18th Oct 2024 (20 days ago)
Rented us a property that was clearly unsafe and unfit for human habitation. They agreed to terminate our year-long contract after only 12 days, before re-listing the property online only hours later.
We had to stay in temporary accommodation for 3 weeks whilst CR ‘repaired’ 28 Leopold St. It ended up being very different to when we had viewed and what we were promised (no light bulbs, furnishings that we were told came with the property were missing, electric & gas top up key systems etc.). Within 2 days we had no gas, electricity or running water due to a dangerous leak in the fuse box. Before this was identified, one of the many electricians who came round advised me to flip the switch board whenever the electricity went out, putting me in danger.
We were asked to vacate the premises whilst the electricity was still a risk, which rendered us a household of homeless young women. We were offered £26.25 each a night for a hotel, which unsurprisingly doesn't scratch the surface of last-minute weekend bookings in London. CR insisted the leak had magically appeared after the one time we had used the shower.
They nailed some wooden boards over where the leak was coming from despite us begging them to carry out proper repairs for our safety. Unsurprisingly, the leak persisted, and CR reluctantly agreed to terminate our contract after only 12 days once we identified Mohammed Ali Hassan, the Director of CR, as being the landlord through the Land Registry.
Four hours later, the property was relisted for cheaper. They started ripping out the bathroom once we left, proving they had knowingly lied about the leak being fixed by pinning up some planks of wood.
Almost a month on, 3 out of the 4 of us are still facing housing insecurity, living either with friends/family or in temporary accommodation. This is because of CR’s greed, unprofessionalism, and dishonesty. They even implied that we stole the property's electricity meter key and asked us to consider that “it was an unfortunate situation for the landlord”, and that they did us a favour by “letting us stay for free” in a house that was uninhabitable. This is inaccurate and insulting on all counts.
TENANTS: You have been warned, steer clear, and good luck to those already contractually stuck.
LANDLORDS: Letting through CR could cause more stress than it is worth as their sloppy business dealings could negatively impact you too. This experience is reflective of how the Director himself handles his own properties. We had legal standing to be released from our contract due to CR’s poor choices, which could happen to you with your tenants and lose you money.
MOHAMMED ALI HASSAN & CR EMPLOYEES: The unprofessional manner in which you have conducted yourself is embarrassing and has had real impacts on three young women who now have no where to live. We are reasonable people who want minimal stress and we would have remained in our tenancy had you have fixed the leak properly on the first instance and given us suitable temporary accommodation. This behaviour will eventually come back to bite you. Perhaps you should spend less time on your podcasting endeavours and spend more time carrying out the bare minimum for your tenants.
The council, local MPs & Propertymark have been made aware of the events described above. I recommend other tenants pursue the same avenues if they are unfortunate enough to find themselves in a similar position.... Read more