“Thought we'd got some luck when we were offered a two bedroom flat in Ashbourne, Derbyshire. Rent was around £565 a month. From the moment we moved in, it took five days for them to uncap the gas, this was in the middle of January. It was absolutely freezing and not being able to wash was horrendous.
We were told that we weren't allowed pets but noticed other people had them in the same block. We were told to apply to the local council for kitchen appliances by the housing officer. Did not know her facts. You had to reside in that council for 3 months before you could claim. Local housing officer would ignore my complaints of rats. There were dead ones all over the place and some entering peoples properties.
There was some extraction device in the loft that was designed to suck up the moisture in the air and throw out warm air. Instead, the main box to this system had been left to leak for the decade since the flat was erected. Every time it rained, water came out from the vents in the bedrooms and the bathroom.
The bathroom vent produced a lot of mould near to the light. Three people over the space of 18 months came out to survey the problem. No one knew what they were doing. One lied that he'd left a card through the door because I was not in, but I was and he hadn't left a card at all.
Gas boiler was forever breaking down until one particular man corrected the problem. One that knew what he was doing.
I've noticed that a lot of their staff sit around in their vans for hours doing nothing.
The main box to this extraction system got changed after two years but was still leaking whenever it rained. The repair man strictly told me that I'd have no more leaks. However, the wall where this leak was taking place continued to rot and the mould was obviously painted over to hide it before we moved in.
One of the repair men told me that the leak has never been tackled. I said why don't you repair it between tenants moving in, no answer. The flat was empty for 3 months prior to us moving in.
My son suffers from many allergies and has had to have excess weeks off school due to being affected by the state of this flat.
My neighbours across the landing had this same problem with the landlord and
they kept missing the appointments, which was not fair as the tenants had a young toddler.
Once I came back to my flat to find that the tap under the sink had flooded the kitchen floor. It took half an hour to get through on the phone and four hours for someone to turn up. I was having to catch the water with two buckets as it was literally peeing it out, by the time the man came. Again, for two hours, after, he was sat outside, but yet there were so many emergencies that day, apparently.
I had an old 67 year old lady living under me that did not like us walking around our flat. She would constantly bang on the ceiling at me and my son just for talking.
It's not like we were making noise after 11pm but she said she felt entitled to protest. The landlord just told me to ignore her. I had to have two weeks of aggro before I could fill in diary sheets and then send them in. Absolutely stupid. This neighbour also threw food all over my car and smear campaigned me, but I was told to ignore her. They dealt with nothing.
I registered to be rehoused.
I got offered a house with the same landlord and again, the housing officer only told me about having to pay something towards the rent (when I am in receive full housing benefit), after I signed up for the house. They also told me that I'd only have to pay two weeks rent beforehand. They then changed this to another two weeks after. No one knows what they're doing. Just a money pit, I dread leaving.
Turned out I got rewarded full housing benefit and it's £721 a month.
Not worth it for the amount of mould accumulating from rising damp. Again, obviously been painted over. Needless to say my son is on more medication from this shabby show.
An annoying single mother that also has an autistic son does nothing but allows her son to bang on the walls from 7am in the morning until 9pm at night. The landlord told me to record it on the app but it does not pick nothing up and I refuse to dedicate my time to this. I have just put the television on a loud volume as this child howls and screams all day too. The mother also has a dog but doesn't clean the garden from dog mess. The stench is horrible. The child asked her to clean it up so he could play on his skate board but she refused.
She also rang the police and told them that she heard me talking about witchcraft in my back garden. This happened after an argument broke out about her dog biting a whole through the mesh fence which she assumed I should pay for. I told her that she needed to be watching her dog and stop listening to my conversations. She then accused me of ignoring her since she moved in a few weeks after us, but she lied. She never tried to say hello to me but she has tried to character assassinate me. The police took her side and berated me for picking on a 9 year old autistic child. Me and my son have autism too but all he was concerned about was how it made them feel next door. Why should I feel bad for something that I did not do?
This is yet another hate campaign from another jealous neighbour and what do Derwent do? They sided with the liar. Offering her full support whilst ghosting any of our needs. I wake up to dog pooh on my driveway and that dog barking constantly. But they don't care, just as long as they get their rent. That's all they care about. No one cares that we are being bullied. I regret going with them, they are awful.”
“They run some pump in the attic that can be turned on remotely its relative to your flat, you can hear it, sounds like it's running on petrol.
They are running devices to play mechanics on tennats. They socially engineer a situation to suit them.”
“Mike (Micheal) did an outstanding job sorting out plumbing issues in my kitchen after I recently moved into a bungalow in Farnworth, Bolton. Mike went above and beyond, and instantly located the several issues causing the problems, sorted them brilliantly, and even fixed it for my washer to go into the slot which had previously been a bit too tight. What a legend. Can’t praise him enough, and what a load off my mind. Wish all professionals were at this high standard. Thanks again Mike!”
“Had a repair done today a new fan in the kitchen. The work was completed by Mike Scott he has kept me in formed by phone eg what time he was coming how long before arrived etc. has done a very good cleaned up when he finished made sure I was happy with it and showed me how it worked brilliant attention to detail detail. He is an asset to places for people. This sort of service is RARE !!”
“Awful service! They won’t repair doors which handles are not fit for purpose. Both my two young children have been trapped and they still say the handles were fine! When you make a complaint and ask to speak over the phone “they only deal via email” awful!!! No idea how they can operate like this and get away with it”
“Awful landlords. They are completely un-organised, un-apologetic and take months to get back to you when you report a repair. None of the repair people that came to our home during lockdown followed the rules (gloves, masks, hand gel etc), despite us complaining to Derwent Living/Places for People about this (and being assured that they take covid rules very seriously and would follow this up) the repair people STILL showed up without masks on, without gloves and didn't antibac the surfaces they touched (despite us getting a letter before the appointment saying that this would happen).
I would avoid any home that is let by Derwent living/Places for People in the future. Our rent rises every. Single. year. Without fail. Even during covid when everyone was struggling, they still raised our rent. Derwent living/Places for People should be ashamed of themselves. They even tried to send a surveyor round to our home during lockdown (which definitely wasn't for any reason that would benefit us). Surely the safety of your tenants should come above assessing the property for it's value during a GLOBAL PANDEMIC? Clearly not.
We got a letter to say someone was coming out, however the letter was dated 2 weeks from the date we actually received it, giving us not even one days notice of this surveyor visit. This happens quite frequently with gas checks etc as well, where we will get a letter just a few days before, or not get a letter at all. Not great when you both work and need to try and be in for the appointment, otherwise risk being taken to court if you miss two of their appointments.
My name and title changed 4 years ago, I have informed Derwent Living/Places for People of my name/title change three times now, including sending the correct proof, yet they STILL haven't updated it on their system and send letters addressed to my old name. I've given up on informing them now.
We started paying around £500ish in rent and now we pay nearly £700 a month in rent. It goes up every single year without fail and I'm sure it will go up this year too, despite the cost of living crisis.
Just to add to this, I reported 2x repairs on the 8th of January 2023 and I STILL haven't heard anything from them and it is now the 22nd of January 2022.
Also the fence around our back garden completely broke in MARCH LAST YEAR and was reported straight away. This means that anyone can now get onto our back garden with ease, and we have still heard absolutely nothing almost a year later! Really unacceptable to say how much we are paying them in rent.
I really cannot stress enough how awful they are. Whenever you get through on the phone the people are rude and couldn't care less. I would advise everyone to go with a different landlord, do not rent from this company, all they care about is money.”
“In a 'secure gated 'development in Gravesend, with rent to reflect that.
However, the gates have been unoperational for over a YEAR now, allowing all and sundry in, to park and access the 'secure' site.
We are constantly fobbed off or ignored on this issue by Places for People.
Very bad customer service”
