Niche Homes Leeds

Does anyone have any experience with this residence in Leeds? I'm looking at the Hyde Park location... Any help will be much appreciated

Reply 1

kasasa

I am wondering the same thing, looks nice in the pictures, but some google reviews say that the pictures are deceiving and that only a few flats are renovated and that the rest is rubbish. Please let me know if you get any information

University of Leeds

Leeds

Reply 2

jumpinghorseted

oh wow, where do I start with this shambles of a company.Firstly, I just advise you stay clear of them. Don't waste your money...Now onto the accommodation... the pictures look nice and show modern flats. The reality is you will end up in a tiny, cramped flat. They are shabby and dated. Most things are broken and the maintenance guys, as lovely as they are, really are clueless. There are live wires in our BATHROOM and the shower leaks. We have reported this but nothings been done. Our fridge has also been broken since last year and, even though we reported it multiple times, it has never been fixed. There were bed bugs in the mattresses when we moved in. Even though this did get sorted, the company accused us of lying about it (the company who replaced the mattress confirmed there were bed bugs!) On the subject of bugs... there are silver fish everywhere (mostly in the lights in the kitchen). When we bought this up the company didn't seem that bothered so we got our own pest control in to sort it. There was a fire alarm at the start of the year (it wasn't a drill, someone actually did set fire to a tea towel). The fire brigade turned up and everything was sorted... except for the actual alarm which no one could turn off because they didn't have the master key. This meant that we couldn't go back into the building (on the advice of the fire brigade) in case there was another fire and we weren't aware. This just meant we had to wait outside until someone eventually came and turned it off (2 hours later....) We later discovered the building doesn't have the right emergency escapes. When we bought this up they just said that our door was fire retardant for 30 minutes. Not exactly reassuring.

(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 3

jumpinghorseted

Although I understand "wear and tear" happens... 3 hoovers later and it's starting to become a bit of a joke. Again, this is something you have to really fight for because they just don't seem that bothered.
There is also a massive security risk. The front doors are meant to be a fob system, however, the main door has been broken for over 2 months now (there is also a guy who wanders around Hyde Park claiming everyone is "out to get him" and he has been spotted inside the building multiple times). This aside, you are paying for the security and it just isn't there.
If you are looking at bringing your car here as well, save yourself the time and just don't bother. There IS a barrier however it has broken so many times this year. It is ridiculous. This has left people trapped in the car park and unable to get to work. Niche Homes, again, don't seem to really show any interest when this happens because it is an external company that owns the barrier, however, it is their duty to make sure people are able to leave the car park, at least.Car parking is also an extra charge which you will get told you once you have signed the contract.
They give you an "out of hours" number to ring between 11pm-8am. No one picks up. Really, no one picks up. EVER. So if you have a problem.. make sure it's within working hours. There is an onsite ambassador but I am still not sure what he does... he doesn't seem to know himself what his role is...

Reply 4

jumpinghorseted

The cleaners who clean the communal areas (the stairs and corridors basically) don't do anything. Some drunken idiots threw cream everywhere and it's still all over the walls and stairs, it absolutely stinks. Horrible.
Hyde Park is a very student friendly area so a little bit of noise can be expected. This being said, the police have had to come around to deal with the noise from Niche Homes. This wasn't on a weekend either. This was a weekday. Niche Homes, once again, did sweet F A to deal with this.

The staff...
Honestly, never met a ruder group of people in my life. God forbid you to complain about anything, they will rip your head off and tell you that you cannot ring them anymore and must only email them. They constantly accuse you of lying about the stuff you are reporting... when in reality you just want it fixed. They always seem to be gunning for an argument.
As for the google reviews... when the honest reviews starting coming in and their overall rating came down to 1* the staff actually wrote reviews themselves rating it 5* to bring the rating back up. The staff did a pretty rubbish job of this considering they didn't bother to change their names so it was clear it was them who wrote it. Also, they only wrote about how friendly the staff are. Seems a bit suspicious and totally misleading. They also deleted their facebook page because people were writing their horrible experiences with them.
So many staff have left/been fired this year. This is a breakdown of communication and has even left me having to pay an additional month's rent because they lost the payment I sent in January.

Reply 5

jumpinghorseted

Sorry, this is so long. I just wanted to give an honest review of what it is really like here. According to the company as well, it is fully booked so you might have just dodged yourself a bullet.

I hope this helps and you don't have the same awful experience I have had this year

Reply 6

kasasa

Wow. I am shocked. Is there nothing that can be done, no authority they can be reported to? That's just horrible

Reply 7

jumpinghorseted

Original post by kasasa

Wow. I am shocked. Is there nothing that can be done, no authority they can be reported to? That's just horrible

they literally don't care. we have said multiple times we are taking it further but they just stop emailing you then.

Reply 8

kate1333

** DO NOT SIGN A CONTRACT WITH THIS COMPANY **
I have never known communication with a landlord, or for interaction with them, to be so appalling.
This is the tip of the iceberg for what myself and my housemates have had to endure this year in Leeds...
- We had no TV, table or chairs in the flat when we moved in - this took 3 MONTHS for the office to finally sort out.
- We had NO HEATING OR HOT WATER for the winter - this took 4 MONTHS to sort out.
- Members of staff from the office frequently enter our flat, for 'routine checks', with NO prior warning or communication. Not to mention that their attitude absolutely STINKS.
- Items of personal property were STOLEN when the cleaners visited our flat, unannounced... members of staff have now been 'discussing the matter' with the cleaners for FOUR WEEKS.
- UNPAID UTILITY BILL letters were sent to the flat throughout the year for bills that we shouldn't be paying (as rent includes bills) ... despite passing EVERY LETTER on to Niche Homes, this then turned into a COURT GRANT for bailiffs to visit our property. It took a considerable amount of time to explain to the debt-collectors, stood on our doorstep, that we were not responsible for making the payment.

(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 9

kate1333

..... to substantiate this review, I have read the google reviews for the company... and the one written by 'Shelly B' has been written by the MANAGER of one of the properties !!! "Great experience, rented a property for my 4 years at University. Great customer service.'
She clearly had no idea that she left herself logged into her personal google account !! ... the review on there from 'Alyx Richards' explaining the 'helpful and nice experience she had' ... and she is an employee too !!

I have no doubt that all 'positive' REVIEWS WRITTEN on google have been completed BY EMPLOYEES.

I am pleased to have finally discovered what they spend all their time doing !

(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 10

s.d.

Has anyone moved into the Trinity Hall accommodation for the current session? I am aware that there have been problems in the past, but they might have been rectified now. Please help me in deciding whether to choose this place or not I don't want to waste any more of my money since I already paid the deposit. Any help would really be appreciated.