CPS Homes estate agents in Cardiff

Good Afternoon Abigail, Thank you for taking the time to write a review.We have messaged you via Trustpilot’s platform to establish who you are and which property you rented through us, but you have opted not to give us this information. Unfortunately this means we cannot explore the issue further for you, however please accept our apologies for any problems you did experience during your time with us. When tenants move in, we encourage them to complete the inventory and let us know of any issues they face, to ensure they do not get charged for these at the end of their tenancy. Some problems may not become apparent until the tenant moves in, but we aim to resolve these as quickly as possible once reported. Our managed tenants see that their Deposit is held in the Deposit Protection Scheme (DPS), as required by the Government. This means that where tenants do not agree with charges made against them at the end of their tenancy, they can take this to the ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution) who seek to resolve the issue, based on evidence, from a neutral standpoint. If you would like to discuss matters further, please get in touch by emailing lettings@cpshomes.co.uk. Many Thanks.

Good Afternoon George, Thank you for taking time to place your comments on record. All tenants of properties that we manage see that their deposit is registered within the Deposit Protection Scheme (DPS) as required by law. Contrary to what outside sources would like to have you believe, we don’t want to claim for deductions to any deposit. We don’t profit in any way from said deductions; in fact, at a time when we’re already busy with new tenants moving in and have a lot of deposits to return, it creates work for us when we have to send a contractor out to a property, so it’s quicker and easier all-round if you get your full deposit back. I can see that in the case of your deposit, we conducted a checkout inspection with you whereby it was identified that cleaning was required and handyman jobs needed to take place. As you did not agree with the claim and submitted new evidence to us, the overall amount for the cleaning charge was reduced to 40% of the original cost, which you agreed to. Where claims are made that tenants do not agree with, they can take this to the ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution) within the DPS who seek to resolve the issue, based on evidence, from a neutral standpoint. You chose not to exercise your right to do this, as you agreed to the claim with us directly. Having looked through the work orders for the property I can see that there were issues raised from the flat below yours in relation to leaks coming from the bathroom. Maintenance such as re-sealing showers does take time, and does need to be left for a while to ensure the job ahs been completed properly. This was discussed with yourselves when the problem arose, and we booked the works in with you at a date/time that was mutually agreed. We can only apologise if you felt as though you had to wait unreasonably long for works to be completed, but we do have a dedicated Maintenance Team who strive to complete works as soon as they are reported to us, liaising with Landlords and ensuring they are actioned at the earliest possible opportunity. Many Thanks.

Good Afternoon John, Thank you for taking the time to place your comments on record. We have messaged you via Trustpilot’s platform to establish who you are and which property you rented through us, but you have opted not to give us any more information. Without knowing this information, we cannot explore this further and help resolve the issue for you. For all properties that we manage, tenant’s deposits are held in the Deposit Protection Scheme, as required by the Government. What this means is that where tenants do not agree with charges made against them at the end of their tenancy, they can take this to the ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution) who seek to resolve the issue, based on evidence, from a neutral standpoint.We don’t want to claim for deductions to any deposit. We don’t profit in any way from said deductions; in fact, at a time when we’re already busy with new tenants moving in and have a lot of deposits to return, it creates work for us when we have to send a contractor out to a property, so it’s quicker and easier all-round if you get your full deposit back. Any claims would always be evidenced with invoices and proof that the tenants are liable for these damages. Moving forward, we’re pleased to report that we have been successful in lobbying many Landlords to no longer require a deposit, thereby making renting cheaper and more affordable for tenants.Many Thanks.

Good Afternoon J Sadler, Thank you for taking the time to leave a review. We have messaged you via Trustpilot’s platform to establish who you are and which property you rented through us, but you have opted not to give us this information. Without this knowledge we cannot explore the issue further for you and help resolve the issue. For all properties that we manage, tenant’s deposits are held in the Deposit Protection Scheme, as required by the Government. What this means is that where tenants do not agree with charges made against them at the end of their tenancy, they can take this to the ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution) who seek to resolve the issue, based on evidence, from a neutral standpoint. Contrary to what outside sources would like to have you believe, we don’t want to claim for deductions to any deposit. We don’t profit in any way from said deductions; in fact, at a time when we’re already busy with new tenants moving in and have a lot of deposits to return, it creates work for us when we have to send a contractor out to a property, so it’s quicker and easier all-round if you get your full deposit back. Any claims would always be evidenced with invoices and proof that the tenants are liable for these damages. We can only apologise if you experienced any issues with works that had not been completed, but in circumstances such as these we have a dedicated Maintenance Team who would have seen that these were rectified for you as early as possible. When searching for a property, we always ask groups what their situation is with regards to when they need to move in. Most of our student properties become available on the 1st July, but we know that many student tenants aren’t looking to reside at a property until later in the year, in line with university term dates. Where tenants don’t want to move in until August/September, we offer periods of half rent (also referred to as a ‘Summer Retainer’) to reduce the financial burden on the student. The summer retainer means that tenants can store their items at the property, but cannot live there, and only half the rental amount is required. Your requirements would have been discussed with you, and if you needed to live in the property during July this would have been welcomed. Many Thanks.

Hi Miss Mb,We're sorry to learn of your experience and are keen to hear more from you on the e-mail you sent to us regarding photos and our subsequent reply. Please e-mail lettings@cpshomes.co.uk and we will do our best to assist.Kind regards,CPS Homes.

Dear Ali,Thank you for placing your review on record; the second we have had from you in the last 10 days.Your tenancy started in September and yesterday (7th May: the same date you placed your review) is the first time we received a report that your heater in the bathroom wasn't working. We promptly informed your landlord, who advised us that she will look at the matter today. This was communicated to you immediately. We believe this action is as swift as it can be and well within expected timescales.In terms of "mould and damp", we asked you for photos - like we do all our tenants when reporting such issues - so we can ascertain which of the two it is. Mould is typically caused by condensation, whereas damp is caused by a structural defect with the building, so they're two very different things. Mould can be caused by the occupants' living conditions, such as not heating or ventilating a room adequately enough. In this instance, that would tally with your heater not working, so once your landlord fixes the heater, it will be able to be managed and prevented moving forward. More information damp vs condensation can be found on our website: https://www.cpshomes.co.uk/damp.aspx.In terms of pressure on tenants, we believe you're referring to your previous review in respect of rent payments. To reiterate what we said then, we appreciate that the precarious climate surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted us all one way or another, with many losing their jobs or being put on furlough.Students or professionals, we encourage all of our tenants who are experiencing any difficulty to come forward so that we are able to liaise between them and the landlord and come to mutual agreement/payment plan. We are pleased to report that we have already agreed a large number of payment plans between tenants and landlords.No late rent charges have been added where tenants have been in touch to let us know they are in financial difficulty and have entered into a line of open communication with us. As such, we would encourage you to contact our Albany Road branch on 02920 454555 or roath@cpshomes.co.uk so that a payment plan can be agreed for you moving forward.Thank you.

Good Morning Sacha, Thank you for taking the time to record your comments.We apologise if you feel our staff were not accommodating to your needs during your tenancy. Our aim is to always work with our tenants and do our best to overcome any issues reported. To enable us to do this, we have several departments set up within the company that specialise different areas of property management. Before a manager’s involvement, we ask that our tenants first deal with the members of staff in each department who are fully-trained to assist. If a manager’s involvement is required thereafter, they will be happy to help, though there are times when we have to ask that a complaint is put in writing so that we have a written record of it and adequate time to both investigate and respond.For all properties that we manage, tenants deposits are held in the Deposit Protection Scheme, as required by the Government. What this means is that where tenants do not agree with charges made against them at the end of their tenancy, they can take this to the ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution) who seek to resolve the issue, based on evidence, from a neutral standpoint. Having reviewed your account, I can see that a charge was made for areas of your property which needed re-painting at the end of your tenancy. Whilst there was minor marks on the wall in one room when you moved in (as recorded on the inventory), the repainting required at the end applied to multiple rooms. I can see that we worked with yourselves on this claim, and did reduce it accordingly. Finally, we understand your frustration in relation to the delay in returning your deposit, however as you chose to resolve the issue through the ADR it is out of our hands and unfortunately does take some time. I can see that the ADR agreed for a portion of this disputed amount to be awarded to yourself, whilst the remainder back to us in this circumstance. Many Thanks.

Good Afternoon Sian, Thank you for taking the time to leave a review. Having looked at your account, I can see that your checkout inspection took place on the 20th July 2017, where it was agreed with yourselves that claims needed to be made for damages not recorded on your original, signed inventory. Following constructive correspondence with yourself, I can see that on the 31st August 2017 the overall claim amount was reduced based on evidence submitted by yourselves. Finally, on the 7th September 2017, the claim that had been agreed between us and yourselves was submitted to the DPS ready for you to receive. Therefore, as this process took less than two months, required a certain level of correspondence with you and involved obtaining costs, we feel that your deposit was dealt with efficiently and your comment is not a true reflection of your experience. When any issues are reported to us, we work directly with Landlords to ensure that any necessary repairs are sorted at the earliest opportunity. Looking at your tenancy, I can see all essential works were carried out to your property where necessary in a reasonable time frame. As you may have experienced yourself, searching for a property in a large group can be an overwhelming process with so many properties available and a number of different individual requirements, budgets and opinions to consider. Additionally, for students especially, it’s often the first time they’ve gone through the process. Because of that, we find it’s not until the whole group is sat before us in our office that they really decide and we really learn what they’re looking for. But rather than send them away to come back in at a later date when several of the properties they’ve chosen to view are potentially no longer available, we ask tenants, prior to the busy season, to be open to viewings at shorter notice, and we’re grateful that the vast majority of properties are accommodating. Where tenants are not happy with this, they are always welcome to inform us that they don’t accept the request and would like more/24 hours notice and we will always work with them in this circumstance. We can only apologise if you experienced any issues with this process. Many Thanks.

Good Afternoon Khalid, Thank you for taking the time to leave your review. In order to minimise any deposit disputes, we give all tenants of properties we manage the opportunity to record the full condition of the property on the inventory when they first move in; we also meet them for a check in inspection to confirm this in person, which we did with yourselves. When tenants move in, we stress the importance of completing the inventory and noting down everything to ensure they do not get charged unnecessarily. All of the issues you were charged for were raised at your checkout inspection and not recorded on the original signed inventory, so would be your responsibility. For all properties that we manage, tenant’s deposits are held in the Deposit Protection Scheme, as required by the Government. What this means is that where tenants do not agree with charges made against them at the end of their tenancy, they can take this to the ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution) who seek to resolve the issue, based on evidence, from a neutral standpoint. Yourself and your housemates chose not to exercise this, as once you received the breakdown of claims from your deposit from us, you accepted the amount to be returned to you. Whilst we do take our own photos for evidential purposes at the checkout, you would have been given the opportunity to contest this amount and supply any further evidence should you have disagreed with the amount to be awarded to you, both through us and the ADR. Many Thanks.

Good Afternoon Rebecca, Thank you for taking time to leave us a review. When on checkout inspections we look at the consideration of the property, taking into account what was noted on the original inventory, and factoring in normal wear and tear. Some areas, however, are not always black and white and as such, we may need to refer to photos taken at the same time as the inventory or periodic inspections to make it clearer. We do this to ensure we are accurate in deeming what is tenant damage as opposed to something the Landlord needs to improve more generally. It’s possible that we will discover something previously considered to be tenant damage (where the tenant hasn’t noted this on their signed inventory, but it’s apparent at the checkout) which, having looked at photos attached to the inventory and subsequent inspections, turns out to actually be something we suggest the Landlord does as an ‘improvement’. This would then not be claimed from your bond. In your case, some areas initially considered tenant damage at the checkout were removed and suggested to the Landlord as an improvement, but the deep scratches on the bedroom wall caused by moving the bed from its original position was evidenced as fair tenant charge. For all properties that we manage, tenants deposits are held in the Deposit Protection Scheme, as required by the Government. What this means is that where tenants do not agree with charges made against them at the end of their tenancy, they can take this to the ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution) who seek to resolve the issue, based on evidence, from a neutral standpoint. Any claims made are always to cover legitimate invoices, and CPS Homes does not retain the money for these claims. Many Thanks.

Dear Jack,Thank you for placing your review on record.We’d appreciate it if you could let us know which property you rented from CPS Homes, including approximate dates of tenure, so we can look into your comments and address your concerns. We approached you via Trustpilot’s private messaging platform two weeks ago but are yet to hear back.With landlords and tenants starting at opposing ends of the spectrum, deposit returns can sometimes be contentious matters. Quite rightly, tenants are keen to receive as much of their deposit back as possible, whereas landlords would like to be compensated for dilapidations that aren’t wear and tear. Our job as agent is to find the ‘happy medium’ and most of the time we’re able to do so, but we fully accept there will be times when we’re unable to fulfil this remit. In these instances, we’re grateful of the free, independent adjudication service offered by deposit protection schemes, where a legally-qualified adjudicator will collect evidence from both parties and make a binding decision on how the disputed amount is to be distributed between landlord and tenant.We’re always striving to improve the way we work, so the information you provide is important to us. We hope to hear from you soon. Kind regards,The CPS Homes Team.

Good Afternoon Joshua, Thank you for taking time to record your comments. We have a dedicated Maintenance Team who respond to all maintenance issues as soon as they are reported. I can see that you reported very few issues throughout your tenancy, and these were in relation to your heating and the communal door. With the heating, we advised how to get this working straight away, and with the communal door, the Landlord attended the same week to rectify this issue. Similarly, we strongly encourage tenants to annotate their inventory to reflect the condition of the property when they move in, to make us aware of any issues. In your case, you did not make and further notes to the inventory and as such, we were not to know of any further problems. For all properties that we manage, tenants deposits are held in the Deposit Protection Scheme, as required by the Government. What this means is that where tenants do not agree with charges made against them at the end of their tenancy, they can take this to the ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution) who seek to resolve the issue, based on evidence, from a neutral standpoint. Whilst you claim that you were charged £300 for cleaning, I can see that the actual charge was £75.50, and undertaken by a local cleaning company who have no relation to any member of CPS Homes staff. The need for cleaning was agreed with yourselves when we attended with you for a checkout inspection. You chose not to take the claim to the ADR, and agreed the amounts with us directly. Further exploration highlights that the new tenants have not reported any issues such as the ones you mention either on their inventory or to our Maintenance Team. If they are experiencing any issues, they will need to get in touch with us as soon as possible so that we can rectify these problems for them. Many Thanks.

Good Afternoon Christian, Thank you for taking the time to leave a review. We are sorry that you are not happy with the service you have experienced. The last two months have been challenging for everyone, with many members of our staff working away from the office due to Covid-19. Whilst this does not excuse a lack of communication, it has meant there has been a slight delay in correspondence recently. However, this is something we are seeking to overcome with more staff returning to the office over the next few weeks where possible. When prospective Landlords call us, we have to gather relevant information in order to establish how best to help and advise you. We wouldn’t want to wrongly advise or mislead you, but you only have to give us information you are comfortable doing so. Again, we can only apologise if you feel we asked for too much information at that stage. We would love to have a discussion with you within the next week to see if we can rectify this, and help find tenants for your property. We have messaged you to obtain updated contact details, if you would like to discuss options with us please do get in touch. Many Thanks.

Good Morning Nathan, Thank you for taking the time to place your comments on record.In order to minimise any deposit disputes, we give all tenants of properties we manage the opportunity to record the full condition of the property on the inventory when they first move in; we also meet them for a check in inspection to confirm this in person, which we did with yourselves. When tenants move in, we stress the importance of completing the inventory and noting down everything to ensure they do not get charged unnecessarily. When issues are reported to us, we always work with the Landlord to ensure necessary repairs are sorted as soon as possible.I can see that on the inventory you signed, there was only one recorded mattress stain, and thus any new stains would be your responsibility as tenants. A claim was made for new stains on two mattresses, which you contested, but we worked with you constructively and you agreed to paying the full amount for one, and 50% of the cost on the second. With regards to the freezer, it was agreed with yourselves at the checkout that this would require a deep clean due to a mould build-up. I can confirm that the cleaner asked to complete the job in this circumstance was not a relative or relation of any employee of CPS Homes. You were not charged for any issues that were already recorded on the inventory.For all properties that we manage, tenants deposits are held in the Deposit Protection Scheme, as required by the Government. What this means is that where tenants do not agree with charges made against them at the end of their tenancy, they can take this to the ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution) who seek to resolve the issue, based on evidence, from a neutral standpoint. Yourself and your housemates chose not to exercise this, as you worked with us directly and accepted the claim made from your deposit. We can only apologise that you are not happy with your experience with us, however we do feel your deposit was handled fairly and efficiently. Many Thanks.

Good Afternoon Jack, Thank you for taking the time to record your comments. Having looked into this, I can see that the stain you were charged for was located in one of the upstairs bedrooms at the property. This required a professional clean ahead of the next tenancy taking place. I can see that some carpets in the property were replaced following your departure, however not in the bedrooms. The new carpets only covered the landing and stairs, hence the stain still needed to be cleared. Many Thanks.