Universal Estates

I have been a tenant for almost 3 years now and I have found Universal Estates to be very responsible in dealing with matters relating to my tenancy. I have also found them to be very considerate, understanding and helpful. I would recommend them to any landlords or tenants.

I have just rented out my Croydon flat for the 3rd time with Universal Estates. I am so pleased with their professional service. Each time, they have immediately found the perfect tenant and the whole experience has been hassle free. I would strongly recommend them.

I had to move for serious circumstances involving my safety , the managers son keep on complaing about me giving notice , but the fact I had to flee this could not have been possible. They kept a large amount of my deposit and refuded the remaining using some other buisness account,then emailed the council to say i was still living in the property that I had vaccated and told them I will be in the property for another month which reduced my council refund illegally. I had already moved in to temporary accommodation but they fraudulently lied and said I will be there another month which was untrue . By law I was no longer responsible for the coucil tax of the property, they are trying to avoid having to pay the business rates of coucil tax , as I was no longer responsible when I vaccated the property !! Be careful with renting with them as they are doggy and discriminative of your personal circumstances and try the above bullying tactics.They also do not do end of Tenancy Professional cleans when I moved in to the property there where mice droppings in the draw and also the was something disintegrating in the oven !! The owner of the property was quite annoyed that it was given to me in that state!! When I had to leave they had the audacity to ask me to leave it he property in a undamaged clean stated ! I left the property much cleaner state than it was rented to me that's for sure!! I have email's and a bank statement and pictures to prove all of the above. BE VERY CAREFUL !!

Beware! I advise that you do not use this agency. There is no customer service, and the manager is a bully. They are motivated only by money. Once they've signed you up, they could not care less about providing a professional service - or even returning calls. I left five calls, on consecutive days, without a response. And if you want to leave the tenancy early, they charge £750, just to change the name on the contract, even if you go to the trouble of finding a new tenant to take over which, at that price, should be their job. Even after charging £750 to change my son's name to another's on the contract, they then dragged matters out for so long, refusing to answer calls, that he risked losing out on his new place. He therefore decided to pay the remainder of his contract upfront, around £1500, even though he wasn't going to be there, just to expedite the process of leaving. However, even then, they jeopardized his new tenancy by giving him a bad landlord's reference. This was despite the fact that he had never once been late with rent, had never asked anything of them, or even contacted them during his tenancy, caused no problems with neighbours, and was well liked by his housemates. It was an unfounded reference and seemed to be motivated by spite and power play, and the fact that they were irritated at being asked to do anything at all - even at the exorbitant price they were charging. They kept on saying that they were understaffed. However, when their lack of response drags out for months, and you hear them laughing as they say "someone will get back to you", for the 5th day running, you realize that they are enjoying themselves to your cost. Fortunately, my son's new agent could see through the reference, and could see that my son was a responsible tenant. But if he hadn't, my son would have lost his new place, purely due to Universal Estates - who seemed to take pleasure in making things as difficult for him as possible. They are a disgrace and I intend to register a complaint with the National Trading Standards Estate Agency Team whose job it is to assess whether an estate agent is fit to carry out work within the terms of the Estate Agents Act 1979. No one should have to accept this kind of treatment.

Amazing staff. Excellent service. Whatever you need them they are always there for you.

Worse bunch of people I’ve ever had to deal with. If I could give 0 stars then I would. Money hungry people who never understand peoples circumstances. Giving out illegal section 8’s as a scare tactic. Never letting you talk by talking over you. Calling people childish names and also no matter what you do, they will give you a bad reference, even if you’ve paid on time or even been a month ahead. Also they like to call up certain companies and pretend to be the person on the tenancy just to find out what’s going on. The manager has an even worse attitude, like someone did her dirty and she has made it her goal to make everyone that she deals with have as much mental stress as possible. She really needs to learn to actually communicate with people. She will go far in life with a little communication.

If you're looking for a dodgy agent who will house 4+ adults in a one bedroom flat, at the detriment to all others who have to live around you, this is the place to use. They won't care if you sublet, as long as you hide the extra inhabitants when they send contractors around to do their job of inspecting the property. They also won't do anything to get rid of you, unless your neighbours take up the role of Private investigator and get "photo evidence", because anecdotal evidence is not sufficient.

I rented with this agency and found them to be honest and helpful company.
When i vacated the property during tough covid times, the agency were very caring and patient in dealing with me. I would recomend this agency.