Linley & Simpson Reviews 

RE: PAULA DUNHAM.
I have been and I am extremely impressed with the property maintenance service provided to me by Paula Dunham. She is prompt and incredibly helpful with communicating and updating faults/repairs required in my properties.

You can tell from her telephone communication skills that she listens, professional, understanding and very supportive. She is approachable, friendly, kind and a pleasure to communicate with.

Had a really great experience today at our house viewing. This is our second viewing with Linley & Simpson and both employees were fantastic. Thank you Richard and Izabela!

1 star - an absolute masterclass in how NOT to treat tenants

My sister rented through Linley and Simpson and, quite frankly, the experience has been an absolute nightmare from start to finish. The way they have handled this tenancy has been nothing short of appalling, and the complete lack of empathy, communication and basic common sense has been shocking.

Let’s start with the fact that during the winter, my sister was left for over 2 weeks without heating or hot water. 2 weeks, in winter. No heating. No hot water.

And what was offered as compensation for being left without two basic necessities that any tenant should reasonably expect to have? Absolutely nothing.

No meaningful compensation, no alternative accommodation. No proper solution.

Apparently, the comfort and wellbeing of the person actually living in the property comes second to maintaining a good relationship with the landlord. That seems to be the priority here. The tenant can sit in a freezing property without hot water for weeks, but heaven forbid anything inconvenience the landlord.

The communication throughout has been equally dreadful. Trying to get straightforward answers feels like pulling teeth, and when she did finally get a response, she is left wondering how a company responsible for managing peoples homes can have such little understanding of how stressful and serious these situations actually are.

And then we get to the absolute irony of what happened AFTER my sister moved out.

Linley and Simpson carried out the exit inspection a month after she had actually vacated the property.

Yes. A MONTH.

And despite the fact that the inspection was carried out weeks after she had left, they have decided to demand approximately £160 for things including a lightbulb and some cobwebs.

Cobwebs that, funnily enough, can quite easily form during the FOUR WEEKS between a tenant leaving and an agent finally deciding to inspect a property.

If you’re going to carry an inspection a month after somebody has moved out, perhaps don’t then treat every bit of dust and every cobweb discovered weeks later as though you have caught the tenant red-handed.

The most ridiculous part is the sheer persistence with which they have pursued the money. The amount of begging and demanding over £160 would almost be impressive if it wasn’t causing financial hardship for someone who is already struggling.

And honestly, there is something particularly distasteful about a large, established property company repeatedly chasing a working-class tenant for £160 over a lightbulb and some cobwebs, while apparently having no issue leaving that same tenant without heating and hot water for over 2 weeks in the middle of JANUARY.

That isn’t classy.

If you’re a company operating in the property industry and dealing with people’s homes and finances, surely there should be some perspective. Begging a tenant who is already experiencing financial hardship due to the company, for more money over minor deductions, is hardly the impressive display of professionalism you would expect to see from a company or this size.

It is honestly difficult to understand how a company can be so incredibly concerned about recovering £160 for a lightbulb and some cobwebs , yet apparently have so little urgency when a tenant has no heating or hot water in winter.

That contrast says everything.

When my sister needed help with something that genuinely affected her ability to live comfortably in the property, there was seemingly no urgency.

When there was money to be demanded from her after she had left, suddenly the communication became very enthusiastic.

The whole experience has left her in an awful financial position, and it is incredibly frustrating to watch a company that should be acting professionally and fairly treat her so disgustingly.

It genuinely makes you question where their priorities lie. Because from her experience, and from an outsider watching her live through this experience, it certainly does not appear to be with the tenant.

Rather than acknowledging how unreasonable some of this has been, the attitude has been to keep demanding money and hide behind processes.

Being a letting agent should involve more than just collecting rent, keeping the landlord happy and finding reasons to charge tenants when they leave.

You are dealing with people’s homes. People’s finances. Peoples lives.

A tenant is not just an inconvenience between you and your landlord. My sister deserved far better than this.

I would strongly advise anyone considering renting through this company to think very carefully. Read everything, document everything and take photographs of absolutely everything. Their morals and values do not lie with the people like they claim.

One star, and that is being generous.

I had a phonecall where I was told off about a review instead of help on a complaint. The landlord broke their end of the tenancy agreement and we were ripped off by Linley. Still have nightmares now about it

Linley & Simpson made the whole process really easy and straightforward. I vacated the property and received my full deposit back without any hassle. Great service and communication throughout — would definitely recommend them!

I have never had such an awful experience in all the years I have rented. I have never once had rent deductions due to such trivial things, it is so clear that Linley and Simpson are so afraid of losing their landlords, that they have absolutely no care towards you as a tenant, they will hound you, back you into a corner, and all to ensure they don’t sacrifice their relationship with the landlord involved especially one who owns a multitude of properties. A cleaning fee of over £160 for things such as cobwebs and lightbulbs that were not working when you moved in, and for a property they failed to inspect until a month after you’ve moved out- and expected us to stop the formation of cobwebs after we had vacated the property. I know the landlord had a significant role to play, especially after being informed she owns a multitude of
properties, and is nothing other than capitalist scum praying on working class people. We were left without heating and hot water for nearly 2 weeks in the middle of winter, when we asked for a deduction in rent we were refused and was told ‘it would be out of the kindness of the landlords heart’ if a deduction was made. Life is hard for most people in Britain at the moment, with the cost of living and the ridiculous rent prices, it’s clear the loyalties of companies like Linley and Simpson lie with the wealthy landlords. They are all absolute begs and will happily lick the arses of the super rich to receive a pat on the back by them. Avoid at all costs.

Our heater in the bath stopped working and this was fix

We had an issue with the light in our babies bedroom, but Paula (and I believe Dan?) were super efficient at getting this resolved nice and quick! Thank you both so much for your help❤️

I am really pleased with the service; all my queries and needs were dealt with quickly and efficiently.

Many thanks, Keyleigh Hardy.

Very responsible, fast, and thorough service. The contractor communicated well and resolved the issue efficiently. Highly recommended!

Recently moved our daughter into a property using the Headingley student branch. They have been been swift to respond to issues thus far and a very professional and friendly service has been provided by Adam and the rest of the staff. Would highly recommend.

Useless company. Inserting useless conditions in the contract and make you pay at the end of tenancy agreement even when you have done cleaning and everything professionally.

Very disappointing end of tenancy experience with Linley & Simpson!

I was charged £125 for cleaning despite leaving the apartment cleaner than when it was handed to me.

The response from Courtney was poor and rude. She did not answer my specific questions or provide clear comparative evidence showing that the cleanliness had deteriorated.

Tenants are asked to upload photographs and comments to the check in inventory, yet none of the evidence I submitted appeared to have been considered. I uploaded photographs showing areas that were already dirty when I moved in and added comments about existing issues. I was later told they did not have these photographs or comments despite confirmation at the time that they had been uploaded correctly!

There was also an ongoing problem with the kitchen’s salt affected brick wall which continually produced dust salt and small pieces of debris. I reported this during my tenancy but it was never properly addressed. Despite this the check out report described the kitchen as dusty and treated it as a cleaning failure without acknowledging that the dust was caused by the unresolved wall problem.

The checkout report appeared to focus on photographing hidden and difficult to access areas in an attempt to justify a cleaning charge even though those same areas were not photographed during the checkin inventory! Without equivalent check in photographs there is no fair evidence showing that the condition of those areas had deteriorated during my tenancy. The report also included comments such as “1x stain” “dirt” and “hair” yet the accompanying photographs did not show any stain dirt or hair. It even stated that an iron was missing despite it being visible in their own check out photographs! These inconsistencies raise serious concerns about the accuracy and fairness of the report

I was left with the impression that charging a cleaning fee may be treated as a routine part of the check out process almost like a penalty for leaving rather than being based on a fair comparison of the property’s condition at the beginning and end of the tenancy.

It is unfair to hold a tenant responsible using an inventory they did not sign while disregarding the photographs and comments they submitted at the beginning. The entire process was frustrating poorly handled and lacking in transparency.

Would never come back to any of their properties

As a landlord whose properties you manage at Linley Simpson for me , I am heavily dependent on your services . Recently I have had several jobs and tasks that needed dealing with. Grace Smithson has been most helpful in these matters always friendly and professional. Communicating back via phone or email keeping me up to date and making sure the issues were completed promptly and to my satisfaction. Highly recommended

I had a great experience with the letting agency, especially with the member of staff who showed me the property(Lauren Turnbull) . They were friendly, professional and very helpful throughout the viewing. They took the time to answer all my questions and made the whole process easy and comfortable. I would definitely recommend their service.

I was very pleased with the service and professionalism of Paula Dunham, Maintenance Consultant, who speedily followed up on my request and made sure the contractor had been in touch with me. Paula also followed up to check if the service requested had been completed.

Many thanks to Paula for her excellent customer service.

Regards
Ruth Veerana

Only at the viewing stage at the moment and have viewed several properties with various estate agents. I have to say Josh Langan from the Bingley office was by far the best agent I have dealt with. Friendly, smart, very informative about the property. Nothing was too much trouble for him. A great example of what a representative from an estate agent should be !!

I called them Saturday to book a viewing for a house they had advertised on that day! They said that the tenant was there and they weren’t booking viewings yet and will call me afterwards when they know the days of the viewing! I called them after one week and they said the viewing was a couple of days back! Incompetents and liars

Absolutely first class customer service from Tom Barker. Very communicative, he kept us updated on all aspects of the sale. He is super helpful and very knowledgeable. A pleasure to deal with. I would definitely recommend.

I have purchased a house via Linley & Simpson and Thomas Barker made it a smooth and was already available to assist with any queries with a quick response, which reduced the stress of the whole process.