Keys Letting Agents

I chose to use Keys because I was renting out my home after finding a job elsewhere and wanted someone who would take a pride in their job and manage my house well. I couldn't have made a bigger mistake.

1. They don't believe in using the internet or newspapers to advertise, which obviously makes it harder to find prospective tenants. The situation of their office (set back off the main street) is really nice, but again unless you know it's there, a prospective tenant is not going to pass by the window and see what properties are available.

2. They seemed unaware of the existance of standing orders. For the first 4 months the rent was consistently late, for one reason or another. When it was late, Keys didn't notify me that it was going to be late, but it was left up to me to chase them for when the rent would be due. It was only after the 5th month when I insisted on a standing order being set up that the rent came in on time.

3. Where there was a problem with the property they called out tradesmen who either didn't know what the problem was, or decided to try and make money from an absent landlord by saying that the problem was something else. Had I been away from the property for longer I might have believed them, but as I had lived in the house until not long before, it didn't ring true. When I asked for 2nd and 3rd opinions from different workmen, not only were the 2nd and 3rd opinions different to the first (but the same as each other) but Keys became angry that I hadn't taken the word of their workmen. In their opinion if I didn't take the opinion given by their tradesman then it was a breach of trust. I got the impression that they thought that because I was no longer living in the house I was completely out of touch with the condition of it, and that this was something they could take advantage of.

4. They seemed to be on very good terms with the tenant, which while it can definitely be a positive, did not help in getting the tenant to co-operate with tradesmen and meant that they overlooked damage done to the house.

Overall I would avoid these letting agents like the plague.