Cardiff University
Visit websiteImperial Property Consultants _ A nightmare in Cardiff
Imperial Property Services located on 164a Richmond Road, Cardiff CF24 3BX is run by Jahan Abedi,an ex-Iranian citizen.
What I'm about to narrate is my personal experience with this agency.
I moved in to one of their houses on 56 Colum road, Cardiff(CF10 3EH) on the 2nd of October 2009.A six bedroom Ground Floor flat with two toilets and one small kitchen.The rooms were tiny and the ceiling was just about seven feet high.(Could this be considered a habitable room under law?).They had evidently converted a two storied house(10.5 feet*2=21 feet) into a three storied house(7feet*3=21 feet).
So we have a house over 150 years old, originally a four bedroom house now converted to accommodate 20 bedrooms!!!
Two weeks after I moved in, the nightmares began.They had acquired the adjacent property (58, colum Road) and resumed construction work.I was never informed that construction work was happening at the adjacent property.We endured three months of noise, dust and pollution( from the chemical odors).We spent a lot of time at their offices complaining about the problem.Nothing was done to resolve this nightmare.They all shrugged their shoulders and laughed it away.We were also told that we would loose our deposit if we decided to find an alternative accommodation...the deposit was two months rent...560pounds!!!Evidently they had used this technique on several helpless students before and were now basking in the glow of their success.
One evening we arrived home from the university to discover that they had connected both these properties.So we now had a twelve bedroom ground floor unit with four toilets and one kitchen.This was clearly in breach of the contract which stated a 6 bedroom property.The twelve bedrooms had just one tiny kitchen.We were not informed by anyone from Imperial Property Consultants at anytime that this would eventually happen.( Could the Cardiff Building inspectors have approved such a scheme??? Isn't this clearly a violation of the local building bylaws???)
Eight months later, after the contact expired we vacated the premises with great hopes.I was told by their staff that the deposit would be returned on the 7th of July (seven days after vacating the premises),this was extended to the 15th of July.After several frantic phone calls I was told to come on the 19th to collect the cheque.This has not happened so far.Today is the 20th of July 2010.
What has happened to British Justice???What has happened to all the housing regulations and standards??Do we allow such draconian methods to violate our social fabric???
I hope this will serve as an eyeopener to future students.My advise : stick to the local welsh landlords.They are kind, helpful and dignified.
Have you had an experience like this with Imperial Property Consultants? or another agent? Please do share your thoughts.
Let us together prevent the exploitation of students by such shrewd vampires.
What I'm about to narrate is my personal experience with this agency.
I moved in to one of their houses on 56 Colum road, Cardiff(CF10 3EH) on the 2nd of October 2009.A six bedroom Ground Floor flat with two toilets and one small kitchen.The rooms were tiny and the ceiling was just about seven feet high.(Could this be considered a habitable room under law?).They had evidently converted a two storied house(10.5 feet*2=21 feet) into a three storied house(7feet*3=21 feet).
So we have a house over 150 years old, originally a four bedroom house now converted to accommodate 20 bedrooms!!!
Two weeks after I moved in, the nightmares began.They had acquired the adjacent property (58, colum Road) and resumed construction work.I was never informed that construction work was happening at the adjacent property.We endured three months of noise, dust and pollution( from the chemical odors).We spent a lot of time at their offices complaining about the problem.Nothing was done to resolve this nightmare.They all shrugged their shoulders and laughed it away.We were also told that we would loose our deposit if we decided to find an alternative accommodation...the deposit was two months rent...560pounds!!!Evidently they had used this technique on several helpless students before and were now basking in the glow of their success.
One evening we arrived home from the university to discover that they had connected both these properties.So we now had a twelve bedroom ground floor unit with four toilets and one kitchen.This was clearly in breach of the contract which stated a 6 bedroom property.The twelve bedrooms had just one tiny kitchen.We were not informed by anyone from Imperial Property Consultants at anytime that this would eventually happen.( Could the Cardiff Building inspectors have approved such a scheme??? Isn't this clearly a violation of the local building bylaws???)
Eight months later, after the contact expired we vacated the premises with great hopes.I was told by their staff that the deposit would be returned on the 7th of July (seven days after vacating the premises),this was extended to the 15th of July.After several frantic phone calls I was told to come on the 19th to collect the cheque.This has not happened so far.Today is the 20th of July 2010.
What has happened to British Justice???What has happened to all the housing regulations and standards??Do we allow such draconian methods to violate our social fabric???
I hope this will serve as an eyeopener to future students.My advise : stick to the local welsh landlords.They are kind, helpful and dignified.
Have you had an experience like this with Imperial Property Consultants? or another agent? Please do share your thoughts.
Let us together prevent the exploitation of students by such shrewd vampires.
Scroll to see replies
Sadly, this kind of thing is not unheard of, although yours is a particularly extreme case. My advice to anyone looking for a a student house is to ask as many questions as you can; about the house, the landlord, the agency itself. If anything seems fishy, just walk away. You can always find something better.
Good agencies to consider are:
Abraham Lettings - very professional and sorted out all my problems throughout the year, returned my deposit without a problem
Cardiff Student Lettings - run by the Student Union, no agency fees, the only problem is the lack of good properties on their books (although they do have the occasional gem)
CPS Homes - From what I've heard they are very professional and take you seriously as long
Ones to avoid:
Imperial - they do mess you about a lot, as can be seen in the above post. My neighbours had building work for the entire year, which went on for much longer than Imperial/the landlords said it would
Horizon Lettings(they frequently go bankrupt, nuff said) - edit - I've been asked to make it clear that they have vastly improved recently, they are now regarded as one of the better Cardiff letting agents, and as far as I'm aware they haven't recently gone bankrupt.
Keylet - they really don't take you seriously
AtoZlettings - they were recently sued for failure to return a deposit
Pinnacle - again, they tend not to take you seriously and take ages to get round to things, although they get it done in the end
In general, ask around. Talk to second and third years about their experiences.
Good agencies to consider are:
Abraham Lettings - very professional and sorted out all my problems throughout the year, returned my deposit without a problem
Cardiff Student Lettings - run by the Student Union, no agency fees, the only problem is the lack of good properties on their books (although they do have the occasional gem)
CPS Homes - From what I've heard they are very professional and take you seriously as long
Ones to avoid:
Imperial - they do mess you about a lot, as can be seen in the above post. My neighbours had building work for the entire year, which went on for much longer than Imperial/the landlords said it would
Horizon Lettings
Keylet - they really don't take you seriously
AtoZlettings - they were recently sued for failure to return a deposit
Pinnacle - again, they tend not to take you seriously and take ages to get round to things, although they get it done in the end
In general, ask around. Talk to second and third years about their experiences.
(edited 11 years ago)
Cardiff University
Visit websiteAlso a good company: Simpsons on Crwys Road. They're lovely people and have only a very small fee. We had a couple of minor problems with the contracts but they helped us to solve them easily.
We're not actually renting from them, though, we're renting from a landlord, who is scary but also seems to be a good man. Michael Johnson Properties. Although I don't know, he could turn out to be dreadful, we haven't moved in yet.
Our landlord told us about that stuff described in the first post. They do sound dreadful. Good luck with your deposit!
We're not actually renting from them, though, we're renting from a landlord, who is scary but also seems to be a good man. Michael Johnson Properties. Although I don't know, he could turn out to be dreadful, we haven't moved in yet.
Our landlord told us about that stuff described in the first post. They do sound dreadful. Good luck with your deposit!
Eek, I've used Imperial. Only just bothered reading the reviews (was on year abroad, wanted cheap studio so I didn't have to share with anyone, they were the only ones with studios cheap enough that I could see). I know people only post their bad experiences online but still.
Should've had an inkling when there was suddenly no contact from them after they'd had my deposit, they sent me an email stating they hadn't received all my evidence (even though they had), so I rang them twice, each time I was told someone would call me back, they never did. A month later I sent an e-mail just to check it had been sorted, no reply again. Hmm.
Moving in on Friday (if all is well and I get my keys!), just going to take millions of photos of every little thing, dated with a newspaper from that day, keep them VERY safe (thinking a printed set, a CD, stored somewhere online and possibly somewhere else), keep it spotless so there can be no cleanliness disputes, read up on my rights regarding landlord/agent entering the property and get on their backs EVERY time this happens.
Also going to request new copies of all documents regarding my tenancy of the property (just in case something fishy has happened in the meantime). I presume this is contract, completed inventory sheet, certificate that the deposit has been put into a protection scheme, anything I've missed?
Should've had an inkling when there was suddenly no contact from them after they'd had my deposit, they sent me an email stating they hadn't received all my evidence (even though they had), so I rang them twice, each time I was told someone would call me back, they never did. A month later I sent an e-mail just to check it had been sorted, no reply again. Hmm.
Moving in on Friday (if all is well and I get my keys!), just going to take millions of photos of every little thing, dated with a newspaper from that day, keep them VERY safe (thinking a printed set, a CD, stored somewhere online and possibly somewhere else), keep it spotless so there can be no cleanliness disputes, read up on my rights regarding landlord/agent entering the property and get on their backs EVERY time this happens.
Also going to request new copies of all documents regarding my tenancy of the property (just in case something fishy has happened in the meantime). I presume this is contract, completed inventory sheet, certificate that the deposit has been put into a protection scheme, anything I've missed?
noodles!
Eek, I've used Imperial. Only just bothered reading the reviews (was on year abroad, wanted cheap studio so I didn't have to share with anyone, they were the only ones with studios cheap enough that I could see). I know people only post their bad experiences online but still.
Should've had an inkling when there was suddenly no contact from them after they'd had my deposit, they sent me an email stating they hadn't received all my evidence (even though they had), so I rang them twice, each time I was told someone would call me back, they never did. A month later I sent an e-mail just to check it had been sorted, no reply again. Hmm.
Moving in on Friday (if all is well and I get my keys!), just going to take millions of photos of every little thing, dated with a newspaper from that day, keep them VERY safe (thinking a printed set, a CD, stored somewhere online and possibly somewhere else), keep it spotless so there can be no cleanliness disputes, read up on my rights regarding landlord/agent entering the property and get on their backs EVERY time this happens.
Also going to request new copies of all documents regarding my tenancy of the property (just in case something fishy has happened in the meantime). I presume this is contract, completed inventory sheet, certificate that the deposit has been put into a protection scheme, anything I've missed?
Should've had an inkling when there was suddenly no contact from them after they'd had my deposit, they sent me an email stating they hadn't received all my evidence (even though they had), so I rang them twice, each time I was told someone would call me back, they never did. A month later I sent an e-mail just to check it had been sorted, no reply again. Hmm.
Moving in on Friday (if all is well and I get my keys!), just going to take millions of photos of every little thing, dated with a newspaper from that day, keep them VERY safe (thinking a printed set, a CD, stored somewhere online and possibly somewhere else), keep it spotless so there can be no cleanliness disputes, read up on my rights regarding landlord/agent entering the property and get on their backs EVERY time this happens.
Also going to request new copies of all documents regarding my tenancy of the property (just in case something fishy has happened in the meantime). I presume this is contract, completed inventory sheet, certificate that the deposit has been put into a protection scheme, anything I've missed?
All of that sounds great. If and when things do go wrong there's much to be said about the effectiveness of daily polite phone calls ("I was just wondering what the progress is on [the problem]?" ).
RightSaidJames
All of that sounds great. If and when things do go wrong there's much to be said about the effectiveness of daily polite phone calls ("I was just wondering what the progress is on [the problem]?" ).
Yeah, I'll definitely have to be on the ball, going to buy a special folder and everything!
Not that far to their office either, got no problems with going there and waiting til someone sorts me out!I'm just hoping these are just the horror stories that I've read, after all there must be many more tenants than those 6/7 reviews I've seen.
I saw the same horror stories about Keylet and my landlord when I rented in my 2nd year, saw that Keylet were completely unprofessional and that my landlord would just turn up unannounced at all hours, yet he completely left us alone, Keylet were fine (though it was a Let Only agreement), got our bond back no problems.
It's easy to generalise about which agencies are good or bad, but what you don't hear about are the landlords. A landlord might have one property or twenty, and they could all be nice or all be terrible. They might be extremely attentive, a bit slackish but likely to get it done in the end or downright negligent and all the agencies are likely to do is accentuate this behaviour.
What the hell you thought you were doing moving into a 6 bedroom (asking for trouble) ground floor FLAT (don't be daft) on Colum Road (noisiest, nastiest, messiest road in the world) is your business.
What the hell you thought you were doing moving into a 6 bedroom (asking for trouble) ground floor FLAT (don't be daft) on Colum Road (noisiest, nastiest, messiest road in the world) is your business.
My tenancy agreement with Imperial just ended a few weeks ago. I always feel I was cheated. I haven't got my deposit back, which is two-month rent. They are really terrible, very rude. Once problems happen, they don't want to resolve them at all. They simply ignore any emails, but when you pop in the office, they will say " please send us email about the problems". What a ****!
l have dealt with Imperial for 2years and they are a nightmare to deal with.
First and foremost when you move into one of their properties they hassle you with the bond but when you are moving out its nightmare getting your bond back they come up with al this excuses as to why they can not give you back your bond. They come up with all sorts of damage which they claim you are responsible for.
If you are looking for a property be very WEARY of them. DO NOT SIGN THE INVENTORY UNTIL YOU HAVE MADE A THOROUGH INVESTIGATION IN THE PROPERTY TO ENSURE WHAT THEY CLAIM IS ACCURATE
PS WARN YOUR FRIENDS. THEY HAVE PUT US THROUGH HELL
First and foremost when you move into one of their properties they hassle you with the bond but when you are moving out its nightmare getting your bond back they come up with al this excuses as to why they can not give you back your bond. They come up with all sorts of damage which they claim you are responsible for.
If you are looking for a property be very WEARY of them. DO NOT SIGN THE INVENTORY UNTIL YOU HAVE MADE A THOROUGH INVESTIGATION IN THE PROPERTY TO ENSURE WHAT THEY CLAIM IS ACCURATE
PS WARN YOUR FRIENDS. THEY HAVE PUT US THROUGH HELL
Referring back to my post at the beginning of the year, I did have massive problems getting my bond back. I was told there was no damage, but was given every excuse under the sun as to why they needed another week to give it me back. After some VERY persistent phoning and threats of legal action I have got it back, but it was nearly 2 months after I left my flat! I ended up in my unarranged overdraft as I had a payment to make on next year's halls at the beginning of August, which I was naive enough to think I would have my deposit back to cover!
The only thing they have going for them is quick maintenance and calling every time there was a viewing, which was handy. But nothing beats getting your money back.
Basically: steer clear!!!
The only thing they have going for them is quick maintenance and calling every time there was a viewing, which was handy. But nothing beats getting your money back.
Basically: steer clear!!!
It's the same with many estate agents -- if you have a problem, put it in writing (a letter by registered post, not by email, and never by phone), and be prepared to take them to the small claims court if they try to scam you.
They will usually reply with great bluster, but if you call their bluff and actally go through with it (for which a paper trail of correspondence is essential), you can get your money back and the costs of taking them to court.
I did this with Mead (estate agency in Cardiff), who never even entered a defence in court, so judgement was in my favour by default. They still didn't pay up, so I got the court to send a baliff to them to claim the money back!
My sense is that a lot of agencies prey on students and take advantage of the fact that groups of students may find it harder than individual tenants (like me) to handle the agency in a consistent and persistent way, keeping a meticulous paper trail.
But consistency, persistence and a paper trail are key to getting what you want and not being scammed.
They will usually reply with great bluster, but if you call their bluff and actally go through with it (for which a paper trail of correspondence is essential), you can get your money back and the costs of taking them to court.
I did this with Mead (estate agency in Cardiff), who never even entered a defence in court, so judgement was in my favour by default. They still didn't pay up, so I got the court to send a baliff to them to claim the money back!
My sense is that a lot of agencies prey on students and take advantage of the fact that groups of students may find it harder than individual tenants (like me) to handle the agency in a consistent and persistent way, keeping a meticulous paper trail.
But consistency, persistence and a paper trail are key to getting what you want and not being scammed.
IMPERIAL Lettings is ****iest agency i have used. When i took the contract i was informed that all the pending maintenance issues will be resolved before i moved in. To my horror it never happened. I kept on chasing them about it but they were not bothered and kept on giving excuses. Eventually i had to give up and stay in a house which was falling apart. When my contract expired i thought the worst was over. My contract expired in june 2014. I called them to check when i will get my deposit back. They told me i will receive it within 2 weeks time. Obviously i didnt receive it withing 2 weeks. Hence i went to the office to see them. They said it will be in my account in next two days. I kept on calling them for the next 2 months to chase the deposit. They even had the guts to hang up on me while i chasing my own money back. Eventually i got my deposit back after 3 months.
I am writing this in the hope that people see how corrupt this letting agent is and discontinue to use it. We moved in September 2013 - promised a brand new TV in our package as we signed fairly late - June the 1st 2014 the TV arrived (not that it worked and was definitely not new) we had all sorts of problems with the letting agent they'd ignore any plight for a broken washing machine (again this took 3 MONTHS to fix) but possibly the most important detail we are still waiting for our deposits to be returned (20th September 2014) a blatant breach of contract stating deposits would be returned 7 days after vacating the property.. We call and email constantly and are always told that we haven't the authority to ask if we are not head tennant (or it seems somebody's parent...) it is disgusting quite frankly that this company is more than happy to withhold over 1400 worth of deposits and not correspond with former clients wishing to get their rightful money back.. Sadly we feel that we will have to involve lawyers if the money is not returned to us soon.. Just a warning for other students.. There are so many letting agents in Cardiff even a uni one itself don't goto a bunch of obnoxious bast*rds who charge obscene agency fees for no service then keep what is rightfully yours. Not impressed imperial.
Please can you say who this is. We are parents trying to unravel a very similar story all in all the agent as of tomorrow will have had roughly £20,000 of rent + £2500 arrangement fee + £3500 of deposit. The last young person hasn't even moved in yet!
The list of items that need fixing is extensive and includes 2 out of 4 bathrooms unusable, An open sewer, nothing as promised by way of TVs, locking rooms when their tenancy agreement is for the whole house. The agreement started 1st July and yet the bathroom drainage wasn't finished until last week! Damp and mold everywhere. Beware of newly renovated properties, if it looks to good to be true...it normally is!
Oh and agents tell lies....lots of them...and the lies change. They also go in and out of your property without asking or notifying you...this is illegal! We have been in contact on behalf of all the families, today when my daughter went into the office with 2 others to ask about the key, the 'lovely' (sorry but some students are so taken in by this agent) lady...who is not just the agent but the landlord too decided to tear into my daughter accusing her of hiding behind us and been too demanding. She was abusive (we have witnesses) rude and extremely out of order, suggesting that if my daughter was unhappy she should move out!
They are refusing to install the back gate and also the fence separating the house from next door.
The list of items that need fixing is extensive and includes 2 out of 4 bathrooms unusable, An open sewer, nothing as promised by way of TVs, locking rooms when their tenancy agreement is for the whole house. The agreement started 1st July and yet the bathroom drainage wasn't finished until last week! Damp and mold everywhere. Beware of newly renovated properties, if it looks to good to be true...it normally is!
Oh and agents tell lies....lots of them...and the lies change. They also go in and out of your property without asking or notifying you...this is illegal! We have been in contact on behalf of all the families, today when my daughter went into the office with 2 others to ask about the key, the 'lovely' (sorry but some students are so taken in by this agent) lady...who is not just the agent but the landlord too decided to tear into my daughter accusing her of hiding behind us and been too demanding. She was abusive (we have witnesses) rude and extremely out of order, suggesting that if my daughter was unhappy she should move out!
They are refusing to install the back gate and also the fence separating the house from next door.
We have successfully sued Imperial Lettings through My Deposits and if you are within three months of the end of your tenancy you should go online and send them your evidence. We got all of the deposit that was sent to My Deposits. Unfortunately Imperial Lettings did not send over all the deposit but decided to keep £40 for themselves. We are in the process of speaking with them about that. Good Luck.
Horizon Properties in Cardiff are absolutely awful. They are not regulated by any letting agent regulators, only a landlords assosiation, which does not provide adequate protection for tenants. They don't answer emails/phone calls and repeatedly fail to carry out repairs. One of my friends has also rented from them and suffered the same treatment.
Wanted to charge my boys £583 until I asked for evidence of their claim now they have refunded the ENTIRE deposit. Will be contacting Trading Standards as they told me I could only have the bond refunded if I agreed that I would have no further dealings with them....sorry Imperial...see you in court for professional negligence : )
Fiona on 01656 722469 if anyone else wants me to report their problems with Imperial to Trading Standards contact me.
Fiona on 01656 722469 if anyone else wants me to report their problems with Imperial to Trading Standards contact me.
Quick Reply
Related discussions
- College won't let me resit my A-Levels
- Engineering career options
- The Russell Group hurt/heal game (Part 5)
- Would you rather attend...?
- Bsc Economics and Accounting for Chartered Accountancy?
- MSc Economics and Strategy for Business from Imperial College
- Best unis for engineering?
- Work experience
- UCL vs Imperial
- Anyone applying to Earth Science/Geology?
- Student accommodation available Cardiff
- Life Sciences/Healthcare Consulting
- training contracts/vacay schemes with doing online llb from university of law
- Tenancy replacement
- Careers after Degree apprenticeship Vs degree from more prestigious uni
- Medicine Or Computer Science?
- 2024 entry Pharmacology applicants
- Looking for someone to takeover my room in NW London
- Official Geology/Earth Science applicants thread 2024
- Tenancy takeover Cardiff
Latest
Last reply 1 minute ago
JK Rowling in ‘arrest me’ challenge over hate crime lawLast reply 1 minute ago
Bae systems accommodation barrowLast reply 3 minutes ago
Official University of Edinburgh Applicant Thread for 2024Last reply 3 minutes ago
choosing a medical school (Leicester, St Andrews, Nottingham)Last reply 4 minutes ago
University of Liverpool veterinary work experience form.Last reply 6 minutes ago
Worried about son who wants to move out, will he be able to afford it?Last reply 6 minutes ago
NICS Staff Officer and Deputy Principal recruitment 2022 2023Last reply 7 minutes ago
Degree Apprenticeship at Accenture (assessment centre)Last reply 7 minutes ago
emmanuella's study discussions #1: motivation and disciplineLast reply 11 minutes ago
Economics and Economic History 2024 ThreadLast reply 15 minutes ago
Official Dental Hygiene and Therapy (Oral Health Science) 2024 Entry ThreadDentistry
2865
Trending
Last reply 6 hours ago
Official Cardiff University Offer Holders Thread for 2024 entryLast reply 2 days ago
Anyone have the group chat for Cardiff university undergrad applicants 2024Last reply 1 week ago
Genetic and Genomic Counselling MSc Cardiff University 2024applicantsLast reply 2 weeks ago
Cardiff metropolitan uni - does booking system get overwhelmed on 1 April 2024Last reply 2 weeks ago
Application queries re Cardiff University MSc Psychology (conversion)Trending
Last reply 6 hours ago
Official Cardiff University Offer Holders Thread for 2024 entryLast reply 2 days ago
Anyone have the group chat for Cardiff university undergrad applicants 2024Last reply 1 week ago
Genetic and Genomic Counselling MSc Cardiff University 2024applicantsLast reply 2 weeks ago
Cardiff metropolitan uni - does booking system get overwhelmed on 1 April 2024Last reply 2 weeks ago
Application queries re Cardiff University MSc Psychology (conversion)
