“My Bad Experience as a Landlord
I am leaving a review for both the York and Leeds office as both of these offices have been dealing with my properties.
Linley and Simpson:
1. Did not renew a tenancy when asked, so we now have a tenant on a rolling one month contract instead of a fixed term contract and they charged me the £120 fee for renewing it. I complained and they have given me £60 back... yep, and so far, no apology!
2. You are locked in for 12 months minimum contract. Within the the last 6-months they have told me they are upping their monthly fees twice and also told me they would be taking £250 from my next rent packet to hold for my convenience for emergencies. Not asked me, just told me.
3. They Incorrectly passed on critical safety information regarding the legionella risk assessment for the property, which could make me liable if someone falls ill, it is a legal requirement to ensure tenants are safe from legionella disease.
I sent an email on what needed to be told to the tenant, they then forwarded incorrect information, all they needed to do was forward my email or copy and paste it.
4. They did a substandard pre-tenant inspection that I asked to be sent to me to check prior to tenants moving in, and it was given to me after. The pictures are such bad quality it is impossible to properly see the conditions of flooring and walls.
5. We have had a water leak in a property now for 15-days and it has not been fixed because we needed to send a contractor round. I asked Linley and Simpson to check with the tenant if the code for the lockbox was still the same and if the box still has keys in it. A staff member from the maintenance department was asked by me to ask the tenant this and I also asked if the tenant had read the instructions for the leaking washing machine.
The agent spoke to the tenant and did not then give me answers to these questions. I asked him to speak with the tenant and ask again. He spoke to the tenant again and my questions were not answered. I had to ask him 6-times in total and it took 15-days for him to give me the answers, all the time with water leaking inside the house.
6. We had a leak in the roof of a property. Linley and SImpson got a quote and told us it would be £1350 to fix the roof. I went round and it was a loose tile. It took 15-mins to push back and fix into place.
7. An extractor fan has broken in the bathroom. The agent has my electrician's number on file. They said they could not get hold of the electrician. I text the electrician and he text straight back saying he had received no voicemails or messages from Linley and Simpson. It took Linley and Simpson 15-days to get hold of the contractor and at one point they asked me to do it. It is a complete waste of time using Linley and Simpson to do this work when it is less frustrating to do it yourself. It also looks very bad to the tenant who thinks the landlord does not care about them. A self employed electrician will not be able to answer his phone while he's crawling around under floor boards fixing wires, but having to explain to Linley and Simpson staff that they should keep trying and set reminders is frustrating.
I have had more issues, but I think if you've read this far you'll have made up your mind whether to let your property with them!”
“Will never use Linley & Simpson (Horsforth) again.
Moved in to a house that had been professionally cleaned, it was absolutely filthy. We made calls, sent emails and pictures - 3 weeks later (after all the cleaning had been done) they offered to send one.
Mould issues in every room, quickly realised that the painter had not got rid of the mould, just painted over it! Were told it was an us problem. As it was affecting my chest, had to get rid of mould, use a proper primer to cover the staining and repaint whole property with anti mould paint.
Loft was only have insulted so back bedroom and bathroom were very cold.
Garage had leaks all over, not fit for purpose.
They are already suggesting we are not getting our full deposit back, although it's about 10 times in better condition and no mould. Also left immaculately clean.
An experience I never want to repeat.”
“I do not recommend. They just want your money but will withhold information about the property and leave you to deal with it when you move it. They’ve given so much false information and have made my move very confusing and burdensome”
“Terrible experience from start to finish. They will try to take as much of your deposit as possible and use previous tenants photos to justify it. Then they ignore you when you email and call. AVOID!!!”
“Poor service. I have been renting for 13 years and have been with 3 other letting agents during that period. Of them all, Linley and Simpson have been the worse. When we moved into said flat, we were told the kitchen had been professionally cleaned but this was not true. The oven hadn't been touched. The work services were sticky and the whole kitchen looked like it needed ripping out a new one putting in.
The gas meter located under the sink had an emergency shut off valve that you couldn't get to because the kitchen had been put in over the top of the meter with no thought process. This was never resolved and the gas meter in question was over 20 years old.
There were mice in the property. I had to report this several times before Linley and Simpson took this seriously and when it did get looked at, the vermin company said there were definitely mice in the property.
Mold. I reported mold when we first moved in and nothing was done about it. It gradually got worse and I was told to spend £6 of our own money so we could get rid of it ourselves.
We finally managed to get out of this flat and out of the rented system. Contacting Linley and Simpson for my deposit back has been an absolute pain, I have been promised calls back to never receive them. I have emailed the Horsforth branch to only get a reply after the third consecutive day of emailing. The best way to get through to them is continually phone the branch.
If I was ever unfortunate to enter the world of renting again, i would do everything in my power to avoid Linley and Simpson.
Please see attached photos of the state of said flat.
My first notes sent to Linley and Simpson back in 2020:
Lounge:
Door knob indentations.
Curtains, odd match & stained.
Small amount of mould on windows & sill.
One bulb not working.
Store cupboard:
Marks on inside of door.
Rug slightly stained and paint marks
Bedroom 1 (LHS):
Door knob indentation on wall behind door.
Odd set of curtains & marked.
Small amount of mould on Windows and sill.
Bedroom 2:
Brown spot/mark on wall behind door.
Mould windows & sill.
Curtains slightly marked.
Bathroom:
Toilet seat not correctly fitted, seated offset.
Chrome toilet brush and holder.
Light switch pull cord sticks on occasion.
Kitchen:
Oven is filthy, greasy marks & wire racks the same.
Hob dirty, needed cleaning.
Sink dirty.
Cupboards dirty.
Fridge dirty.
I was appalled by the state of the kitchen especially the oven. I wouldn't leave something in that kind of state. It states 'cleaned to a professional standard throughout'. I would disagree.”
“AVOID this company.
Taking my issues up with the Property Ombudsman, too many to list fully
Fully Managed property by Horsforth Branch.
Missed tenants damage in Check Out report. I've had to pay for my own Surveyor to do Report.
Disputed deposit return with deposit agency to pay for damage.
They have awarded majority of deposit back to tenants as this company had missed all damage in Check Out report and can not hold tenants responsible.
Also this company still holding my small amount of deposit for several months now, even though I've been awarded it.
Took them several weeks to find out a potential tenant could not pass affordability checks.”
“Avoid, incompetent.
Missed damage caused by tenants in Check Out report.
Tenant was awarded by deposit scheme most of deposit due to their incompetence.
I've paid for a surveyor to document damage and I'm still awaiting my small part of the deposit.
Also took several weeks to discover potential new tenant did not pass affordability checks, my property empty losing money.
Will be reporting to Property Ombudsman.”
“I would not recommend Linley & Simpson Horsforth because the property they let to us has no hot water / working shower, multiple damage to property and they are very dismissive when dealing with complaints.”
“My experience at Linley & Simpson Horsforth could have been better because when I phoned up to query some things, a number of times I was met with huffs and puffs and a few “for god sakes” and it made me feel like I was inconveniencing them, when in reality it’s ME paying THEM for the service so if anyone is entitled to be rude it’s ME not THEM.”
