Howards Estate Agents
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Would give 0 stars but cant.
Would give 0 stars but cant. Where to start? We moved into £1250/pcm property with the understanding that the property would be clean before we moved in and some minor remedial works done, walls cleaned, holes filled etc. I collected the keys from the Lowestoft office and was told they had "only just" found a leak in the roof in the conservatory and it would need to be repaired but were we happy to move in. As we needed to move into our new property we agreed. We moved into the property and found rubbish under the bed and in the cupboards in the master bedroom, the walls were unclean and holes in the property walls throughout the house from old fixings/screws which had not been remedied. There was an infestation of flies in the attic which had clearly been present for some time, I will commend Howard’s that this was actioned quickly and the problem has not returned. The "repairs" to the roof were taking a long time after being chased several times until a few months later i return home and to my surprise, scaffolding had been erected in the back garden, without any knowledge of this, I assumed someone had entered the property without permission and done this. I was then told that the contractor didn't enter the house at all but instead climbed over the back gate to let himself in. (this is either trespassing or a direct breach of the Housing Act 1988, depending on whether this was instructed or not, we were not informed and someone entered the property without prior notice or permission). The repairs commenced and I assumed all was fine, I would usually look over the mess left by the contractors, cigarette butts, the broken pieces of tiles, screws and other sharps objects, but I have a 2-year-old child and it's not ideal. Howard's asked to do a property viewing which we happily obliged to, and I informed the estate agent visiting that the house alarm was beeping on a low battery warning and this needed replacing, this has still not been completed, months later. And. It. Is. Still. Beeping. Constantly. I was then emailed by a gentleman to inform me that my contract was going to be ending a month earlier than my tenancy agreement said, and the landlords had asked for an increase to the rent. As i was confused at why my tenancy was ending earlier (in December, not end of January) I asked him to confirm the dates in my tenancy agreement. He then replied stating my contract was not due to end until May! an additional 4 months to my original tenancy agreement! He then informed me he would be in touch in April. I replied to ask for details on my tenancy agreement and was ignored. We were asked to permit a member of the Howard's team into the home "for 5 minutes for a quick walk around and a valuation" which again we happily obliged to. A member of the Howard's team arrived with the Landlord (which wasn't agreed) and asked to take photographs. Like many family homes, we have photographs and sentimental items on display in our home which we would not want on a property listing so we asked to rearrange to make the house "photo ready" (we have a 2-year-old, it’s not going to be photo ready for a sales website without prior warning). I had a phone call with someone and booked the following Thursday off work and we were anticipating the Howard's team and landlord to come to the property to take photos and no-one arrived. Now the weather has changed, the roof which was "repaired" is now leaking into the house again, onto my table. The beep is still beeping. And to top it off today i received a phone call today to inform me that my account was in arrears on rental payments and that I owed £75 to Howard's. It appears they have increased the agreed rental price without our consent as our usual direct debit to Howard's meant the full balance was unpaid and it went to collections. Even though i had provided a statement in writing of our intention to leave the property at the end of our tenancy, the rental price was increased, and our account is now in “arrears.” I apologised profusely to Winnie on the phone as I explained my frustrations to her but at this point it’s being ongoing since the start of our tenancy. I am speechless.