14th Sep 2026 (6 days ago)
EDITED TO REPLY TO BS:<br>1. The tenant passed affordability, but BS failed to provide any supporting information beyond their word, hence pulling out when it became an issue.<br>2. A mid-term flat check had it in dirty & poor condition. A tenant like this causes more property damage long-term so we terminated.<br>3. The Lettings Manager got involved once issues escalated, never actually solved anything or improved management and then disappeared.<br>4. Changing rental payment dates is not routine. It shows an inability to manage finances or tenant financial pressures. Suggesting otherwise shows your inexperience.<br>6. You are contradicting yourself. Deposit damages cannot be claimed for "wear and tear". We claimed off the deposit for damages (parts only, not labour) to revert the flat to its state at check-in.<br>7. Our expectation was that you do your job, not that we do it for you.<br>8. Your response shows you haven't learned from your mistakes.<br><br>---<br>ORIGINAL REVIEW:<br><br>If I could give 0 stars, I would. We rented out our property using the full management service from Butler & Stag (B&S). The level of incompetence we encountered throughout this engagement was impressive. From an inability to effectively manage a property and troubleshoot basic tenant issues, to poor tenant and rental fee management, and atrocious overall communications both internally within their team/company, as well as with us as the landlords, we encountered numerous issues through the year. Some highlights included:<br><br>- Upon move in, the tenant mistakenly suggested that three major appliances (dishwasher, extractor fan, and oven) were not working when in fact they were (check-in report validated and we knew from having been at the property the day prior to their move in). Without bothering to troubleshoot, B&S sent us the tenant's videos claiming they didn't work when in reality the tenant didn't know how to operate them despite instructions. This is just one occurrence from the get go, but was a regular pattern throughout the tenancy that B&S failed to effectively manage and would default to us immediately.<br>- Three months into the tenancy, the tenant requested to change the rental payment date to better align with when they get paid. We raised concerns with B&S about the tenant's ability to pay long term, but we agreed as the alternative (non-payment) would be worse. This would later impact the final month rent amount. In the final month of tenancy, as a result of this change, the tenant underpaid on the rent and B&S accepted this without issue. It was only when we challenged B&S that they reviewed their mistake, went back to the tenant, and collected the correct amount due for the final month.<br>- With staff changes at B&S, they misplaced key information and items belonging to the property that had been provided to them. Were it not for our follow-ups and documentation, we would have been out of pocket for their negligence.<br>- Upon termination of the tenancy, the flat was returned to us in horrible condition and with damage, resulting in significant costs for us to bring it up to its previous state. When trying to claim reimbursement from the deposit scheme, B&S actively blocked our ability to effectively do so by not sharing accurate timelines and information required by the arbitrator. It was only by our chasing we learned of an imminent (as in tomorrow!) deadline and had to rush to get some information across to support our claims.<br><br>For what is a significant full service management fee, there was little to no management of the property at all. In fact, their management was more costly to us in damages, negligence, and incompetence than the fees itself. Further, we found that the calibre of tenants that they attract, vet, and approve are not up to spec as was evidenced by our experience. Following the initial tenancy, we had plans to re-let the property and B&S had found another tenant, but referencing here took more than two weeks (to show proof of rent payments) at which point we decided not to move forward previous issues and the clear potential for even worse.... Read more