Liane Hanks Residential Lettings Real Estate Agent in Bath, Avon

Reviews

1. carole munday ★☆☆☆☆

   It has taken a year, but finally the property ombudsman has awarded compensation to my daughter and her friends which has been paid by LHR. The house they were expected to move into in July 2021 was literally a house of horrors; damp and black mould everywhere (the walls were actually wet, the smell in the house indescribable) bloodstained and saggy old mattresses, broken furniture, hazardous steps (as described by the schedule of condition) and faulty wiring. The students spent their first night in a hotel as you just could not sleep there, they handed back the keys the following day, then sofa surfed for a week until they were all forced to come back home for their Summer because LHR refused to find them better accommodation hiding behind the mantra that they'd 'signed a contract' and it wasn't 'their problem.' It was only when the parents got 'militant' by saying we'd phone on the half hour every hour running down their answerphone that the ball to get this horrendous house sorted began rolling. Before that they'd not answer the phone to me (until I used a different phone) and pass us onto the poor junior in the office. Liane Hanks will reply that she was on holiday, which is true, but Alaistair in charge of maintenance and Hayley Workman (a director) were both working. Alaistair actually hung up on my husband. Hayley has given her own company a 5* review, a tad unethical and so has Steve Workman, a relative. Liane Hanks herself eventually rang me and minimized the issues saying the house was 'tired' and that you'd struggle to find a house in Bath without mould. When I suggested the students looked at some of their other properties she said that if we didn't like Millmead Road we certainly wouldn't like the others and that her own son had to live in substandard accommodation at university. In other words, get on with it. She even suggested the students find other students to take their place, how were they to do that? Who'd rent it knowing the state of the property, were they to lie about it? This was unacceptable to us as was the offer of 4 weeks rent free while they did the work (my husband is a builder with 40 years experience) he knew it'd take more than 4 weeks to sort out the issues and they certainly couldn't 'room hop' as she suggested, while the work was done. We instructed a lawyer. Environmental health were eventually involved. They found all our faults plus some potentially life threatening ones; insufficient fire separation door, no CO2 monitor, and a blocked fire escape. They were given 8 weeks to resolve the matters. The landlord was forced a year later, after LHR had paid compensation, to refund first month's rent a total of £2,375.00 plus 8% interest after we contacted 'small claims' on Gov.uk. We are pleased that our efforts have at least got the house in a decent condition for the next group of students. At least they shouldn't die from being stuck in a fire, poisoned by carbon dioxide or from a fall down dangerous steps. LHR had to pay compensation to us because "I am critical of LHRL for not notifying the complainants, prior to the start of their tenancy that the condition of the property at the end of the previous tenancy was not as expected." (Property Ombudsman June 2022) LHR will say that the last tenants were responsible for the state of the property, yet we found them and got their schedules of condition from when THEY moved in and moved when they out. Most of the issues were there over a year ago. Indeed in the week between them moving out and my daughter and her friends moving in, all that had changed in the property was a battery in a smoke alarm had been replaced. LHR clearly expected this group of students to suck it up and put up with the state of the place as others had done before. Sadly the bar is pretty low with renting standards and laws/codes of practice about what is acceptable. I am now lobbying MPs to get a change to this. Wera Hobhouse, the MP for the area has been very helpful. I advise all students in the strongest terms, to avoid this agency at all costs.

   almost 7 months ago
2. Bethany Hibbert ★★★★★

   We have rented with Liane Hanks Residential for just over a year, and our experience has been excellent. They have always been professional and friendly during inspections and are consistently happy to help with any issues, whether over the phone or by email. Their responses are quick, and whenever we’ve asked for advice or recommendations, they’ve offered support straight away. The check-in process was also very thorough. They provided lots of helpful information, including guidance on keeping the property mould-free, which we really appreciated. The inventory report, carried out by a third party, was extremely detailed, and we were given seven days to add our own comments and photos to ensure a fair and accurate representation of the property. We are due to vacate the property soon and have already been sent detailed cleaning advice outlining exactly how to leave each room, along with a copy of our inventory so we can compare and ensure everything is left as it was found (minus fair wear and tear). When we’ve had questions about what counts as wear and tear, they were happy to advise us clearly and honestly. Thank you Hayley, Liane, Jacey, and Laura for everything you have ever done for us. We cannot thank them enough for the service they have provided us and would highly recommend them.

   almost 7 months ago
3. Tara Crees ★☆☆☆☆

   This agency treats tenants terribly. Rented with them in 21/22 and it was bad from the moment I walked in to the house. I found a maintenance man in my bedroom just after I entered the house who told me he was "just painting over the mould". They had someone "clean" the mattress in my bedroom on the first day of our tenancy, leaving it soaking wet so I had to find somewhere else to stay (and the piss stains from a previous tenant remained anyway). Everywhere was dirty and in disrepair, yet they marked everything on the inventory as "professionally cleaned". The quarterly inspections are invasive and every single report placed blame on us tenants for the black mould problem that they had just painted over - their catchphrase in the reports was "clean mould with a mild bleach solution". Upon moving out, they tried to charge us for damage that was already in the house when we moved in. It took weeks to resolve and it turned out that the whole time the staff had been using an inventory report from the wrong year. The photos we provided for the inventory when we moved in saved us - if you must rent with them then make sure you do the same! Edit following Liane Hanks response: the photos I've attached were taken on the first day of the tenancy and I think they speak for themselves. The mattress is clearly covered in urine stains and I can confirm that it wasn't just 'damp from steam cleaning' prior to the start of our tenancy, it was soaking wet and they were cleaned on the first day of our tenancy, after we collected the keys. Mould is clearly visible in the photos - Liane Hanks always shift the blame onto the students that rent from them, but the reality is that black mould like this will always come back if it's not addressed properly, which they had clearly failed to do.

   almost 11 months ago

1. Iqra Majeed ★☆☆☆☆

   Very bad and non professional behaviour i have ever encounter here in uk. We agreed on one property and when we wanted to clarify they just cancel it without giving any reasonable or logical answer. We need to move out from the privous tenancy and because of their non sense behaviour we had to suffer a lot.they wasted our time.Tried to call them many times. They hang up on our face without even listening our point. Such a pathetic agency. They don't have any moral or ethical values. They don't respect your time and money. And still cancelling the contract due to their own reason that we still can't understand, they refused to return our deposit back.they deducted our money.. that was totally illegal but because of the amount we don't wanna waste our time anymore otherwise i would love to sue them. Again BEAWARE OF THIS UNPROFESSIONAL AGENCY.

   1 year ago
2. Edward Owens ★☆☆☆☆

   Renting with Liane Hanks, you can expect to be told that 'slugs crawling around on the floor is normal' when moving into the property, but have 100s of pounds deducted from your deposit for professional cleaning at the end of your tenancy. It is also standard practice for them to use your house as a dumping ground for building materials for weeks at a time, board off rooms in your house which were included in the original tour and leave you with scolding hot showers for weeks until they can find substandard contractors. They are perfectly nice people when you talk to them in the shop, but fail to deliver a good standard of living for tenants.

   almost 3 years ago
3. kaya nightingale ★☆☆☆☆

   Under a façade of professionalism and politeness, this Liane Hanks Letting Agency is full of issues and bad morals. If you have any self respect as a tenant or respect for your tenants as a landlord, please do not use this letting agency. From the beginning to the end of my tenancy I had issues with this agency, from not securing my deposit to not addressing maintenance issues, and failing to notify before visits. You are not treated with any respect and there are serious failing of internal communications within the agency. I was in direct communication with the landlords during my time who were great, but it became apparent very quickly that information was not being passed on to the landlords by the letting agency, leaving the landlord vulnerable to legal action. Unfortunately there was no way for me to sue the letting agency directly without affecting the landlords so I never did (the landlords were great). Due to my terrible experience with Liane Hanks Letting agency I had discussions with 5 other tenants using the letting agency and all talked of similar experiences to my own. In summary a poor communicator with no moral compass and willing to lie to their clients before admitting fault on their part. I would highly recommend using ANY other agent.

   almost 4 years ago

1. rupert marks ★★★★★

   I have used LHR for over 7 years and have always been delighted with the service I've received at the properties they manage on my behalf. I do understand there can be differences of opinions at times between landlords and tenants as to the qualities of a managing agent; but from my perspective LHR are quick to raise issues with me and together I believe we are quick to resolve them on the tenants behalf. I genuinely feel LHR wish to build long term sustainable relationships with tenants which I am of course very happy to support.

   almost 4 years ago
2. Ann Tudor ★★★★★

   We have had excellent service from LHR for many years. We are advised as soon as tenants raise a problem. They have a team of tradesmen available to deal quickly with any action required. Inspections are reported to us regularly with supporting photos. We have no hesitation in recommending this polite, friendly property management team to other landlords.

   almost 4 years ago
3. Sarah Griffiths ★★★★★

   We have been with Liane Hanks residential for many years. We find all the team very professional, approachable and efficient. We occasionally have had issues that needed special attention and they have always sorted everything quickly and effectively. We always receive a response to requests, communication is excellent. We would definitely recommend them.

   almost 4 years ago

1. Marcel Read ★☆☆☆☆

   Laine Hanks are the agents for a number of properties in Lymore Avenue and they are a complete eye sore. Rubbish constantly left in the front gardens (both the council and the university have had to get involved and its still a big problem). The front gardens are completely overgrown with weeds, very disappointing.

   almost 5 years ago

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