Dexters Estate Agents
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Warning to both tenants and landlords wishing to use Dexters
WITHOUT PREJUDICE DON’T BE FOOLED as Dexters is NOT London's leading Estate Agency although this is their advertising tagline. (Part 1 of 2) We rented a property from Dexters Blackheath Branch in October 2023 and were tied into a 24 month no break clause. As an architect I could see the property was in bad shape when I viewed and video’d it and was promised verbally that everything I pointed out as unacceptable, would be remedied in a 10 day period between the previous tenant vacating and myself taking occupation. I questioned Dexters that I doubted it would be enough time to remedy the defects, however Dexters insisted it could be achieved and the deal was signed and sealed. 3 days before we were due to take occupation, I was contacted asking if I could delay my move in date as the previous tenant had not handed back the keys and the contractors had only just gained access and the previous tenant had left the home in a state which meant they couldn’t achieve the repair work during the remaining 3 days. We couldn’t delay our occupation date at such short notice, however I agreed that we were happy for contractors to continue repairs for the first few weeks whilst living there and would simply not unpack in the meantime and use minimal rooms. We moved into a home with wet carpets and damp, to find that the only repairs done were sticking plaster remedies of painting over mouldy walls, not repairing the source of the damp and already the mould was growing through the freshly painted odd damp wall. At the same time I received a welcome email from Dexters CEO, asking if we were happy with the property. I responded that we were not and was handed over to the manager of Dexters South East London properties maintenance and repairs, who smugly told me that there were no notes on the signed tenancy agreement to repair the property, so we were to take it as it was. I posted the incident on TrustPilot stating that I had video evidence that the property would be repaired as a condition of the tenancy agreement. Shortly after that I received a call from the Managing Director of Dexters Blackheath Branch assuring me that the home would be repaired asap and that he was was going to be cheeky enough to ask me to write a follow up positive review about it on TrustPilot, when it was all completed. I decided to be diplomatic and a gentleman and removed my negative review as a token of belief in his promise. In hindsight I believe this would be a generic story he’d give to many tenants who have complained on TrustPilot to take the heat of Dexters. Unfortunately what unfolded over the past 7 months has equated to beyond disastrous. In a nutshell, it was discovered that the house was not insulated (contrary to a “valid” EPC certificate). The gas shut of valve was inaccessible and boarded over. The smart water meter was connected to another home and Thames water was charging us their water usage (incidentally when I asked the Dexters property management contact person, where the gas and water stop valves were, she did not know and neither bothered to find out, saying I needed to deal with Thames Water and British Gas) The gutters had holes in them hence the leaking causing severe damp and mould in 4 of the 8 rooms. There was the occasional wafting smell of sewage throughout the ground floor from under the floor boards (which Dexters claimed was normal in an old Victorian house and we should live with it) which was eventually discovered to be an uncapped sewer pipe from a removed toilet which is now part of the kitchen, which cowboy renovators had simply placed a wooden floor over. Rats were coming out of this uncapped sewer pipe and nesting under the floorboards. (The neighbour told me that this problem has dated back years and one previous tenant moved out, cancelling her tenancy agreement as she had a toddler who became poorly because of the rats) I had to revert to lawyers and the Greenwich Environmental Health Services to intervene after 4 months of being told by Dexters, that because it’s an old Victorian House, therefore rats and the smell of sewer is the norm. The list of other faults with the house which are in breech of the tenancy contract is exhaustive. The Landlords have to repair these defects else the house is not fit for habitation, sale nor letting out, by law. Dexters first solution was that we move out and they and the Landlords would kindly allow the 24 month no break clause tenancy agreement to be voided. My lawyers advised against this stating that once we accepted to abolish the agreement, the home would simply be rented to another unsuspecting tenant who would spend months / years going through the same fight and the agency and Landlord would simply keep collecting rent.