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Experienced and accredited expert letting agency that’s dedicated to providing the ultimate customer journey and exceptional value for money.
Marlowe Innovation Centre, Marlowe Way, CT12 6FA, Thanet, United Kingdom
2.4
14 reviews
Replied to 50% of negative reviews
Typically replies within 24 hours
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Avoid Votta at all costs. Took my holding deposit, promised a refund multiple times and then ignored emails and calls. Extremely unprofessional behaviour and zero respect for customers. One of the worst experiences I’ve had with an agency.
Staff are consistently unprofessional, contradictory, and rude, particularly owner David Votta.
Initially, they demanded I pay the deposit before even seeing my tenancy agreement, then were condescending when I refused in line with TDS guidance.
At the end of my tenancy, their failure to answer basic legislative questions led to a landlord–agency dispute and loss of business. Rather than taking any accountability, David Votta sent a lengthy, patronising email that was both unprofessional and dismissive, mirroring the same tone seen in his review responses.
Reply from Votta
We are sorry that you feel disappointed with your experience and we take all feedback seriously. However, it is important to clarify several points to ensure an accurate and fair reflection of events is highlighted, which hasn't been demonstrated here.
This tenancy was instructed on a let-only basis, meaning our contractual role was limited strictly to the marketing and set-up of the tenancy. This was clearly outlined at the outset, reiterated within the written documentation, The tenancy agreement you lawfully signed and confirmed verbally on multiple occasions by several members of our team. Under a let-only arrangement, responsibility for ongoing communication and management sits directly between the landlord and tenant, and this is clearly documented at multiple checkpoints throughout the process so that it cant be missed. We are sorry that your relationship with your landlord lacked the neccessarry communication expected however this is something we have no control of or responsibility for.
Regarding the tenancy term, it was correctly explained on more than one occasion that at the end of the fixed term the tenancy would automatically continue as a statutory periodic (rolling monthly tenancy) unless otherwise agreed by and with your landlord who managed your tenancy. This is standard housing legislation, and the guidance provided was accurate, consistent, and supported by written evidence already supplied.
For clarity, the fixed term of the tenancy ended on 2 December. We were first contacted on 22 November by you concerned as you hadn’t heard from your landlord with only 10 days left to run on your tenancy seeking clarification on the status of the tenancy. The information requested had already been provided previously and, under a let-only arrangement, any discussions regarding continuation, renewal, or notice should have been directed to the landlord, whose contact details were supplied and clearly referenced within the documentation you received. On recorded call in the office and sent emails we located the evidence to substantiate the advice given to you that your tenancy would roll monthly, which was the answer to the question you initially called for.
In relation to the tenancy agreement and deposit, our process is fully compliant with industry guidance. A draft agreement is always provided prior to commitment, followed by the final agreement for review and signature before any funds are requested. This process is clearly documented and followed consistently by all our other customers without issue. Landlords and tenants are expected to read and understand any agreements before signature, which is why we use a digital signing platform to allow ample time to digest the agreement and for it not to be signed under duress.
While we aim to be helpful wherever possible and often provide guidance outside the scope of the service instructed, responsibility for understanding one’s own tenancy and for communicating with the appropriate party particularly where management is not included ultimately rests with the landlord and tenant as described in detail from David Votta’s email and we are sorry you found that email condescending but it went above and beyond the scope of our services and contract with your landlord and as a small independent organisation we are not renumeration for such tasks that are expected of the landlord on a let only service.
Whilst we regret that you remain unhappy, we are satisfied that our service was delivered correctly, professionally, and in line with both our contractual obligations and current legislation. In fact the team went above the contractual obligation to assist you and your landlord however the information wasn't being digested or understood.
I had the unfortunate issue of taking one of my tenants to court for rent arrears I was recommended David to help me go through the process as I've never been to court for rent arrears he was so helpful and professional he helped me with the whole process delivered the section 8 and corresponding with the tenant arranged the solicitor and barrister at court and we got the result we needed if I had to go to court again (I hope not) I would definitely go to David again.
On our first meeting David Votta slagged off his old employer, a tenant, boasted about breaking data protection and then breached data protection just for good measure.
In further dealings he failed to solve a maintenance issue over many months and then lied about it to incorrectly push the blame onto myself. He is egotistical and untrustworthy. Not in any way someone I would trust with my affairs.
Reply from Votta
Dear Paul,
We were disappointed to read your two-star review regarding your alleged experience with our company on Sunday, 3rd December 2023. As a family-run business, we do not operate on Sundays to allow our team to spend time with their families.
After carefully reviewing our records, we were unable to find any interactions or transactions with a landlord named Paul, nor does the information provided align with any cases we’ve managed. Additionally, upon reviewing your Trustpilot profile, it appears there may be a pattern of leaving low ratings for organizations you haven’t engaged with directly.
For the avoidance of doubt, we can confidently state that David Votta has never breached data protection protocols. As a board director at Propertymark, the UK’s foremost professional body for accredited agents, David upholds the highest standards of professionalism and ethics.
It’s also important to clarify that David focuses on the front-end aspects of the business, such as marketing properties, while property managers handle maintenance issues. Your comments seem to reflect a misunderstanding of our processes and responsibilities, which primarily involve supporting tenants and holding landlords accountable to their statutory obligations.
Your descriptions of David as "egotistical and untrustworthy" starkly contrast with the feedback of over 291 five-star reviews on another platform, which consistently praise our dedication to excellent service. These reviews reflect the genuine experiences of satisfied clients who value the hard work and integrity of our team.
Given these discrepancies, we believe your review may be fictitious or influenced by ulterior motives. It is particularly disheartening that your remarks coincide with the recent recognition of David’s charitable humanitarian work, celebrated both nationally and locally.
We remain committed to providing outstanding service to our clients and maintaining the trust we’ve built within the community. Should you wish to discuss your concerns further, we invite you to contact us directly at Pm@votta.co.uk and 01843262045
Up front honest estimation to begin with and throughout the process the communication was 1st class and professional , nothing but praise for dave and stephen who dealt with my sale
This company was described by someone as a potential sleeping giant, on my experience the giant is truly awake and firing
Thanks to all involved
Reply from Votta
Thank you so much Matthew for entrusting us with your house sale it means a lot to us
I have dealt with David Votta since he was at a national est agent which he left around 2016. I wish I had moved management to his own firm much sooner than I did !
Management: Big national agents regard yu as a number. They will generally do the minimum. This 'bit' me when I had a problem tenant who got me an £11k repair bill. Then I moved to Votta. They got me top rental, a really good tenant within 8 days of our flat going on with them. Any issues were brought to my attention quickly & I often used their contractors. For a responsible landlord, who want to be fully legally compliant, they were an essential add on.
SALES: Just sold our rental flat. They got me 3 offers inside of a week. Throughout the sale their sale progressor kept picking up the slack left by both buyer and sellers solicitors. They are a very personable, responsible and efficient team who ALWAYS acted in the best interest of their clients.
If you are selling your property and/or renting a property don't go big. Go small and efficient in order to maximise the potential of your asset.
Reply from Votta
Thank you for such a comprehensive review Jon we greatly appreciate this coming from you as you’ve always been such a pleasure to work with over the years
Reply from Votta
Dear Nick,
We were disappointed to see your one-star review, especially as we have no record of any interactions with you. Could you kindly provide more information about your experience and the reasons for your review?
Our customer complaints team would be happy to investigate further to understand your concerns and address any issues. However, after cross-referencing our database, we were unable to find a record of anyone named Nick with whom we transacted in October 2022.
We take all feedback seriously and strive to maintain the highest standards of service. We appreciate your assistance in helping us clarify this matter.
Best wishes,
Votta Sales & Lettings
Amazing little company. I was desperate for somewhere last week and somehow I am getting the keys to a dream flat in 5 days, such a personal touch and special thanks to David & Stephen. Can’t fault them x
Reply from Votta
Thank you som much Abbi it was a pleasure to move you into your new home
After meeting Paul who was showing us a property, what a Gentleman very polite and very honest and helping us through the purchase of our new home. Thanks again for your help Paul.
Reply from Votta
Thank you Gary, Paul makes a great effort with all customers and this feedback is truly welcomed
Following the Votta reply, all i have to say is I do not have any reason to lie whatsoever as that does not bring me anything, thou I can say most of that reply is utter nonsense and to make us look bad, so you are welcome to take from this what you want.
This is our experience with Votta Lettings and it's going to be a bit of a handful
I and my two friends were looking to move to canterbury and we found this 3-bedroom house for rent by Votta Lettings, seeing as they had excellent reviews, we were really excited to rent with them. All paperwork went delightfully and no problems at all, we went to see the house just before finalizing everything, we had the pleasure to meet David who showed us around and talked about the house and the landlord, at that time we were told that all the furniture we don’t want they can get rid of and one of the first-floor bedrooms had a sink in it while the house was still being refurbished at that time we asked about the sink and we were told that the sink will go as it was already half off at that time this was before we had actually agreed with the deed, when we moved in the sink was replaced with a newer unit and we couldn’t remove it and also that they don’t have anywhere to put the furniture so now we were stuck with Funiture that we didn’t want, if we have had known that, we wouldn’t have had agreed with the tenancy. End of the tenancy when I dropped off the keys to Stephen we had a little chat and he said they are in the middle of removing the furniture for this family who was going to move in. Moving on we had the pleasure to interact with Votta Lettings Senior property manager Lisa, we then noticed we still don’t have a recycling bin and after mentioning it every now and then we got unsatisfying excuses from her, we only had one pin for a 3-bedroom house for the whole tenancy and we never received the recycling bin in the end. In January unfortunately someone decided to break our front window and throw a glass jar of tomato in the room which broke. We notified the police and the agent, given they are acting on behalf of the landlord we were never given an out-of-hours emergency number so we could contact someone if something like that happens. Moving onwards the window guy came boarded up the window and then in few weeks came back to install the new windows which apparently, they ordered the wrong size window and they said we will contact you when we get the new window. Months later the window has yet to be fixed and over the winter months it has been quite cold and as it wasn’t isolated properly that racked up a bit of an extra bill. When we mentioned it to Lisa, she said that she talked to one of my friends which never happened, and basically blaming us that the window wasn’t repaired, as the contractor said they will be in contact and as it’s a rent house of course they would deal with Votta lettings straight rather than with us. We moved out and after 10 days I emailed her to ask what is going on with the checkout as the longer it takes the more dust and dirt will collect, she finally replied saying that the house is in good order but the carpet was dirty and needs to be cleaned as it was brand new (it wasn’t brand new according to inventory) and there was cleaning residue on the oven top. She let us back into the house to sort out the dirty carpet and to our surprise, there were two builders in the house removing furniture and walking all over the house with work boots on and dragging in all sorts of dirt. When I mentioned that to her she said The builders are checking the roof, via the attic they weren't in the property as such and they would have only gone out of the property and not going back and forth. Even though I and my housemate walked in on them and I asked what are they doing here which they replied moving furniture. It took her 3 weeks to mention any deduction which goes against the clause in the contract and again after asking her about that she brings a typical covid related excuse Its easy to blame everything on covid these days, and in her last email to me, she said I was awaiting your response to our verbal conversation regarding the deductions which also never happened and in my last email I asked her about our verbal conversation and she has yet to come back.
Overall, we are very unhappy with the way we have been treated how Lisa has been everything but professional. It feels like just because we were three guys living together, they can treat us as students and outright mislead and lie to us, and the incompetents from the senior property manager Lisa who has no clue what is going on in her Properties is just minded baffling. I'm not sure if this is just because the covid brings out the worst of everyone or we just were very unlucky with who we got as our agent.
Reply from Votta
Dear Karl,
We were sorry to receive your 1 star review but happy to clarify the points you raised as they are factually incorrect after further investigation. We would never wish for any tenant to feel like “students” in a negative way as we don’t have student properties but took this one off a former student agent which is why you may have eluded to this comment.
When applying for the property there is a section, (requests and requirements) and this section was left blank, nothing mentioned or written on there about the sink. It was always being replaced like for like, ourselves and the contractor who you met at the property told you this in advance of your proceeding. This was specified from the outset when you viewed. The property was refurbished prior to your occupation despite a large amount of confusion on what you and the fellow housemates wanted to stay and be taken away in relation to furniture and it was agreed that what was left behind was the furniture you wanted at no extra cost to you.
In relation to the bin, we requested one from the local authority on your behalf and due to covid they were unable to supply one in a reasonable timescale and you were asked to follow this up with them directly.
Unfortunately we don’t offer an out of hours emergency service and we make this clear from the application stage although you did have the lead contractors number, we expect our tenants to act in a tenant like manner as per the government approved how to rent guide although we did send the said contractor out as soon as possible (the very next day) to secure the premises until the replacement window arrived and this was communicated with one of your fellow housemates but they didn’t communicate with you despite evidence on the system to the contrary. Also taking evidence from the contractor the story of the window breakage evidently was done from the inside and not from outside.
The contractor works for the landlord and can only take instructions from them. We are sorry the manufacturer made the wrong sized window, this was something we could not control and the delay in materials due to covid made this a lot longer than we would have liked it to be. The manufacturer made the window the wrong size so it had to be re-ordered which is why it took six weeks from the date of the damage. The window was temporarily secured with 18mil ply and siliconed so there was no draft and no security issues.
Two colleagues attended the property for the checkout, noticed that there were areas that were not as they should be and you were given another chance to make good the areas required at no additional visit costs as we wanted you to get your full deposit despite the poor condition you left the property in. We went above and beyond when we should have conducted the checkout there and then and deducted substantial monies off your deposit as per the guidance but we wanted to give you another chance.
Our property manager was on a weeks leave so this was delayed due to the small set up of our organisation and you were informed in order to manage expectations. Our property manager revisited and discovered damage to the bath on the 2nd visit (which was brand new) and that needed monies to be deducted and submitted to the deposit protection scheme so we had to go back to the landlord with another list of deductions due to negligent behaviour from yourself or your housemates who have joint and several liability as tenants in common.
There was a breakdown in communication between yourself and fellow housemates which made getting various items resolved somewhat more difficult on this particular tenancy but we do apologise that you feel we didn’t perform to your expectations however in reviewing the tenancy in great detail as well as statements from our contractors its evident that your comments are factually incorrect and the damage caused from your tenancy in relation to not using the shower screen door properly, caused water damage and the door along with the bath to this was broken, Chairs from the house were dumped in the garden, the garden was overgrown and the property was dirty.
We are sorry you didn’t enjoy your time with Votta Lettings however we must ensure that the properties we let are returned to how they are handed over with the allowance of fair wear and tear. As an accredited agent we must ensure we follow government guidance and legislation at all times as well as adhere to our contractual obligation with our clients which we appreciate isn't always what tenants want to hear when they have not handed back the property as they should,
Votta lettings provided a great Service, unlike some other more well known Agents in the Ramsgate area. I had researched a Letting Agent with good reviews in the Thanet area, having been extremely disappointed with a previous Letting Agent who we had used for 10 years.
David & Stephen, were honest, gave advice, and could not have been more helpful. Nothing was too much trouble. Any emails or calls were always dealt quick extremely quickly. They found us lovely Tenants.
Would always use only Votta from now on. So glad we trusted the Reviews.
Many thanks to David & Stephen, for providing such an efficient, friendly Service.
Reply from Votta
Thank you Linda, it was really great to change your perception of agents since coming to is, we look forward to working with you again in the future
Amazing service from these guys! Everything felt really easy, no pressure, lots of help, wasn’t constantly chased. Easy to contact at all times. Would 100% recommend
Reply from Votta
Thank you Rosie, it was a pleasure dealing with you and Scott. When you are ready just get in touch again
Would highly recommend this estate agent. David is such a lovely guy, very helpful. Made our move very easy.
Reply from Votta
Dear Colleen, Than you for your very kind words, it was my pleasure moving you and the family in and I hope its the start of many happy years there
Regards
David
I have known David Votta on a professional basis for some 10 years during which time he has always provided my family with common sense advice which has proven to be both accurate and correct in the long term.
I am so pleased that he is providing his skills and insight to the lettings market unfettered under his own name providing superb service and support for both landlord and tenant
He has shown himself to be honest, honourable and totally reliable in all respects.
I truly value his opinion, moreover, I trust those contractors he is able to engage at very short notice on my behalf, knowing from experience that they will do what is required on a cost-effective basis.
His service fees are significantly lower than those of other providers, yet the service provided by Votta Lettings & Property Management far exceeds those of his longer established competitors.
I thoroughly recommend Votta Lettings & Property Management to any landlord looking for a premier management company that will manage tenants and tenancies with the care that one would wish for one’s own family whilst not compromising the interests of the landlord.
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