Renting through Squires has been exceedingly stressful! Moving is hard and I want to warn any prospective customers of the service they can expect. I viewed a property through Squires who were very helpful in the lead up to the move. We had a young baby and our van was packed, we were to leave our old house the following morning. With 24 hours notice, we were told that the house 'wasn't ready' for another 3 days. WE WERE LEFT HOMELESS. We stayed at a friends with a full van for 4 days. Optimistically, I believed this was due to unforseeable problems. On arriving at the house, there was a hole in the living room ceiling, no kitchen floor, stained carpets & holes in the walls. I was devastated. We looked but nothing was available to rent, we had no choice but to move in. The landlord seemed pleasant, he explained that faulty repairs had caused all the damage. We soon discovered that Squires did not manage the property whilst our landlord claimed he was struggling to pay the mortgage and went AWOL. Having told the landlord that water was pouring from the living room ceiling he replied with a text message "Not on a Sunday!". Squires made it very clear they were not responsible and could not help. They are however, happy to advertise and take commission. We felt extremely vulnerable and let down. Surely there must be some assurances going through an agency... MANAGER, JEANETTE SQUIRE told us, "If you don't like it honey, you can can move out". We could not move again, we had neither the time off work nor the money. We decided to make the house habitable, cover holes, use rugs, repair walls etc. We heard nothing from the landlord in the following year (apart from him turning up before 8am to use our toilet which he blocked, then mumbled about coming back to fix it). We gave 4 weeks notice which officially should have been on our rent due date (which had been changed by the landlord with no notice). However, with ALL OF THE BREACHES of the contract they could not possibly justify enforcing this. Squires manager..."There's no point in bringing up the past it's irrelevant" and her favourite saying "If you don't like it, you should have moved out honey". Unbelievably, she reminded us that "I've bent over backwards to help you" and "You don't want to accuse me of anything as I am the only one I between you and your notice"... BLACKMAIL. An agent arranged to meet us at the house with the landlord the following day. He was shocked by the state of the house, very apologetic, and wanted to start repairs immediately for the new tenants. I refused, after a year of unfulfilled promises, his cowboy tradesmen were not coming in and out, taking down the ceiling and plastering over our furniture whilst we were still paying rent and living there. The landlord was very disgruntled and denied knowledge of the damage. We had kept e-mails and photos so he left. I had no trust in Squires or the landlord so requested no viewings in my absence. My husband and I both work, so we agreed for one agent who we trusted a little, to do viewings. This trust was destroyed when he passed the keys to his manger who carried out viewings unbeknown to us. I ensured the house was tidy, no washing out etc. There were no courtesy calls to say when viewings were cancelled or to say that it had been let! Squires could not see any problems. We did not have a good relationship and we did not want Jeanette Squires in our house when we were out. The previous tenants visited and told us of the appalling service they too had received. Squires say, "If the landlord promises to make adequate repairs there is nothing we can do". The landlord has repeatedly made the same promises and Squires are knowingly renting the house in its current condition to the next unsuspecting tenants. PLEASE BE WARNED! Squires are completely independent and unique with "If you don't like it honey, you can move out" attitude. Look into all the facts and know your rights!... Read more
2051 days ago