CPS Homes estate agents in Cardiff

Thanks Lucy for taking the time to leave your thoughts, so happy we could help.

Hi Ahmed, We’re sorry that we didn’t get meeting you for your scheduled viewing appointment. It was part of an ‘open-house’ block of viewing appointments, where several other people were also booked in to view the property within 10 minutes of each other. We were able to meet up with and show everybody else around, and we can see that you did successfully view a different property with us later in the day that was also an ‘open-house’ block, so we hope you’ll see that things usually do go according to plan. With this particular appointment, we can see that we did leave you a voicemail beforehand asking you to meet us directly outside the entrance to the building, which is also where we told everybody else to meet us. We can’t be sure what happened after that, but we did come down to the entrance and successfully meet everybody else booked in for the block. We know that we have since discussed this matter with you via e-mail, so we will continue to communicate via that method. We will be reviewing how we relay meeting information to viewers we’re meeting at flats in the future. We wish you the best of luck in your house/flat-hunting endeavours. All the best, The CPS Homes Team.

Thanks Emma, very happy to hear this and we appreciate you taking the time to leave your thoughts.

Thank you Shoaib for your lovely comments, much appreciated :)

Thanks Lucy, for your wonderful feedback! We’re thrilled to hear that both Florence and Aman provided you with such friendly and helpful support throughout your rental journey.

Hi Will, Thanks for your review, and sorry to hear that you’ve had a less than positive experience. If a landlord is not abiding by the law, we will always address this with them if/when it’s brought to our attention. We aim to educate them on the practices they should be following and answer any questions they may have. Ultimately, despite our best efforts, we cannot control what they do or don’t do, and as a managing agent we have limitations. There are enforcement bodies who can take action, however. As for moving in and out, it appears as though you chose to rent a new property with a contract start date of 1st July, when your current contract ended on 30th June. Many contract-holders elect to have a brief ‘overlap’ in tenancies to allow them to move belongings from one property to another. This does mean they pay rent on two properties for a short period, but it eliminates any of the complexities that come with ending a contract on one day and not starting a new contract until the next day. Admittedly, there are only few ‘overlap’ opportunities when properties are on what we know as the ‘academic rota’, so we will always allow contract-holders to hold onto the keys to their existing property until as late as possible, or we’ll allow them to collect the keys to their new property early if we’ve had them back from the outgoing tenants. Sometimes, those two scenarios don’t marry up, unfortunately. You are one of thousands of contract-holders in this position, not just with CPS Homes, but with other agents too, and it’s not an easy few days for you, landlords and agents alike. We do our utmost to assist and are grateful for everybody’s cooperation at this time of the year. We’re pleased to say that almost all contract-holders are on board with the process and make arrangements that see them not inconvenienced. We do have a queue to collect new keys, but it isn’t a 5-hour wait, we can assure you. It is significantly less than that, and we send forewarning of the need to queue. Lastly, we’d love to do something about the Cardiff weather, but that is well and truly out of our control, sorry! We wish you well with the move. All the best, The CPS Homes Team.

Hi Tahir, Thank you for your feedback. We're sorry that you had a less than positive experience and would like to know more about the events that occurred so that we can learn from them and avoid the same situation in the future. Prior to leaving the office for a viewing appointment where we're due to meet the viewer at the property, we always call them to confirm that they're still attending. This is explained in the confirmation of appointment we send out and is a policy we have in place due to the number of appointments we used to attend where, despite making the booking sometimes only the previous day, the viewer wouldn't show up, meaning a wasted trip for us. We can see that we did call you a few hours prior to the appointment to confirm, and followed it up with an SMS. Did you return this call prior to arriving at the property? Please let us know via feedback@cpshomes.co.uk. If you didn't, this would be why we weren't present, I'm afraid. If you did, we will look into what happened. Thank you. We wish you the best of luck in your ongoing property search. Kind regards, The CPS Homes Team.

Thanks Ashok for your kind comments, much appreciated!

Hi Charlotte, We’re sorry that you’ve had a less than positive experience with us. We cannot currently locate you by name on our database, so in order to verify and learn more about your experience, we’d appreciate it if you could provide us with more information via feedback@cpshomes.co.uk. We look forward to hearing from you. Kind regards, The CPS Homes Team.

Hi JL,We’re sorry you’ve had a less than positive experience. Due to a lack of information & detail provided, we cannot locate you on our database, so to verify & learn more about your experience, we’d appreciate it if you could provide us with more information in response to the private Trustpilot message we’ve sent you.Speaking broadly until we know more, if we’re aware of any construction work to be completed that will affect enjoyment, we’ll always inform incoming/current occupants. However, there’s a big difference between obtaining planning permission as you’ve stated in your review, and then carrying out the work that the permission allows. It’s not unusual for work to start years after planning permission is granted, or possibly never at all. As such, whilst Cardiff Council will notify neighbouring properties of an application for planning permission, this does not state when, if ever, the work will begin. Additionally, the Council will inform the occupants of the neighbouring properties, not the managing agent, so there’s a good chance we at CPS Homes weren’t aware of the planning application &/or the work being carried out. Without knowing the property you occupied, it’s impossible to ascertain.Occupation contracts are between contract-holder(s) & landlord. So if there are ever any proposed deposit deductions to claim for, it’s the landlord who chooses to submit this claim. We’d much prefer not to have to make a claim from a deposit. We don't profit in any way from said deductions, and it's far quicker & easier to return a deposit in full.Our contract with the landlord stipulates that we’ll document the condition of the property at the end of the tenancy (as we also do at the beginning of each tenancy), then provide this report to them for their assessment, as, again, being the owner of the property, they’re the decision maker. Within the report, we highlight items that we believe are a result of wear & tear, therefore the responsibility of the landlord to make good before any new contract-holders arrive. We also highlight any items we believe to be over & beyond fair wear & tear, which, if substantially different to the condition at the start of the tenancy, they may wish to claim from the deposit for. Once the landlord has decided how they wish to proceed, we add comments to the inspection report & send it over to the contract-holder(s) for their perusal. We invite contract-holders to comment on anything noted as being over & beyond fair wear & tear. This demonstrates a transparent, two-way process that is geared towards avoiding any potential deposit dispute. When contract-holders provide their comments, as we always encourage them to do, we revert back to the landlord & attempt to negotiate the deposit return of behalf of both.It's not uncommon for there to be a dispute after moving out. Quite rightly, contract-holders wish to receive as much of their deposit back as possible, whereas landlords would like to be compensated for any dilapidation they believe is not a result of wear & tear. So, by virtue of their own standpoints, deposit claims are a contentious matter. Thankfully, the process described earlier in this reply successfully resolves most potential deposit disputes before they become protracted, which we think is something that should be commended.As with any deposit return, if a contract-holder feels a landlord's claim is not justified & a mutual agreement cannot be reached, the deposit scheme that protects the deposit can appoint an unbiased, impartial adjudicator to consider all evidence & make a ruling. We're pleased to say most deposits CPS Homes return are done so with mutual agreement between landlord & contract-holder, meaning only a small minority require independent adjudication.We aim to give as much notice as possible of viewings, at least 24 hours’ notice, but often more. There is no legal minimum period of notice for viewings: this is a contractual matter.CPS Homes.

Thank you Gareth for this wonderful comments about Flo and taking the time to leave such a thorough review, we really appreciate it and will endeavour to keep up the good work! Thank you once again for choosing CPS Homes.

Great to hear it, Roxc and so glad we could help. Thank you!

Fantastic to hear - thank you Celeste!

Thanks Jan, very happy to hear this and we appreciate you taking the time to leave your thoughts.

Hi Sakshi, Thank you for your review. We’re sorry that you’ve had a less than positive experience with CPS Homes, though we would like to address the comments you have made as we do not recognise them to be true. As is well-reported in the media, the demand for properties available to rent is currently extremely high. According to Rightmove, the number of enquiries each property is receiving from would-be tenants is now 17, which is more than double the 8 it was in 2019. Ultimately, only one of these 17 interested parties can move into the property, meaning the other 16 will unfortunately be disappointed, which we understand you are in this particular situation. Like every agent, we must check that anybody who has enquired about an available property is able to meet the referencing criteria that we agree with landlords in advance of advertising. We have a duty to the landlord to ensure that anybody we put forward as a prospective tenant is indeed suitable. In order to determine this, we have to gain certain information such as employment details, a current/previous landlord reference and perform a credit check. For students, we appreciate that they are unlikely to have a credit history, may not have rented previously and may not be employed, so we simply ask that they are able to appoint a guarantor who is 25+ years old, resident in the UK and a UK homeowner. Most students are able to meet this criteria, but we recognise that some may not, especially in the case of overseas students. As such, the landlord will typically accept a payment of rent in advance in lieu of the guarantor. Landlords may also accept a guarantor and/or payment of rent in advance for non-students who are unable to provide satisfactory employment information or a landlord reference. We hope this demonstrates that the properties we advertise are well and truly available to allcomers. However, like every agent, we do have a duty to the landlord to ensure that anybody we put forward as a prospective tenant is suitable. We wish you well in your search for a property. Kind regards, The CPS Homes Team.

Thank you Marlene for your wonderful comments and taking the time to review our team. We wish you all the best in your lovely new flat!