as I wanted to secure the property. David went to his car and returned with a folder containing, I believed, a receipt book; I was wrong.
After counting out the money into David's hand he took down my address and said that a receipt would be sent, along with an application form to be by post. I must admit that alarm bells rang when I didn't receive a receipt immediately but dismissed my concerns as I was extremely exhausted at the time (not having slept for three days).
The following evening I received a distressing telephone call from a very close family member detailing an upsetting diagnosis which they had received. Because of this I immediately afterwards emailed Let Direct NE (addressing the email FAO David); explaining the change in my circumstances; apologising for any inconvenience caused and explained that as I was to take over the caring role of said family member I would not be able to take up the tenancy as my family member lives outside of the area. I asked if, under the circumstances, I could received a full refund (I am, after all, on benefits and can ill afford to lose such a large amount of money).
When, by Saturday - three days after I had met with David and paid him ‚£195, I had not received the promised receipt and application form, I again contacted the agency; still no response. A few days later I had still not heard from anyone in the office I rang and left a message for David stating that I was going to call the police. Lo-and-behold; the following morning David rang me and said that he had been away for a few days and just received my messages - an obvious lie but one I let slide as I had no firm proof of this; though why no-one in the office had replied to my emails and telephone messages was not explained.
When I asked David why I had not received my receipt of application form, he was unable to answer and so I asked him again, to send me a receipt and was ignored again.
Since then I have sent further emails requesting a receipt; nothing. After leaving another telephone message for David in which I called him a thief; he rang me on Friday morning and said that I had to send a written complaint to the office. I asked him again; why I had not received a receipt and he tried to fob me off by saying that he had put off other prospective tenants once I had decided to accept the property - another lie; I let him know the following evening of the change in my circumstances and today the property is still listed. I asked him why he had not, upon taking receipt of my money returned to the office (as he had told me he was going to do); and handed over the money to whoever dealt with the accounts and arranged for the receipt and application to me that day - that should, after all, have been his first order of business before attending to his other duties. He ignored me.
I have written a letter of complaint but hold out little hope of achieving a satisfactory result. I do, however, intend to take this matter further as not only has David openly stolen from me but he has clearly not put this money through the books.
For a family run company that describes itself as friendly and professional; Let Direct NE is anything but.
Yes, it was stupid of me to hand over cash without obtaining a receipt but, that aside, there is no excuse for theft. David clearly saw me as an ill and vulnerable woman, someone he thought he could steal from and get away with it; he was wrong.
Protect yourselves, and DO NOT entertain this company.
Not so *Let Direct NE
I met up with David at the above property at the pre-arranged time of 1 pm on Wednesday 2 April 2014.
The property was in a state of slight disrepair with wallpaper peeling off the walls in both the main bedroom and the living room (there was also a bin bag stuffed with an old duvet left in the bedroom); loose/bunched up carpet in the main bedroom and the passage cupboard was filled with various paint cans and assorted rubbish.
I may be wrong but I thought that it was a pre-requisite of any Letting Agent to clean a property before allowing it to be viewed; not in this case. Having previously worked in an Estate Agency myself, we never showed a property until it had been cleaned and cleared throughout.
Still, even though this property was not up to my exacting standards, I decided to take the tenancy as, due to serious health problems I am desperate to move as soon as possible. After learning that the 'Admin Fee' was ‚£195 I offered to pay the cash there-and-then as I wanted to secure the property. David went to his car and returned with a folder containing, I believed, a receipt book; I was wrong.
After counting out the money into David's hand he took down my address and said that a receipt would be sent, along with an application form to be by post. I must admit that alarm bells rang when I didn't receive a receipt immediately but dismissed my concerns as I was extremely exhausted at the time (not having slept for three days).
The following evening I received a distressing telephone call from a very close family member detailing an upsetting diagnosis which they had received. Because of this I immediately afterwards emailed Let Direct NE (addressing the email FAO David); explaining the change in my circumstances; apologising for any inconvenience caused and explained that as I was to take over the caring role of said family member I would not be able to take up the tenancy as my family member lives outside of the area. I asked if, under the circumstances, I could received a full refund (I am, after all, on benefits and can ill afford to lose such a large amount of money).
When, by Saturday - three days after I had met with David and paid him ‚£195, I had not received the promised receipt and application form, I again contacted the agency; still no response. A few days later I had still not heard from anyone in the office I rang and left a message for David stating that I was going to call the police. Lo-and-behold; the following morning David rang me and said that he had been away for a few days and just received my messages - an obvious lie but one I let slide as I had no firm proof of this; though why no-one in the office had replied to my emails and telephone messages was not explained.
When I asked David why I had not received my receipt of application form, he was unable to answer and so I asked him again, to send me a receipt and was ignored again.
Since then I have sent further emails requesting a receipt; nothing. After leaving another telephone message for David in which I called him a thief; he rang me on Friday morning and said that I had to send a written complaint to the office. I asked him again; why I had not received a receipt and he tried to fob me off by saying that he had put off other prospective tenants once I had decided to accept the property - another lie; I let him know the following evening of the change in my circumstances and today the property is still listed. I asked him why he had not, upon taking receipt of my money returned to the office (as he had told me he was going to do); and handed over the money to whoever dealt with the accounts and arranged for the receipt and application to me that day - that should, after all, have been his first order of business before attending to his other duties. He ignored me.
I have written a letter of complaint but hold out little hope of achieving a satisfactory result. I do, however, intend to take this matter further as not only has David openly stolen from me but he has clearly not put this money through the books.
For a family run company that describes itself as friendly and professional; Let Direct NE is anything but.
Yes, it was stupid of me to hand over cash without obtaining a receipt but, that aside, there is no excuse for theft. David clearly saw me as an ill and vulnerable woman, someone he thought he could steal from and get away with it; he was wrong.
Protect yourselves, and DO NOT entertain this company.
What agent could do to change your mind?
They could have firstly, sent me a receipt as well as responded to my emails and treat me with a little respect. I did, after all, play fair with them. Also, given the reason behind my change of circumstances (I do not wish to go into too much detail in order to protect said family member); I do not feel that my request for a full refund was asking too much. I would have thought far more of David had he at least offered me a partial refund; yet he refuses flat out to even discuss the issue of the money which I paid him. I am utterly disgusted at the treatment which I have received from him.Attached Filesnbsp;
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Jul 03, 2018
We had reported many issues to Let Direct NE many times but to no avail.Last Saturday, after friday night out, we returned home to find water running into our kitchen and living room. We went upstairs to find ceilings down in 2 out of 3 bedrooms and all of our property completely destroyed. My poor 10 year old has lost almost everything. Her toys, clothes, bed and TV just to mention a few things. After many phone calls throughout the day to Let Direct NE we finally got a call back at around 3 o'clock to be told to wait til monday for things to be sorted. Keeping in mind that the property had water coming in at a ridiculously fast rate and live elecrtics. After over a week long battle with them Im still a paying tenant of a house that is uninhabitable, so I'm homeless with my 10 year old and 15 week old baby. I have been strung along and had more lies told to me and told that the most important thing is the property! Not my belongings or the fact im homeless. "The likes of me" should just wait til things are sorted. Anyway, after this I still tried to be accommodating and went to the property today to let in the assessor from my landlords insurance company. After listening to Michael lie to the assessor and being talked down to (a common occurrence) and hushed when asking questions I was told I still wouldnt have anywhere to live with my children. So I was obviously annoyed. Trying again to ask questions i was spoke to like I was a complete idiot so I asked the letting agent (michael) and assessor to leave and come back at a later date or find the keys that Let Direct NE have lost and return when Im not there, I was snapped at that it would slow things down for the landlord.. at this point I no longer cared and asked them again to leave only to be called a stupid nigger. Both Michael and the snotty assessor then proceeded to measure things up outside, completed ignoring the fact I had asked them to leave the property. After complaining to Let Direct NE and my fella (quite rightly) rang up annoyed to complain and defend me we were repeatedly hung up on. We went to the Let Direct NE office at Low Fell only to find Michael locking the door on me and refusing "the likes of me" entry to the office. I was talked at through a pane of glass and told the police were coming. We also received a phone call from a lovely police man from Gateshead police about my parnters "threatening behaviour" on the phone. Once I explained the situation and told him what was happening I then tried again to go back into the office to sort stuff out. My "threatening" fella even saying he would wait outside with our baby, only to be shouted at that the police were on their way! I waited for the police but SURPRISE! They never turned up. So we left. Still no further forward. The way things are run by these so called professional letting agents is a complete disgrace! They dont even abide by the law when it comes to tenants and the way things are ran. what has occurred is nothing but racial discrimination. Looking back now my baby being called a "monkey" is clearly to do with her race. Let Direct NE should be closed down and Michael should not be allowed to work with the public. After sending a formal complaint via email I received a response obviously denying any racial abuse and discrimination and basically calling me a liar.
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Opening Hours
Address
Let Direct NE
566 Durham Road
Low Fell,Gateshead
Tyne & Wear
NE9 6HX
0191 491 0500
Performance statistics
| Services | Valuation Accuracy | Fees Satisfaction | Min Price of property reviewed | Max Price of property reviewed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lettings | 100% | 83% | £360 | £900 |
Review statistics
| From Landlords | From Tenants | From Vendors | From Buyers | Other | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 0 | 18 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Areas covered
Services offered
- Sales
- Lettings
- Block Management
- Surveys
- Conveyancing
- Mortgage Advice
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Aug 30,2024
Aug 30,2024
0
people found
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Me and my partner have been left to live from our bedroom with our dog, as the whole bottom of my house has been pulled apart, no notice to my self or anyone else, and when called they said would call back, they chose to ...
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Mar 06,2024
Mar 06,2024
0
people found
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Unprofessional, Rude and arrogant. This company doesn't know how to look after the properties in there care. The staff are lazy and clueless and I'm still being polite using these words....
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Dec 23,2022
Dec 23,2022
3
people found
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this helpful
Disgusting lived in the house less than 1 year had so many issues now have mold in my bedroom where my 5 year old son sleeps and my partner has severe asthma. All they say is report it on fix flo, no help no compassion and get ...
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Jul 05,2022
Jul 05,2022
2
people found
this helpful
this helpful
Rented a property Feb2nd 2022 through Let Direct NE.
List of problems :-
Open sewage pipe where we were assured a toilet was to be placed before we took over tenancy. Took over a month to sort .
Cracks all across ceilings and walls.
Plug socket ...
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Jul 01,2022
Jul 01,2022
4
people found
this helpful
this helpful
I wouldn’t rent a property through let direct ever again, we went without heating in our house for over 2 months and a leak through the sitting room roof took at least 2 weeks to fix. They would be alright if there were no problems with ...
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Apr 30,2021
Apr 30,2021
0
people found
this helpful
this helpful
It is helpful and good. Thank you Julie and david. friends of Hong Konger. thank you for patient to help me to rent a flat....
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Apr 30,2021
Apr 30,2021
0
people found
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this helpful
It is helpful and good. Thank you Julie and david. friends of Hong Konger. thank you for patient to help me to rent a flat....
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Feb 01,2021
Feb 01,2021
6
people found
this helpful
this helpful
Been renting for over a decade now and Let Direct NE are by far the worst letting agency I've ever come across. They're only great if nothing goes wrong and will keep in touch when rent is due. God forbid you have a repair that ...
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Nov 02,2020
Nov 02,2020
0
people found
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Brilliant Service from Let Direct NE, first time I have rented a property & it was really well managed, I was supported throughout & talked through everything so I understood what to expect. Service was great even though we are struggling through COVID-19 Pandemic. Julie was able ...
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Feb 24,2020
Feb 24,2020
0
people found
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this helpful
The staff at let direct were very helpful and professional. They got us into our new home at very short notice without any problems....
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Nov 27,2019
Nov 27,2019
0
people found
this helpful
this helpful
The staff at Let Direct NE have been polite and helpful in regard to myself moving into my new home and i appreciate their cooperation.
Many thanks
David Forster...
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“I would highly recommend Let Direct, Low Fell. Michael and Julie were extremely helpful and got us into our property on short notice....”
Dec 20,2018
Dec 20,2018
0
people found
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this helpful
The staff at let direct were very helpful and professional. They got us into our new home at very short notice without any problems....
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Comment on agent fees
The agent fees were reasonable.
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Oct 17,2018
Oct 17,2018
0
people found
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Managed to get everything sorted out quickly and the staff displayed good flexibility in helping us get sorted. Very happy overall with the experience...
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Comment on agent fees
Reasonable agent fees
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Oct 17,2018
Oct 17,2018
0
people found
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The first positive service I have had in years from a letting agent. They have been very helpful and I have happily moved into the property and every thing was as promised. It makes such a difference when you rent a property that there is ...
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Comment on agent fees
Great. Limited fees so very happy.
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Oct 09,2018
Oct 09,2018
0
people found
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this helpful
Highly recommend as a first time landlord, staff are extremely friendly and helped me along every step of the way. Staff were quick to respond with any enquiries I had and definitely will be using them in the future!...
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Jul 08,2018
Jul 08,2018
6
people found
this helpful
this helpful
Rented from let direct for nearly 7 years.
Although they are very friendly to speak to and they say all of the right things, when it comes to the nitty gritty part of property management , nothing seems to happen, in fact the property management side of ...
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Comment on agent fees
A one off fee - yes A yearly fee to change a date on a bit of paper when you’ve been there for years- no
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Jan 30, 2019
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(2)
Hi Moya, after 2 years of paying the renewal fee" I refused!
£75 for what?....to changed a date at the top of the letter head? I don't think so!
They're just money grabbing ...
Jul 04,2018
Jul 04,2018
0
people found
this helpful
this helpful
I have used Let Direct for the last 8 years to let my property and have found them exceptionally helpful and friendly. Always available when you need them and have had no issues at all. Great service - thank you!!...
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Jul 02,2018
Jul 02,2018
7
people found
this helpful
this helpful
Staff at Gateshead deceive and lie when they need to provide the small print of their own contracts. The responsibility seems to rest in the tennant to do structural work as well as take care of mould and general external disrepair. All supposedly due to ...
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Comment on agent fees
Had to pay twice as they held up the process
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Jan 13, 2021
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Hi Kinza,
I've just seen your review now and hope that you have found somewhere nice to live. I completely agree with you about this agency and David in particular. I viewed a property in March 2014, gave him the £195 cash up front but then just hours later I found out that my nephew had cancer and I wouldn't be able to move after all. I contacted David immediately, apologised for being unable to move and asked for a refund of my money. He ignored me for several days and when I threatened t ...
Jun 19,2018
Jun 19,2018
0
people found
this helpful
this helpful
Friendly staff, very quick process, and issues are dealt with quickly. Love my house and feel very happy that I chose letdirect....
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Comment on agent fees
Good
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Jun 19,2018
Jun 19,2018
0
people found
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this helpful
The whole team in Low Fell made our rental journey easy, from the viewing to the move. Thank you to you all....
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Comment on agent fees
Very reasonable
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Yes
Jun 18,2018
Jun 18,2018
0
people found
this helpful
this helpful
Both members of the team were extremely helpful and I found the property I have now rented straightaway through them. Both Michael and Julie (in the office) were extremely patient with me especially as I had about a 1,000 questions lol. Although my experience letting agents ...
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Comment on agent fees
The fees were as I expected.
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Jun 18,2018
Jun 18,2018
0
people found
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We recently rented out a property with Let Direct NE and the service was amazing. They kept us in the loop at all times and provided fast and efficient service for us! Thank you, Julie!...
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Comment on agent fees
Good
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Yes
Apr 24,2018
Apr 24,2018
0
people found
this helpful
this helpful
I have recently rented a property from Let direct Gateshead, and wow the staff were amazing! Nothing was ever too much trouble and they got me through the renting process quickly and smoothly!...
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Comment on agent fees
Good
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Yes
Feb 27,2018
Feb 27,2018
0
people found
this helpful
this helpful
I recently rented my property from them, very happy with their service, love my new house, too. Great service I have experienced from LetDirectNe, their fees are very reasonable, always find someone there to help, references check went through very quickly and smoothly. Probably the ...
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Comment on agent fees
Excellent
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Sep 19,2017
Sep 19,2017
0
people found
this helpful
this helpful
Thank you thank you thank you. We love our property. We are very happy with everything. Svetlana, Irina and Maria....
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Comment on agent fees
Good.
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Yes
Sep 12,2017
Sep 12,2017
0
people found
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this helpful
Good service and new tenants seem lovely. Thanks.
I will be back again when other properties become available. Very pleased....
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Dec 30,2016
Dec 30,2016
1
people found
this helpful
this helpful
Thank you for getting us in before Christmas. Very impressed.
Thank you to Michael for your efforts in the week before Christmas. Huge relief to get moved finally....
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Comment on agent fees
Good.
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Yes
Dec 06,2016
Dec 06,2016
3
people found
this helpful
this helpful
Quick turnaround on applications. Moved in three days after viewing.
Lovely property. Overall very happy with this company.
Thank you....
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Comment on agent fees
Standard. £195 admin fee and extra for guarantor.
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Nov 18,2016
Nov 18,2016
14
people found
this helpful
this helpful
Disappointing , having been at this property for 6 yrs , i payed to secure the property with triple gates ! I payed for tellephone / internet line ! & payed for tv arials! After 14 month & recovering frim a heart attack ! I get a £500 council tax bill BECAUSE you didn't find a ...
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Comment on agent fees
BAD
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Oct 12,2016
Oct 12,2016
10
people found
this helpful
this helpful
Very good. No void period and happy with new tenants. Thank you.
Friendly staff and good communication throughout the process....
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Comment on agent fees
Good value - all inclusive.
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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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