Is Horizon Properties any good?

Hey guys, just wondering if Horizon Properties is any good? Moving to Cardiff next year for my BPTC and they've offered me a house at Llanbleddian Gardens which is quite near to the student union. Currently studying up north so I can't really go down to check it out myself but the pictures they've sent me look great.
Newly renovated, 12 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms house. So far they've been very professional and nice, when I email them they reply pretty fast and seem to be very helpful. Only thing is I've been reading up some of the reviews about the agency and most of it seems to be negative. Common complaints include that the service stops being so professional once you sign the contract, staff at the office are rude, they don't really care about repairs, etc. The most recent review I could find was at least 6 months old so I'm not too sure how valid they are though. Any thoughts guys? Also any suggestions for other housing agencies I can check with? Preferably those that allow you to come in as a single tenant.

Reply 1

ThePhoenixLament

18

I have heard horror stories from people who went with Horizon (sorry!!) including people who were complaining about having no heating for 3 months over winter. They had to go to the council to get it sorted as Horizon didn't do anything to sort it.
Please avoid CPS unless you are desperate! Their customer service is terrible.
4let are moderately better but the administration fees are a rip-off
I think non-students can go through the student's union letting agency which is pretty good and fairly-well organised. I haven't really heard any horror stories about them but I know the properties are a little bit older.
Kingstons were ok but I feel like they were very money-focused and also quite disorganised in places.

I think in summary most of the letting agents are minions of the devil but it's just picking the least worst. Sorry I can't provide the names of any really good letting agents as I haven't exactly found any yet :s-smilie:

Reply 2

Collegiate Accommodation

Official Rep

7

Original post by ThePhoenixLament

I have heard horror stories from people who went with Horizon (sorry!!) including people who were complaining about having no heating for 3 months over winter. They had to go to the council to get it sorted as Horizon didn't do anything to sort it.
Please avoid CPS unless you are desperate! Their customer service is terrible.
4let are moderately better but the administration fees are a rip-off
I think non-students can go through the student's union letting agency which is pretty good and fairly-well organised. I haven't really heard any horror stories about them but I know the properties are a little bit older.
Kingstons were ok but I feel like they were very money-focused and also quite disorganised in places.

I think in summary most of the letting agents are minions of the devil but it's just picking the least worst. Sorry I can't provide the names of any really good letting agents as I haven't exactly found any yet :s-smilie:

Hi there! I don't mean to butt in but I saw you hadn't found a good letting agent and I wasn't sure if you'd heard of us? We have some great places in Cardiff that you might like :tongue:

and I'm always here to answer questions and talk to! http://www.collegiate-ac.com/uk-student-accommodation/cardiff Is the link to our Cardiff properties and you can have a look if you want! :redface:

x

Reply 3

Collegiate Accommodation

Official Rep

7

Original post by KeithMe

Hey guys, just wondering if Horizon Properties is any good? Moving to Cardiff next year for my BPTC and they've offered me a house at Llanbleddian Gardens which is quite near to the student union. Currently studying up north so I can't really go down to check it out myself but the pictures they've sent me look great.
Newly renovated, 12 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms house. So far they've been very professional and nice, when I email them they reply pretty fast and seem to be very helpful. Only thing is I've been reading up some of the reviews about the agency and most of it seems to be negative. Common complaints include that the service stops being so professional once you sign the contract, staff at the office are rude, they don't really care about repairs, etc. The most recent review I could find was at least 6 months old so I'm not too sure how valid they are though. Any thoughts guys? Also any suggestions for other housing agencies I can check with? Preferably those that allow you to come in as a single tenant.

Hi there! I replied to the message below this but I wanted to make sure you'd see it if you wanted to look into us, my name is Amelia and I'm the apprentice here and i'm always available to answer any questions you have, even about accommodation in general. :redface:

You can come as a single tenant into any of our buildings and we have fabulous on-site facilities like gyms, cinemas and work rooms c:

I hope this maybe helps at all and if you want to know anything else or talk more about accommodation you know where I am :tongue:

Amelia x

Reply 4

KeithMe

OP

2

Damn, I've already gone ahead and paid the deposit. Thanks for the offer Amelia but looks like it's too late. ThePhoenixLament, correct me if I'm wrong but isn't Horizon properties an agent for the actual landlord? Would I be able to contact the landlord directly to discuss any problems? Reason I ask is cause the account I paid the deposit to is listed under a different name than Horizon Properties.

Reply 5

ThePhoenixLament

18

Original post by KeithMe

Damn, I've already gone ahead and paid the deposit. Thanks for the offer Amelia but looks like it's too late. ThePhoenixLament, correct me if I'm wrong but isn't Horizon properties an agent for the actual landlord? Would I be able to contact the landlord directly to discuss any problems? Reason I ask is cause the account I paid the deposit to is listed under a different name than Horizon Properties.

As far as I'm aware they manage the properties on behalf of the landlord (I don't really understand with any certainty how their company specifically works- sorry!) so you go to horizon with any complaints or for maintenance. If you can ask them for a contact number for the landlord that can't hurt.
I've only heard the horror stories and people don't tend to be as vocal if they've had a good or average experience. It may all be ok and you won't have any problems!

Reply 6

Studentincard

I cannot tell you how awful my experience was with them. I cannot warn you enough...if my experience is anything to go by in my opinion i would strongly advice you get out of it ASAP

Reply 7

gillachu

Original post by Studentincard

I cannot tell you how awful my experience was with them. I cannot warn you enough...if my experience is anything to go by in my opinion i would strongly advice you get out of it ASAP

Do you have any to recommend?

Reply 8

Pixie-Bee

2

I realise this is an older thread, but I can't sing Horizon any praises either.

Their maintenance is terrible, I've heard of plenty people not being able to get their deposit back (I'll have to wait another couple of months to see if mine finds it's way back to me! :afraid:

) and we have even gotten the council involved because of the state of the house when we first arrived - not only do Horizon ignore us (the students) but they seemingly ignore the council's requests too. They have done very little to fix up the place since we first moved in, despite being told the property would be renovated over summer. None of the walls were repainted, it had obviously not been cleaned since the last tenants, mould was in both the kitchen and bathrooms :colonhash:

Some friends of mine also went with Horizon, and have encountered similar problems with the property.

In response to the landlord question - we were not given the contact details for the landlord at all but all requests about the property were made through the agency. Unfortunately even when asked about getting landlord details, they refused.

I haven't been with any other agencies, so I couldn't recommend one from experience. But this year we have decided to go through 2let2, where our contract is actually with the landlord and not the agency. Hopefully this means we will have less problems! We asked the current tenancies about the property and they seemed to sing their praises. With absolutely no tenancy problems. Other people I know have been with Pinacle, which is also supposed to be fairly good (as good as a letting agency can be!)

That being said, Llanbleddian Gardens is in a very good location (if it's where I'm thinking of!). So you might find the pros of such a convenient place would outweigh any of the negatives that Horizon cause. I make them out to be terrible (which admittedly they are!) but unless your house has any major issues, then you'll probably find it okay. There isn't much contact with them unless something breaks.

Reply 9

Studentincard1

Personally I would go with the unions letting agency... At least you can trust them not to screw you over like horizon did to me. It has got to the point I am too scared to even say the horrific things that happened to me because of the hassle they caused me.

That said from the stories I have heard the union don't have a great selection of houses.

In my second year I rented with the living room. I thought they were great and had virtually no problems! But thats just me

Reply 10

pmak

1

Looking for someone to take over my contract at Northgate house apartments, Collegiate property.It is a premier studio with a personal kitchen / All Bills Included. For the term 2016/2017. It has a brilliant city centre location. Located at Kingsway right across The Cardiff Castle.

Kindly revert back for details!!

Reply 11

ronnie19

1

Delighted with my place
when there has been a problem Haydn and Martin are two of the most polite
helpful guys I have encountered.
I rented from the company as my sister was with these guys 2 years ago
her group stayed 2 years they were impressed by how loyal they are.

My advise is if you have a problem report it to them it will be sorted.
unfortunately a lot of my friends rented from an agent on Woodville road
They've not had such a good experience when they call to report a problem the
women didn't even ask the address of the property.

With horizon they ask if you can e mail the maintenance group that way you have a record of your report there will not be any problems as you have the time and
date it was sent
my heating was fixed the same day the man also came back to show me how to operate the system

I hope this helps

R xx
:smile:

Is Horizon Properties any good?

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