Ocasa Homes reviews in Sunderland, Leek, Birkenhead and 2 more

★★★★★ 1/5

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One star is one too many

Ocasa is an appalling company that treats tenants with no respect whatsoever. Having lived in the Apple Building for a number of years under three owners - ocasa were the worst.They made tenants life a misery. Works on the building took an eternity - noise, dust and dirt became torture for two years. Improvements to windows were made using contractors that appeared to have no experience of installing windows in large buildings and the damp that they hoped to resolve got worse. When they realised tenants weren’t going to roll over and take massive rent hikes despite lack of improvements (kitchens falling apart, flooring gaps etc) they decided to evict. They have started to refurb flats and charge Ancoats prices, but the building IS NOT in Ancoats and doesn’t have the amenities of Ancoats flats - which are cheaper and better quality.Of course the treatment of tenants leaves a bad taste but the advice to avoid isn’t due to sour grapes of being evicted but because of the inexperienced and unprofessional nature of the company. If you want a concierge (we had one until she was made redundant), a secure place for parcels, a gym ( we used to have one) or a main door that works, then this place is not for you and the bonus of parking comes with special guests (rats).AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE!

ShellyRah · 15 March 2023 · Ocasa Homes Birmingham

★★★★★ 1/5

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Disgrace

I rented with Ocasa for just over two years, and I can categorically say they are the worst landlords I’ve ever experienced in my 20 years of renting. In fact, I’ve never had a problem with renting up until this point. They have no regard or respect for tenants and made living through a pandemic and cost of living crisis hell. They evicted most of The Apple Building in Manchester, including myself, just so they could up the rents by £500+. This has left a lot of us homeless or sofa surfing and having to give up most of our possessions. When this was explained to Ocasa they simply didn’t care. All in all, I lived in the building for eight years with other landlords, and although the building was a bit rundown they never treated us with the disrespect and disregard that Ocasa have. I was a proud tenant and actually made a lot of my own improvements to the property I.e repainting where the property had become rundown, replacing groggy bathroom floors, it looked lovely. We were served notice on 24th March 2022 and told we had two months to leave, although at a later date this was withdrawn by Ocasa and then denied that it ever happened. Then in 2022 we had notice that our rents would be raised by over £225.00 during the beginning of the cost of living crisis. Disgusting. Then another eviction notice on 1st December 2022 leaving us all devastated. Ocasa claim that the flats were unliveable. This is rubbish and a flat out lie. My apartment was wonderful the way I had it. No problems. They just want to line their pockets with more cash. There was a rumour going around that ITV were ushered in to do a documentary on the building and the homelessness crisis. It’ll be interesting to see if that is true or not. I’ll look forward to seeing it if so. Oh, and I can’t wait to see Ocasa’s reply on here, “Hi Jay, thanks for your comments, sorry to hear about your bad experience with us. We are always trying to improve in areas we fall short…” I think they have a full on robot working for them. Is her name Jo by any chance?Avoid these guys at all costs! I think I’d rather take up residence in North Korea than ever live in one of their properties again. The staff are unreal and what they’ve all done makes me sick. Even the builders that are working on the outside comment on how awful we have all be treated. If builders notice, you know it must be bad.P.S They keep advertising this building as Ancoats area on Rightmove. This property is not in Ancoats, it is on Oldham Road. They lie from the get go.

Jay · 6 March 2023 · Ocasa Homes Birmingham

★★★★★ 1/5

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Never sign with them

Avoid. Constant issues and either avoidance or denial from those at Ocasa who were meant to be responsible. The front and back doors of the building don't close and lock securely, particularly the front. Ocasa have never repaired it. There were break ins and thefts, Ocasa didn't repair it and blamed residents for having post delivered to the post area. Even reporting to the police didn't nudge them on to do anything - the officer actually said I doubt they'll do anything as she (Ocasa staff member) didn't seem particularly interested. They tried hiking the rent by around £250, which when challenged through Castleforge they claimed it was an 'admin error'. Funnily enough about a month or so later, they issued us with Section 21 notices and booted us out. They'll raise the rent by an additional £630 for new tenants.Getting a deposit back was a nightmare. They claimed I owed £300 more than I did, despite me having email evidence to the contrary. They ignored the evidence and stopped responding, until again I involved Castleforge and within 20 minutes was told it was an 'admin error'.

Gareth · 24 February 2023 · Ocasa Homes Birmingham

★★★★★ 1/5

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Avoid Avoid - Modern Day Slum Landlord

As per the other reviews. The company is a farce and is running modern day slums. As per other reviews everything broken and bodged in a "newly renovated" apartment. Ceilings all leaking from flats above plumbing leaks, 2nd floor flat was flooding when it rained. Nothing fixed quickly, I had to move out at one point as there was no hot water for 5 days. Other residents have the same complaints as myself. Their NW manager doesn't have any answers and the rest don't reply. Moved back to hotels and seeking legal action.Unlike the comment from Ocasa Below I have been contacting them for 3 months, they don't have the answers, the staff or the ability to repair their defective property - Note they haven't put a name against their reply.

Jason · 24 February 2023 · Ocasa Homes Birmingham

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Avoid at all costs

Avoid. Went to view a property and was told to apply before I miss out. Applied within minutes to be told I missed out and another one is available. Sent a video in perfect condition. Picked the keys up only to have a broken toilet, broken heating, dirty walls, filthy kitchen, no intercom working, holes in the wall. Reported it the day before I was due to move in. 3 days later and nothing from them apart from an invite to take a survey on how well they done. Absolute farce of a companyWill be seeking legal action asap.Avoid at all costs, -Update. They respond to a poor review asking me to contact them - this after several attempts requesting their assistance. Still no actual response, and still no liveable place to live.The farce continues

Scott · 21 January 2023 · Ocasa Homes Birmingham

★★★★★ 1/5

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Rent/buy elsewhere

I would not recommend letting a property from Ocasa (Midlands). In my experience, both the Lettings and Maintenance team are inept - just unable to handle basic repairs or documentation efficiently. They seem to be either understaffed or possibly just ignorant to tenants requests. All they care about is that your rent is paid on time though the timescale they take to deal with repairs/tenant concerns is actually in far breach of their tenancy agreement. Unable to get any assistance from their General Management team either. I'm stuck with them as I can't afford to move right now but I am writing this review to warn prospective tenants. Take your money elsewhere.

LK · 9 December 2022 · Ocasa Homes Birmingham

★★★★★ 1/5

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Awful company

Rating only, no written review.

EV · 6 November 2022 · Ocasa Homes Birmingham

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Worst experience of my life !

I'm just counting the days to finished my contract then I can finally move from the room.It's just a nightmare having the fire alarm ringing in the building ,inside the room the whole night when you'll have to wake up at 6 to go work ,I've called ocasa and the only thing they said they could not contact the contractor in charge of the fire alarm to fix the issue ,even fire fighters could turn it off , how it that possible ?Just ridiculous and zero respect for them tenants ,no support at all.I don't recommend at all.

Fabiola · 31 October 2022 · Ocasa Homes Birmingham

★★★★★ 1/5

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Poor service to tenants

I have been living in the building for over two years now, there are only problems with Ocasa. We have reported a lot of issues to the maintenance and the building manager just to be ignored for over a year! The damage that the builders had made months ago when they fitted new windows is unspeakable and Ocasa is doing absolutely nothing about it. We are still waiting for smaller and bigger fixes to be made, but still not getting any updates or information regarding a date. They just keep ignoring us. The front door has been broken again, and the camera around the building is drowned with water, how can we feel secure in the building? There’s no one on-site, just once a week or two. It is a shame to treat tenants like that. After moving out they will probably ask for money to fix the damages that have been reported months or years back!

Kat · 24 July 2022 · Ocasa Homes Birmingham

★★★★★ 5/5

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Like new build with friendly staff

I'm shocked by some of the reviews on here, they are not representative of my experience in an Ocasa property at all! The staff have always been friendly and helpful, and have done everything they can when I've needed any help. The flats are great especially compared to anything else I could find in my budget. These are like brand new flats without the huge price tag you find everywhere else!

Paul · 22 July 2022 · Ocasa Homes Birmingham

★★★★★ 2/5

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Flooded flat

My flat was flooded at the end of march this year and the damage was quite extensive. The flats manager, Jo, was very helpful throughout the jobs that needed to be done but the work seemed to go on forever which was very frustrating. Finally this week the work was completed, three and a half months later.As I said the manager was very helpful and quick to respond to my calls so I was happy with her handling of the situation but I often felt that the contractors were more interested in papering over problems than doing the best job they could in the first place.

Bernie · 21 July 2022 · Ocasa Homes Birmingham

★★★★★ 1/5

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Don't live in Ocasa properties

Been stuck in one of their flatshares for some time now while I wait for the council but ever since I moved in it's been one bad thing after another. If possible find a different place to live as they don't care about tenants and maintenance have to be called back out regularly.

Jaye · 20 July 2022 · Ocasa Homes Birmingham

★★★★★ 1/5

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Being evicted from my flat after 17years

Being evicted from my flat after 17yearsThey really do not care for their tenants. Great they improved the building with the windows, but they are no saying we have to be evicted to have renovations done. I know from other people living in flats renovations CAN occur while tenants are sitting or can be moved temprorily to other places. Ocasa this isn't the case. Jo confirmed that once renovated they would be increasing the rents.. So It IS to make more money. This is my home and you are taking it away from me. Thank you for making me homeless Ocasa.

Andrew · 25 March 2022 · Ocasa Homes Birmingham

★★★★★ 2/5

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I lived in one of their properties…

I lived in one of their properties after they purchased it from another corporate landlord.The positive aspect is that they were at least spending money on the building in fitting new windows. The negatives are plentiful though. The project management of the window fitting was absolutely terrible. Window fitters left my flat unlocked and rubbish and mess everywhere. The first windows were fitted in the flat in December 2020 but by the time I moved out almost a year later the snagging issues had not been sorted. There were cracks in the beading and gaps in the frame. You could actually feel a breeze from them when shut. The building leaks terribly. The CCTV is poor so struggles to identify people if there is an issue. The door lock on external doors fails constantly but instead of replacing it they blame tenants for the issues. Communication is really poor. There was constant black mould in the flat. The hearing is supplied by tiny ineffective electric Wass heaters. The kitchens, bathrooms and carpets haven't been replaced since the refurb over 15 years ago. The best thing about the flat was a concierge service mon-fri 8am to about midday. She sorted out the contractors, parcels, maintenance issues. They decided to get rid of her, despite tenants telling them that was the best thing about living there. Since moving out my mental health has improved dramatically.

C · 1 March 2022 · Ocasa Homes Birmingham

★★★★★ 5/5

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I have been in my flat for just on two…

I have been in my flat for just on two months and I can safely say I have had no problems whatsoever. The flat is in fantastic condition and I cannot fault it in anyway. It is in a quiet area and if I have had to call them which was regarding the electric meter they did what they said straight away. I am shocked at reading the previous reviews other residents have made. All I can say is they are obviously not staying in the same place as I am. I have nothing but praise to say about ocasa homes. Thank you

Derek · 23 February 2022 · Ocasa Homes Birmingham

★★★★★ 2/5

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Toxic culture

They get 2 stars because some of the staff were nice (probably made them redundant now though). Offer WFH for a better work/life balance but some days you don’t even get lunch. Very toxic culture. HR has some great ideas but doesn’t have the backing of Senior Management Team so is fighting a losing battle. They only drag HR out to do their dirty work. Could go on for days about the downright nasty members of the senior management team but there aren’t enough words. Only poor/ bad reviews should say it all. Avoid like the plague.

CJ · 9 February 2022 · Ocasa Homes Birmingham

★★★★★ 2/5

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Pop up property company

I used to work for this company until I was made redundant, as I have worked for two very good property companies before I know how poor they are. The operations team are so bad they couldn't run a bath never mind a property company. They really haven't got a clue. Repairs take forever and are shoddy and cheap. Tenants live in damp properties and they really don't care. They are only interested in raising rents. They have lost lots of staff as the company itself is toxic. Steer clear there are lots of good landlords out there that know what they are doing.You would think that they are operating from the back of a van.

Angelina · 8 February 2022 · Ocasa Homes Birmingham

★★★★★ 1/5

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Ocasa Homes Slumlords

I moved into a flat share with Ocasa Homes several months ago and it has been a truly miserable experience. The flats are full of young lads who just want to sniff cocaine and smoke weed all day and night. My flat mate has even been bringing literal crack heads, heroin users and violent criminals around to party.I've faced violent and threatening behaviour from other residents on a number of occasions. One of my flat mates has been threatening to smash my head in and I've had people from other flats threatening me as well. I'm living in fear and misery. The cacophony of noise I can hear in my room is horrendous. Extremely loud hardcore music until the early hours, people screaming and fighting, TV's blaring from multiple rooms. I'm completely surrounded by loud noise. Even ear plugs and noise cancelling headphones wont allow me any peace or sleep. People are smashing windows and vandalising the property. Ocasa homes are nothing but slumlords. Cramming as many poor and vulnerable people as they can into tiny spaces to maximize profit.

Carl · 27 January 2022 · Ocasa Homes Birmingham

★★★★★ 1/5

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Ocasa Ipswich are greedy and don't care about people

I used to rent a room in one of the their properties in Ipswich. They converted 3 bedroom flats into 5 bedroom flats. The kitchen was so tiny only 1 person could stand in it at a time. They had one of those mini fridges for 1 person and there was hardly enough room for 1 person to store their things. Remember these are 5 individuals not a family, so everyone wants to cook 5 separate meals. Some nights I just went hungry because I couldn't wait any longer and I was tired. I used to cry for hours when I lived there. All the people who lived there were so sad. When something needed to be fixed they take so long. All they care about is to make more money from us. They are greedy sharks.

Raz · 20 December 2021 · Ocasa Homes Birmingham

★★★★★ 1/5

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Toilet clogged for 4 weeks and now it…

Toilet clogged for 4 weeks and now it finally exploded!After 4 weeks of people coming and going and nobody doing anything to solve the problem, now in a Saturday morning, "feces got real", literally there is sewage coming back from all the toilets in the building, the kitchen, the communal corridor is flooded, I can't breathe.There is NO NUMBER from Ocasa that you can call, just an "Emergency line" that I think is outsourced to another company and will answer you with the same corporative crap like "We will deal with the situation ASAP".I have no place to sleep today, simple like that.The rooms look all nice and brand new, I thought that I was dealing with professionals, but don't doo the same mistake as me, I wish I had read this review page before I rented the room.

Klayton · 6 November 2021 · Ocasa Homes Birmingham

★★★★★ 2/5

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They don’t care about tenants

They don’t care about tenants, if something breaks and needs fixing takes ages. Very bad customer service. Please can someone take over this Ocasa Homes and do something.

Reka · 25 October 2021 · Ocasa Homes Birmingham

★★★★★ 1/5

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One to avoid

Extremely poor company. Complete amateurs.

Ash · 24 September 2021 · Ocasa Homes Birmingham

★★★★★ 1/5

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DO NOT rent from Ocasa

This is the singular most horrific place I have ever lived. Do not ever rent from Ocasa. At this point being homeless is safer. I've had water pouring through the ceilings when it rains for YEARS. There is black mould in every room from this. Ocasa refuses to do anything. The place is a building site as they are making it all multiple occupancy to make more money but they won't fix serious outstanding issues.Lift rarely works. There are several disabled people in the building that are stuck inside. Been a problem for years. Ocasa refuses to do anything. Rats and insects infest the building and outside bins. Been a problem for years. Ocasa refuses to do anything. Drug addicts roam the corridors with weapons threatening people. Been a problem for years. Ocasa refuses to do anything. Constant noise and music from other residents. Been a problem for years. Ocasa refuses to do anything.Violence and vandalism from other residents. Ocasa refuses to do anything.They NEVER answer the phone. I have to email them to just receive poorly typed platitudes when I raise these problems and get told they will be looked into but they never are.The emergency out-of-hours line is a joke. They have no power to do much of anything at all.I actually got asked by the out-of-hours staff if I could go to the concierge for help. Concierge?!... Is that a poorly thought out joke? This isn't a swanky manhatten pad. There is no onsite staff, you can't even get in contact with any off site staff. I could go on, but you get the point. As soon as I'm able to leave they won't see me for dust, and they can be damn sure I'll tell everyone I know about what a disgusting company they really are. I reiterate - NEVER RENT FROM OCASA.

Anna · 17 June 2021 · Ocasa Homes Birmingham

★★★★★ 1/5

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BEWARE: DO NOT RENT FROM OCASA!

What a company, and to be honest I have no idea where to start with them. Firstly their website - a complete lie. 1000+ positive reviews? But ironically only 2 available to see, the blatant lies about personal service, personal touches, on-site services, and putting the tenant first, honestly it's actually laughable. I have been with Ocasa now for nearly 2 years and trust me this is not out of choice, in those 2 years we have seen the conditions of the flat block deteriorate rapidly to the point now where we're living in a building site, unclean, tagged by cowboy builders, with homeless people freely coming inside and raiding post boxes / sleeping in the building, and to top it off we also have rats. None of which Ocasa have cared about or bothered to properly fix in their 2 years of owning the property (they will listen and do a shoddy fix of the issue which lasts a few days to a week before it goes back to how it was before and additional complaints ignored / brushed off). There is also the issue of our car park which is advertised as 'secure', not once in my 2 years of pushing and complaining about these gates have they ever been secure or even working! Which has lead to our car park being known for regular drug dealings, violent beatings (we've personally called the police out multiple times), and car theft happening in the car park, but that isn't Ocasa's problem, obviously. I could go on for days with all of the issues we've had, from the lifts being broken for 3 months (we had a disabled resident who had to pull himself up FIVE FLIGHTS OF STAIRS the entire time) to communications being ignored (phones switched off so no one can call, emails being ignored, chat boxes useless). If you want a taste of Ocasa then watch Dirty Money: Slumlord Millionaire on Netflix, it's pretty much word for word what has been happening here. If the housing market wasn't so rough I'd have moved out after a month, and believe me the sooner I get out the better, and the more people I can warn about this atrocity of a company the better.

Abie · 10 June 2021 · Ocasa Homes Birmingham