Newham Council became the first in the country to publish a
ratings scheme for residential lettings agencies, last autumn - with agents being
awarded from zero to five stars, depending on their performance.
Below, we produce their verdict on the 28 Forest Gate agents they reviewed - and have comments on some that they haven't. The ratings scheme exists to complement the licensing scheme the council operates for private sector landlords in the borough, and covered recently by this site, here.
The agency scheme judges the companies according to which agents failed to: refund renters
deposits, failed to pass on rental income to landlords, charged unreasonable
fees or failed to address complaints.
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| 4 stars for Romford Road's Century 21 |
70,000 Newham households are in the private rented sector -
so a majority of local residents will have an interest in the results of the
scheme's publication.
Newham's scheme is supported by major organisations with
not-for-profit housing interests, such as Shelter, Peabody and Generation Rent
- the campaigning body.
A brief summary of what lettings' agency practices are likely to
attract what ratings would be:
0 stars - The agent would have attracted a relevant criminal
conviction within the last five years. Newham has not award
zero stars to any local agent, a fact we consider towards the end of this article.
1 star - Compliance failure with a local code of conduct, or
receipt of a caution of inappropriate behaviour over the last two years.
2 stars - The agent has not been receipt of any compliance
failure notice for a period of two years.
3 stars - The agent is a fully complaint business, with no
recent failures or convictions.
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| 3 stars at C&S of Romford Road - and while there, why not book a holiday? |
5 stars - A fully complaint business with no tenants' fees,
or one which provides a credit ratings service for tenants.
No Forest Gate agency has achieved five stars. East
Ham's McDowell's became the first in the borough to do so - coinciding with the publication of
the scheme in October last year.
159 lettings agents are covered by the Newham scheme over the
whole borough, including 28 in Forest Gate, of which:
3 (2%) in total - 0 in Forest Gate (0%) - have 5 stars
44 (30%) in total - 3 in Forest Gate (11%) - have 4 stars
79 (52%) in total - 20 in Forest Gate (74%) - have 3 stars
8 (5%) in total - 1 in Forest Gate (4%) - have 2 stars
17 (11%) in total - 3 in Forest Gate (12%) - have 1 star
0 (0%) in total - 0 in Forest Gate (0%) - have 0 stars
9 (6%) in total - 1 in Forest
Gate (4%) - are pending a rating figure
The agents below are rated in alphabetical order within each
star category
**** stars Forest Gate
lettings agents
Century 21 - 450 Romford Road
Sparemove - 9 Railways Station Bridge, Woodgrange Road
Your Move - 176-7, Forest Lane
 |
| 4 Stars - Your Move |
*** stars Forest Gate lettings
agents
Agha Properties/The Best Properties - 482 Katherine Road
Beautiful Estates - 438 Katherine Road
C+S Property - 520 Romford Road
 |
| 4 stars for Beautiful Estates |
CMS Homes - 503 Katherine Road -
Hamar Property Services - 299 Romford Road
Key 2 Key - 120 Upton Lane
Knightsbridge Estates - 179 Forest Lane
 |
| 3 for Key to Key |
Let, Sell, Property - 34 Green Street
Mak Property - 95 Woodgrange Road
Marvel Estates - 367 Katherine Road
Nest Property - 414 Katherine Road
Patrap Property Co - 202b Green Street
Phase Property Services - 89 Upton Lane
Patrap Property Co - 202b Green Street
Phase Property Services - 89 Upton Lane
 |
| Phase Property Services - 89 Upton Lane |
Remax (now called MasterClass Properties)- 471 Romford Road
 |
3 stars for Remax of Romford Road - now rebranded MasterClass properties
Spencers - 70 Woodgrange Road
Stirling and Co - 29 Upton Lane
TS Property Services - 449 Katherine Road
Whites - 521 Katherine Road
Wilkinson's - 78 Woodgrange Road
** stars Forest Gate lettings
agents
Ace Property Services
- Citygate House, 246 Romford
Road
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| A not so ace 2 stars for Ace Property Services |
* star Forest Gate lettings
agents
Godefred Property -
130 Upton Lane
Londinium - 400
Romford Road
M + M property -
501 Katherine Road
 |
| Just 1 star for Londinium |
Big National names,
elsewhere in Newham
Bairstow Eves (Stratford) - 4 stars
Haart (East Ham
and Stratford) - 4 stars
Keatons (Stratford) - 4
stars
Century 21 (Stratford) - 2
stars
Foxton's (Stratford)
- 1
star
 |
| A lowly one star for Straford's "top end of the market" Foxton's |
Old Friends
Newham
Council has been a little coy in some of its categorisations.
According to the criteria for each star, listed at the top of this article, lettings agents with relevant criminal convictions related to their business within the last five years, should be awarded zero stars under the scheme. Yet the council lists no agents with zero stars in its published details.
According to the criteria for each star, listed at the top of this article, lettings agents with relevant criminal convictions related to their business within the last five years, should be awarded zero stars under the scheme. Yet the council lists no agents with zero stars in its published details.
But, as we
showed in our recent feature on local criminal landlords (see here for
details), the council has successfully prosecuted three local lettings agents
over the last year, for relevant offences. None, however, has been
listed as having zero stars in the register that the council is proud to promote as challenging and innovative. The council has fudged the
issue.
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| Filtons - despite criminal convictions, listed as "status pending" |
Filton's - 190 High Street, Stratford and SM Properties
468, Katherine Road, are both of which are listed as status "pending
inspection". Barclays Estates of Upton Lane - isn't listed at all in the council's register.
The zero ratings these agencies should have been awarded would clearly have been very bad for business for them; surely, the whole purpose of the register. The council's fudge, however, has meant that they can continue trading, apparently untarnished by a poor agency rating.
Filton's is a lettings agent, which is currently advertising 20 properties on its website - the vast majority in Newham. The company clearly has a cavalier attitude to its business and social responsibilities. To quote its website:
As we said in our article on Forest Gate's criminal landlords:
Barclays Estates
of 86 Upton Lane has been fined three times, following convictions
instituted by the Council, but is not listed as even existing in the council's lettings agency register - see photo below
as evidence to the contrary.
The zero ratings these agencies should have been awarded would clearly have been very bad for business for them; surely, the whole purpose of the register. The council's fudge, however, has meant that they can continue trading, apparently untarnished by a poor agency rating.
Filton's is a lettings agent, which is currently advertising 20 properties on its website - the vast majority in Newham. The company clearly has a cavalier attitude to its business and social responsibilities. To quote its website:
We are an estate and property management group run by some of the most disruptive minds in the industry ... We .. play hard, without the bureaucracy (ed: like abiding by Housing legislation, apparently). ... We don't do uppity suits and fake smiles. That's why we're turning the industry upside down ... And we're pushing boundaries for clients with new revenue streams, managed short lets and award winning marketing .The company's intolerance of the niceties of the law got them into trouble on 7 June 2017, when they were fined £5,000 for a failure to display accurately display their letting fees on their premises, as required by consumer protection law.
As we said in our article on Forest Gate's criminal landlords:
Any would-be tenant considering using Filton's is advised to search its Facebook presence. Its services are rated by 10 people - seven of them giving the firm only one star out of five.SM Properties was fined £4,000 on 13 September 2017 for a failure to display its letting fees appropriately, within its premises.
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| Painful convictions for Katherine Road's SM properties, but Newham coyly leaves it as an agency "pending" inspection, rather than giving it the zero stars, as its classification criteria state it should have |
Above - Barclays Estates signage before
the prosecutions, below, after prosecutions
