Brighton Accommodation Agency – Student Reviews On Letting Agents

Poor communication throughout the year. Faulty things in the house have taken months to be fixed. Wi-Fi still not sorted.

It is a nightmare to choose this agent. If you want a tenancy without any effective communication, take it! If you want to be charged by £500 for a simple garden cleaning, take it! If you want to lose all your deposit by no evidence of invoice, take it! They are totally a joke, every one of them. They will ignore every claim you make. Shame on them. Worst in the world!

Worst agency I have been with AVOID AT ALL COSTS. Don’t reply to emails and whenever you call or go in and talk to them they tell you to put it in an email. Spent the whole year with a broken boiler so no heating. One broken oven and a broken shower. And took 4 months to fix carpets that were falling off the stairs.

Has to be one of the rudest agencies out there. Do not get into business with these people!

Do not use these people! Just heard that my son and his housemates won’t be receiving all of their deposits back for their shared house. I stayed over there cleaning at the beginning of their tenancy and the end. They have absolutely no reason to keep anyone’s money. I spent nearly a day cutting back the outdoor space when they moved in and the years of accumulated rubbish. I cleaned the house and the oven when they were leaving. It was nicer when we left it. Also, they had a broken tumble dryer at the start they took months replace, and there was a mold problem that they didn’t address until many months into the tenancy. I’m about ready to spend a few thousand coming after them for the several hundred they’re trying to keep. I wish I could give them zero stars.

– can’t rely on these people – anytime an issue came up in the flat, it took at least a month or more to be fixed – rarely answer to calls and emails (have to send the same email 3 times before having a reply). – not clear contract. – said they were going to solve some flat issues but never turned up (heating, mould, leaking radiator, broken fan, a broken lightbulb – nearly 2 months since the contract ended and haven’t received the deposit back. (which asked for a ridiculous amount of money in return). – not a serious company.

Not very happy with this agency . currently living in one of their properties for university. unfortunately my bed broke a few days in, after calling the agency it took a week for a new bed to be ordered and delivered. the old bed was ignored and left in our garden. The replacement bed I was sent was too small so as I attempted to get in contact again I was constantly told the message would be passed on and it never was. Eventually I wrote a formal complaint and this was ignored. Finally a phone call was made . where they basically told me it wasn’t their problem. After plenty of arguments another bed was sent to me and I was told I would be called to arrange a delivery time. This phone call was never made and the bed was delivered while I was out. Due to this the old bed was not taken away and the agency’s response is just keep it on the sofa in the living room and it will be sorted in a few weeks. The communication with this agency is very poor and they don’t seem to care much about you once they have your money.

Please, please avoid this agency at all costs. First of all, they refused to give us an inventory (illegal) and later claimed it was up to us to have asked, although they ignored all of our requests for them to do so. Our house was filthy upon moving in, with broken furniture, a disgusting oven, a mould problem and so much more, which they refused to clean, despite many requests. They never respond to emails, and are extremely rude on the phone (IF you manage to get hold of someone). The manager Dan is incredibly rude and treated us as though we were absolute idiots, and was very aggressive and arrogant every time we corresponded. AVOID.

It would take me hours to detail the extent of the problems I had with this agency. I don’t have the highest of expectations with agencies as I’ve used a few and have rented as a non-student, but I wouldn’t recommend even looking at BAAs properties. The big problems were that they broke the law by repeatedly breaking contract in regards to our right to 24 hours notice before any person from the agency or acting on their behalf visited the property. We also had an issue with one of our fire alarms not working. They tried to charge us for a call out to resolve an issue with an appliance despite it still not being resolved and their responsibility to fix. Slow to resolve anything and my room was a state when I moved in. Generally their communication is extremely poor, the manner in which they communicate with students is unprofessional and rude, and they seem to take nothing except their payments seriously. You couldn’t pay me to go anywhere near these idiots again.

not very happy with this agency. currently living in one of their properties for university. unfortunately, my bed broke a few days in, after calling the agency it took a week for a new bed to be ordered and delivered. the old bed was ignored and left in our garden. The replacement bed I was sent was too small so as I attempted to get in contact again I was constantly told the message would be passed on and it never was. Eventually, I wrote a formal complaint and this was ignored. Finally, a phone call was made. where they basically told me it wasn’t their problem. After plenty of arguments, another bed was sent to me and I was told I would be called to arrange a delivery time. This phone call was never made and the bed was delivered while I was out. Due to this the old bed was not taken away and the agency’s response is just keep it on the sofa in the living room and it will be sorted in a few weeks. The communication with this agency is very poor and they don’t seem to care much about you once they have your money. Edit – one month on from the bed ordeal I assumed I would be out of the woods and all issues be solved. I appear to have been wrong as now the company who delivered the beds want the bed that was too small back and are threatening me with charges should I not have that arranged. As the agency ordered everything in my name and address the company will not speak to anyone but me and will not accept that I am no longer responsible for the bed. It seems the agency has to be spoon fed through an issue. It would be common sense to have the old, too small, bed returned to the company but with this agency, if you don’t spoon feed and spell out what has to be done, well it just doesn’t get done. Not to mention how uninterested they seem when I call. Lots of sighs and one-word answers. I also recently found out that we had moved into the property whilst fire alarms were out of date as the agency failed to check them properly, thus resulting in another debacle into them actually contacting people and talking to me to tell me what is going on. Currently, I have found faulty earthing and plug sockets in the house. Called the agency as it is spelt out in the agreement and surprise surprise I had to call them back a week later as they had made no contact with me about the issue. Utterly unimpressed and wouldn’t wish service like this upon anyone.

They never pick up their phone if you have a problem, tried to email them about important issues which they ignored. Were very rude to me and my house mates. House was full of mould and damp, also the house hadn’t been cleaned from the previous tenants. Poor

worst agency ever I would recommend listening to these reviews they don’t lie. didn’t have wifi for 6 months and they tried to blame us. they are so rude and patronising. they won’t solve your problem and they WILL argue back with you and be rude I suggest staying well away!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Worst agency. Of no use helping us get out deposit back and consistently breached our contract. They never pick up the phone when there are issues and pass on all their responsibility. It’s very sad the anxiety and pressure they have put on us.

When I begun writing this review, I attempted to think of something good to open with – you know, two stars and a wish and all that – but I failed. There is literally nothing good to say about this agency, if I could give them 0/5 stars I would. They ignore repairs, don’t take concerns seriously (for example, RATS). They don’t answer telephone calls or emails, they’d prefer to just ignore you. Oh and when they do answer, their incompetencies and their unfavourable attitude will result in your repairs/queries/concerns being ignored. As a house, we paid a total of £44, 000 in rent for the year, plus £1400 in ‘agency fees’ AND THEN, they have the audacity to propose a deduction of £800 from our deposit – one of the MANY charges included an ‘eventual repaint of the property’ – as if the £44, 000 we paid to reside in the house didn’t contribute enough towards this? Literally (!!!!) what we paid in rent could’ve paid someone to re-paint the ENTIRE house at least 44x over? Don’t bother cleaning your house when you move out – they’ll charge you £350 for cleaning, regardless of your efforts (which they will book ‘well in advance of the tenancy end date’ – this by the way is a direct quote from one of the members of staff). My favourite charge on our deposits deduction list was ‘£120 for a missing bed base’ that they LITERALLY COLLECTED FROM OUR HOUSE !!!!!!!! Hilariously embarrassing for a business’ reputation, yet humility does not appear to affect them? They’re so incompetent they will charge you for damages to the house that have been logged before you’ve moved in?? I beg you, check and double check anything you are being charged for – they’ll take any money off you they can. As a plea to any landlords out there, do not give the responsibility of your property to this agency, PLEASE choose literally anyone else. And as a plea to my fellow students out there, don’t be poor (because living in Brighton this is an inevitable) AND miserable for an entire year with this agency, find with another. FYI, there’s lots of uni housing on the private sector which removes ANY agency as a middle man, if this fails, go with Brand Vaughan (who I am with this year, and are proving to be far better) or literally ANY other agency. I know this is not just a reflection of my own personal experience, the rest of BAA Agency’s reviews reflect my concerns similarly. Anyway, have a nice day.

The staff are focused only on getting tenancies signed and fees paid. Any problems later and they are not interested. Emails are simply ignored and they are rude on the phone telling you how busy they are and that they are short of staff. If this was a public service I might have some sympathy with these excuses but its a profit making business so perhaps it should occur to them to either scale back their business to match their resources or get more staff! Tried to speak to the owner of the business but he was on holiday at the busiest time of their year. You don’t always get to chose your agency as the house normally comes first. If I did in this case I would have avoided the BAA at all cost.

BAA could not be more helpful whilst we were looking at properties, however as soon as the contract was signed they didn’t want to know. The staff were consistently unhelpful, rude and unwilling to provide any sort of customer satisfaction. Whilst the property looked nice the day we moved in, it quickly became apparent that it had been done on the cheap with little consideration to those who would be living there. I would suggest going with any other estate agent in Brighton, before considering letting a property through BAA.

Very friendly at first, when they want your custom – but be wary. Their attitude towards existing tenants is appalling. Communication is awful – emails go unanswered for weeks. Their extensive list of excuses to avoid making repairs is impressive but very frustrating. Unfortunately most Lettings Agents in Brighton are like this so you have to take your chances but this lot are truly dreadful. Avoid.

As a student I have rented from worse people I would recommend them to other students.

I find with BAA they are a bit hit and miss sometimes they very good at dealing with problems and other times they are so slow. I would recommend them over other agents I have heard about in Brighton.

I cannot emphasise enough how much anybody considering letting with this agency should avoid them. Our property was filthy upon arrival, after numerous reasonable requests for it to be cleaned beforehand – there was even a plug socket with exposed wires intentionally hidden behind a bed. The staff changed their tone after the tenancy agreement was signed and politeness turned into rudeness and condescension. The manager, Dan, is incredibly arrogant and treats the students he exploits with utter contempt. I have regularly walked into the agency only to hear the staff mocking and gossiping about students. On one occasion, Dan had called a client which he had rudely been speaking to on the phone a “Fucking Retard”. They have no idea how to conduct themselves professionally inside and outside the office. We have had unscheduled visits from the agency where they have even let themselves into the property without our prior knowledge or consent, at which when disputed, we were told “They would give someone down the office a bollocking”. It is clear to me this agency is the embodiment of all the negative stereotypes of letting agents. They know that students are desperate for houses in the area, and they can treat them poorly because of this.

Not to bad however they can improve in some areas.

BAA have been some what in the middle they neither good or bad the house I rent is up to a very good standard.

The house I rented was newly refurbished but a very cheap job as over the year almost everything had broke. The agency were always slow with sending repairs, at times a week or two late. Throughout the year we had major work done on the property and builders even breaking worktops and sinks as they did other jobs which we the got charged for from our deposit! The manager Dan is obnoxious and will do everything he can to pass the blame onto you although it never works out for him.

My case was interesting because I had to find a house last minute, and the manager was extremely helpful. When we were shown the house, it was in a horrible state, and we’re told that house would be renovated, so it would look practically brand new. Before signing anything, my mum and I went to the agency the next day and the lady who helped us, Emma, was so kind and was smiling and all that typical BS, and because I was desperate for a house I signed the tenancy form. The day we (my house mate and I) arrived, Beth and Emma were the only ones in the office, and that’s where all the problems began. Both were VERY rude with their attitude towards us, and we were given looks when we were reading the contract one last time before signing it. When we arrived at the house, it looked completely shit. Only two carpets (the hallway and one bedroom) had been changed. There was a leakage from the boiler, and holes were found in the windows. In the living room, the door handle on the window-door leading into the garden was missing, and we had requested for it to be fixed, but we resulted into stuffing the curtain into the hole -.- eventually after a few months they came to fix it. Around two three months of living in the house, I required the contract, and for some odd reason I had to return it within the hour which is what I did, however a few months ago when we asked for a copy, they said that I already had the contract and could not give a copy to each of us. Generally speaking the house now has been somewhat upgraded after constant nagging from us to fix things however the agency handled the different issues unprofessionally. A month ago we got a bill about water that hadn’t been paid from the previous tenants- we gave it to the agency, only to receive another letter last week, to state that the previous tenants’ accounts are going into the debt recovery process. When I walked in to give the agency the bill, Beth was sitting on her desk talking about what food she had ordered with her friends at dinner-DURING WORK HOURS. She was laughing away, and didn’t even bother to say hello, or take a seat, and this dog was sitting on the couch in the office. I don’t have anything against animals, but an office is considered a professional environment, and pets should not be allowed, what if someone had a phobia/allergy of animals? AVOID THIS AGENCY AT ALL COSTS.

Moved in 6 months ago to find mould and kitchen appliances missing and broken. This was apparently communicated to us – it wasn’t! Some appliances still broken – apparently because they never got the emails – even though they replied to them! Have also sent recorded letters in the post – received and signed for by them – then told it’s “gone missing”. Also, Beth, the “Lettings Manager” loves berating students on her social media. She regularly calls students c*nts and useless f*cks as does her manager Dan. Really a shocking experience and I’d strongly recommend every student to stay away from them.

Ever wondered what your letting agent thinks about its customers, search on their facebook pages. Absolutely disgusting the way they talk about students – their paying customers, even the manager of the company acts in a completely unprofessional manner and they don’t even try to hide it! Without students, who they rip off wholeheartedly, they would have no business. Think twice about going with this letting agent.

Never seen more useless rude and two faced people in my life. Being nice and polite at first and once you sign the contract they are completely different bad manners and not caring about anything. You pay a crazy amount of agency fees and they dont even do the check in of the house and no contract explanation at all they just want your money and that’s all they care about. Dont let them fool you, avoid them if you can.

This is a good agency that delt with the few minor problems we had when we moved in effectively. They are easily contactable although they can often lack commutation between colleagues so percisdence is sometimes needed. Replaced boiler that broke down 🙂 on the whole they have been very good and lucky with experiences compared with other that have different agency’s. The main issue I have had is not with the agency but with the landlord refusing to spend money

I moved into our property last summer, an amazing house (or so I thought) various people have moved in and out of this property, but I stayed, I wish I hadn’t and from this Friday I will thankfully be free. I am a professional, and so were all the other tenants. The house it’s self needed some repair but it was live-able. But as soon as we had some issues and needed things to be repaired this is where the nightmare began. No one responds your email. Our landlord let himself and handy men in when ever they liked and we never got 24 hour notice, I got caught in the shower many a time or in my underwear. Which was horrible. When a leak couldn’t be fixed, our landlord disconnected our shower and dismantled it (breaking the terms of our contract) the agency did nothing. They actually ignored all of our phone calls and emails for nearly 2 months straight. We reported a blocked drain, again ignored for 4 weeks. Nightmare is an understatement. We are now trying to end our contract early after seeking advice from the Citizens Advice Bureau, but guess what we are being ignored. Again. I wouldn’t advice going with this agency. They might be friendly when you first sign up, or pretty decent in the first few months, but they soon change, they are rude, un-helpful and generally slow on responses. I would never recommend this agency to anyone. I have been unable to enjoy my home like I should be able to, a lot of this could of been avoided if communication was better placed, but generally I think they just don’t really care as long as they get paid.

I would like to say how wonderful it’s been having lovely members off staff looking after me as a tenant in one of the properties. Very responsive to all emails, calls, voicemails and how quickly a problem gets solved within the property. I have even referred my friends who are currently seeking a new home to the agency as they really have exceeded my expectations and going above and beyond at all times.

Some stuff members are rude and unprofessional, when i showed to get my keys they did not ask for any I.D *face palm* I could of been anyone. Despite this the house itself is good which should be credited to the landlord.

I secured my current house because I had to find a house at the last minute before the end of my previous tenancy. Little did I know how bad this one is was. They are rude, they ignore every issue you have and keep you quiet by telling you ‘we are waiting for he landlord to accept the quote’. Failing that they will just ignore you, they barely even pick up the phone. They use fixr.com to enable you to report your maintenance issues. However this seems to be an excellent way to avoid talking to someone and actually getting the work done. They do not even know which appliances are registered with which contractors and send you calling people who know nothing about the issues you have. Our shower had a leak through to the kitchen which we couldn’t use for well over a week in case the roof or floor fell through and kept us in the Dark about how and when it was being fixed. Furthermore, our oven was broken and could only use one ring on the hob. Apparently we are getting a new oven however we are still ‘waiting on a quote’ as per usual. This agency is the worst I’ve ever dealt with and personally, I think they should be seriously investigated for negligence. whatever the situation, do not use this agency.

Great property, not at all like a student house. Sadly communication lets this agency down – often have visits without 24 hours notice (people have let themselves in when we are out/not expecting them to) and slow to respond to fairly major problems (we had no washing machine or hot water for months…)

The agency is quite good, the viewings we had were quite solid and thorough, the confirmation of our current house was fairly smooth. The house is quite homely and in good condition, although the bedrooms are fairly different in size in which some age terrible condensation problems. For the few problems we have had during our tenancy the response has been quick and the communication has been good too so all in all a good agency. Unfortunately the viewings we had (after we decided not to renew the tenancy) were a bit unsatisfactory, often the notice wasn’t 24 hours and the viewings were at different times than what was originally said. Other than that the agency is of a good standard and I would Reccommend to fellow students.

property in good condition upon move-in. any problems were fixed relatively quickly due to landlord having his own utilities service (plumber/electrician). however, quite a few things have broken whilst living in property (shower broke, kitchen light went out soon after move in etc). agency were not very clear in communicating the contract and we had to remind them to change some of the terms, which we agreed prior to signing the contract. however, overall this agency are fairly reliable and although i wouldn’t immediately recommend them, i would advise seeing what they have to offer, but look elsewhere first

I’ve been with this agency for the past 3 years, and the main reason for this is that we have a fantastic house. It’s in a great location, and looking at the quality of it, you wouldn’t believe it was a student house. However, despite them being amazing in the first year we were with them (absolutely no complaints!) We’ve had so many problems in terms of trying to get them to fix major problems. It took months to get our central heating fixed, then our hot water, the fridge and washing machine and when our front door getting stuck. They tell you to write an email, but rarely respond, which has been a major source of frustration! They also fail to inform us appropriately if people are coming to the house for any reason, and most of the time we’re unaware, particularly bad if you wake up to find strange men in the house! All problems that could be avoided with better communication!

From my experience this agency is ok. The house i am in right now is of good quality. However they have bern a bit slow to respond to some issues. They didnt go through the contract in much detail with me. However we were provided with alot house hold utilities.

Avoid this agency at all costs. The owner is arrogant and unprofessional, has no care for your wellbeing or accommodation at all, refuses to be accountable for any problems, lets out substandard properties and is an absolute disgrace to the accommodation industry.