27th Oct 2026 (14 days ago)
A terrible experience from start to finish. I would strongly advise prospective tenants to look elsewhere.
When we first viewed the property, nobody from Almond attended. Instead, they sent the building caretaker, who had little information about the flat or any issues we should know about. With limited alternatives, we proceeded with the tenancy, but problems began almost immediately.
Despite being advertised as furnished, the flat contained broken furniture, which we had to dispose of ourselves. None of it was replaced, and the property had not been properly cleaned before we moved in.
The windows were covered by scaffolding, significantly reducing natural daylight. During the viewing, we were assured it would be removed in October, just one month after we moved in. However, it remained throughout our entire year-long tenancy. Exterior building works also caused water to leak beneath the floorboards. Despite reporting this multiple times, no effective action was taken.
Communication with Almond was consistently poor. We often received out-of-office replies instead of meaningful assistance, and there was little urgency in addressing serious issues. Our experience dealing with Ian Taylor was particularly disappointing, as we felt our concerns were repeatedly overlooked.
Although Almond dealt with a few minor maintenance issues, such as repairing the blinds and replacing a toilet seat, the more serious problems were largely neglected.
Six months into our tenancy, we received our first water bill for over £2,000, only to discover that the boiler had been leaking since before we moved in. To Almond's credit, the boiler was repaired relatively quickly once we reported the issue. However, despite meter readings demonstrating excessive usage, they refused to accept responsibility for the resulting water and electricity bills, which amounted to thousands of pounds. They claimed there was insufficient proof that the boiler had been faulty, leaving us to bear the financial burden of a problem that predated our tenancy. This caused us considerable financial strain.
When we moved out, Almond also attempted to deduct £155 from our deposit without adequate justification. The inventory clearly stated that the cleaning and redecoration costs they sought to charge us for were the landlord's responsibility. When challenged, they provided an invoice from the alleged cleaning company containing an incorrect amount and failed to provide satisfactory supporting evidence. We ultimately disputed the deductions through the deposit protection scheme and successfully recovered our money.
The most frustrating aspect of this experience was not simply the number of problems, but the lack of support and urgency when we needed it most. We repeatedly reported serious issues but were left feeling that we had to resolve everything ourselves.
A managing agent should ensure that property issues are addressed promptly and treat tenants' concerns seriously. Unfortunately, this was not our experience with Almond. The service we received, particularly from Ian Taylor, was deeply disappointing, and I would not recommend this company to anyone considering renting through them.... Read more