Life Residential Birmingham reviews

★★★★★ 4/5

Trustpilot

Positive experience despite initial hiccup

My flatmate and I have been renting a flat from Life Residential for 6 months now. At first, we faced some issues with our property manager, Alisha M François, as she didn't respond promptly to our concerns and it always took extra time to address our issues. However, we were able to overcome this problem through clear communication and persistence.Since then, our experience with Life Residential has been great! The flat itself is fantastic and very comfortable to live in. The company has been helpful in resolving any issues we've had with the property. For instance, they took care of the mould on the balcony by painting it, and even replaced my flatmate's broken bed with a brand new one. We appreciate their efforts in making our living experience as smooth as possible.Overall, our experience with Life Residential has been positive, and we would recommend them to others looking for a rental property. We're giving them a 4-star rating, due to the initial problem, but we're happy with the service we've received so far.

Vladislav · 27 March 2023

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

WORST ESTATE AGENT - READ BEFORE SIGNING ANYTHING WITH THEM

ANY LANDORD OR TENANT should AVOID THIS AGENCY AT ALL COSTS!!! This is the WORST estate agent which you could possibly deal with and if there was an option to give them ZERO STARS for their letting service, I would have not hesitated to do so. BE ESPECIALLY CAREFUL WHEN DEALING WITH JAMES HANDLEY, who has the position of a "Senior Lettings Manager" and JACK PIGGOTT, who has the position of a "Senior Property Manager"Last year, I have instructed LIFE RESIDENTIAL to rent out and fully manage the property on my behalf. The main persons involved from the lettings department were James Handley and Jack Piggott. Dealing with these two was the worst nightmare I have had to endure throughout my tenure with them. Together, they have mismanaged the property and have not reported on the full extent of the maintenance issues, which the tenants have reported to themAT THE START OF THEIR TENANCY. They only reported a few issues to me, and requested payment for contractors for the said issues. I have made payment to them.However, when I sought clarification on how the funds have been spent, they ignored me, whilst continuing to ask for more funds to buy a new sofa for the property. I refused to make any further payment unless I receive full clarification on how the funds already paid have been spent. They still ignore the issue. They only came back to me after the tenants have reportedly gone to their offices in person to complain about the maintenance. At this point, I made Life (inc James and Jack) aware that I will take over the management of the property. I visited the tenants at the property in person, and they explained that their main concerns were a broken bed, dinning table and also issues with the bath tub, which were never reported to me by Life, despite that the tenants have informed them. I was also surprised that the works which I have paid Life to handle were actually not done. When I challenged Jack with this, he blamed the contractors saying that they never updated him. Throughout my meeting with the tenants, they complained bitterly about the unprofessional service of Life and specifically Jack Piggott. They said he suffers with chronic patterns of lying to cover up for their incompetence and/or dishonesty in managing the property, which I also experienced first hand.I took it on me to fix all the maintenance issues and arranged for my own contractors to look after the same. After all has been done and arranged, Jack emailed asking if "I needed any help!". As if he suddenly started caring after I have managed all. Despite the fact that I have managed the property and tenants in relation to the maintenance issues, Life charged their fees in full and to date (almost 12 months later), they still have not contacted the contractors to come back to the property and fix the issues, which I paid them to do. All they do is to transfer the rent at the end of the period and charge FULL fees!It is now time to discuss renewals, and I have obviously expressed my dissatisfaction with their service, and instructed for the management to be handed to a different agent. Now, James have appeared back in the picture after MONTHS WITH NO CONTACT, and he says that Life "own" the tenants, so I have to pay them fees for as long as the tenants remain in situ. To support his position, he cites the part of the agreement - screenshot attached, in an effort to milk LOTS of money ON TOP OF THE RIDICLOUS FEES THEY HAVE ALREADY CHARGED FOR MINIMAL ASSISTANCE (initially securing tenants and their referencing).MY CANDID ADVICE - BE CAREFUL WHEN SIGNING ANY AGREEMENT WITH THEM. THEY ABSOLUTELY DO NOT CARE ABOUT THEIR CLIENTS. ALL THEY ARE AFTER IS ANY MONEY. IF YOU LET THEM MANAGE YOUR PROPERTY, YOU ARE BOUND TO SUFFER SEVERE LOSSES AND YOU WILL BE BETTER OFF DOING IT YOURSELF OR INSTRUCTING OTHER ESTATE AGENTS IN THE AREA WHO HAVE MUCH BETTER REVIEWS AND ARE FAR MORE REASONABLE THAN THEM. AT LEAST THEY WILL GIVE YOU SOME SORT OF SERVICE. LIFE RESIDENTIAL WILL GIVE YOU NONE.

V.marcos · 23 March 2023

★★★★★ 5/5

Google

Everything is smooth and Jahdel is helpful. Fast and efficient. Quick replies. Good service.

Chloe · 27 May 2024

★★★★★ 5/5

Trustpilot

Brilliant staff member

We have just been dealing with Harry Free to re-let our flat in Isle of Dogs London E14 and his service to us has been first class! Not only has he re-let our flat within 24 hours, he has increased the rent significantly and found great new tenants who will move in straight away so they will be no void period. This is just perfect! He is extremely professional to deal with and incredibly helpful which has made renting out our flat very trouble free. He is a real credit to Life Residential.

Pickles · 14 March 2023

★★★★★ 5/5

Trustpilot

Very good experience with Life…

Very good experience with Life Residential. I was very impressed by the Property Manager, Ilinca Ioanovici. She was very friendly, attentive, reliable and helpful. Not only she was approachable, she always came back with an answer. I feel very grateful to have have such a support. Thank you so much Ilinca for her excellent service👍👍👍👍👍. Highly recommend!

Suk · 25 September 2023

★★★★★ 5/5

Trustpilot

What would LR do without Ashleigh Bates?

What would Life Residential do without Ashleigh Bates? She has been, by far, the main reason I continue to use Life Residential to manage my property. She always replies to my emails immediately. Even if it is just to let me know that she intends to look into something for me when she gets a moment. She always responds in the most professional manner. By far the best person I have dealt with in the 4 years I have used Life Residential.

David · 7 March 2023

★★★★★ 5/5

Trustpilot

Thank you Abby G

Thank you Abby G. Verry efficient and timeous.

Andre · 4 September 2024

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Nightmare experience with this agency

Please be careful when renting with this Agency. There are not enough words to express the dangerous and horribly poor service they provided in our case. It would require an entire booklet to list all the problems they have created to us, so i will only give a striking example:The flat above us had a water leakage which started directly leaking from our ceiling! We reported this IMMEDIATELY, staying in the flat with all the risks of electricution, mold, water damage throughout. The property manager took literal ages to come back to us even after repeated phonecalls and emails. We had to escalate a complaint to her superiors to draw her attention to that huge problem while the property was getting damaged and we were living in unliveable conditions. She eventually replied and blamed it on the landlady’s delay, which given the history of our interactions with that property manager, we off course did not believe. The water leakage was addressed 4 months from the initial onset!!! Yes, 4 months. Of course ensuing significant water damages in the property. Fast forward to few months later when we decided to move out of the property, when we asked our deposit back, she authorized the most unbelievable damage report in the history of the world, where she was asking us to pay for multiple water damage repairs from our deposit. We tried to escalate with her superior, who was absolutely clueless about the situation and was asking us to tell her what happened. Once we explained everything fully, she took no action and handed over to the property manager again to authorize that we were responsible for the water damages. Unbelievable behaviour. We are now trying to get our deposit back from the MyDeposit scheme. I have to stress out again that this is only one of literally multiple unprofessional and completely horrendous behaviours we experienced with this agency. I would give them a zero start review but 1-star is the lowest.

Konstantinos · 5 March 2023

★★★★★ 5/5

Trustpilot

I wanted to specifically shoutout our…

I wanted to specifically shoutout our property manager Leilani who is very responsive, always professional, and has been really helpful in the 5 months thus far we’ve rented with LiFE Residential. Whenever we’ve had an issue arise with furniture, utilities or even payments she was there ready to help.

Customer · 18 December 2025

★★★★★ 5/5

Trustpilot

Friendly and polite

Kacey Smail has been friendly and polite in setting up the new contract.

Teshi · 22 August 2025

★★★★★ 5/5

Google

Jahdel was a great agent and was particularly prompt, responsive and efficient in dealing with my rental issues.

李佳成 · 27 February 2024

★★★★★ 5/5

Trustpilot

I had an issue with the thermostats in…

I had an issue with the thermostats in my rental property, and my property manager was able to quickly arrange for a repair technician to come out and resolve the issue. I was impressed with how fast she was able to take action and get the problem addressed. She kept me informed throughout the process and made sure that everything was taken care of to my satisfaction. Her responsiveness and attention to detail are truly commendable. I appreciate her dedication to providing excellent service and highly recommend her to anyone in need of a reliable property manager.

Zefi · 24 February 2023

★★★★★ 5/5

Trustpilot

Experience with Property Manager Kalidass

I was a tenant for 2 years of a property managed by Life Residential and my overall experience with them has been positive. Property Manager Kalidass U. deserves particular mention as he has always been helpful, professional, responsive and reliable. At check out, he assisted with the timely release of my deposit; and when I noticed a discrepancy in the inventory he quickly double checked and resolved the extra charges. His skills in problem solving and managing customer relations are impressive.He is a real asset to his team and I wish him every success.Some time ago I had some issue with my agreed payment schedule, and it took a while to resolve - however this is not the scope of this review.

ZZ · 23 February 2023

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Unprofessional conduct

Unprofessional conduct, broken promises, bad manners, and poor accountability. The team at Life did a great job selling me on the property and getting me through the door. Once I was locked in, the problems started.The team couldn't tell me who the internet provider and utilities providers are. I figured these out and shared the details with the team. When repairs were needed to snags (it's a new build), I had to follow up repeatedly. Some repairs were seen to, others are still to be attended to by the developers. The property manager who made promises about repairs was quick to point fingers at the developer as well as an internal team. When held to account for her broken promises, all she did was blame others then offload the issue after months of breaking promises.The accounts department isn't any better. After not letting me know which company provides for heating for the building, I get forwarded an invoice with no name on it and told I need to pay it. I have never dealt with the company in question, haven't set up my move-in date with that company, or registered with that company. For all I know, it could be a scam. Rather than address the issue created by poor on-boarding, it gets made my problem.The sooner both people's jobs can be automated with a chat bot, the better. No value added.

Seb · 21 February 2023

★★★★★ 5/5

Trustpilot

Great agent as a tenant

I’ve been very happy with Life Residential as my property manager and have been with them for the past 2 years. They are always very responsive, helpful and it is a breath of fresh air to have a good estate agent that wants to help. They resolve issues quickly (I am a tenant renting through them) and Nicola Soper in particular has been excellent since taking over as my specific property manager (quick, polite, follows up with regular updates and always takes the time to call and check things are going as planned E.g. repairs, appliance replacements etc). Thank you

Oliver · 13 February 2023

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Unprofessional, messy and unresponsive

I am a property owner and I have Life Residential to help me manage the tenancy and property. The first few years was OK, not extraordinary service but at least responsible and responsive. However the latest two years have had a lot of problems. The tenant damaged things and went away. While I can totally understand this sometimes happens, the subsequent follow ups by Life Residential were terrible. Firstly, I found them mistakenly not buying rental insurance for us even though they have confirmed us they did. They had to repay us. Secondly, the initial deposit which we were supposed to have right to claim has gone nowhere - after 6 months of chasing, they all of sudden said they repaid us but we never received. They have been dragging the issue for 6 months, and their staff are unprofessional, messy and unresponsive. Now I am raising a complaint but even for complaint there's no one to answer! Never trust this property agency

R · 10 February 2023

★★★★★ 5/5

Trustpilot

Thanks, Jack Piggott

I am Korean and it was my first living in the UK. From moving in to moving out, everything was not easy. Frankly speaking I have heard lots of things as to how difficult housing problem in the UK, and some of my friends told me very badly about landlord and UK property company. "they don't care about tenancy" "landlords are very greedy" Yes. they might be. However, at least, my experience was different. Jack Piggott, Senior Property Manager, always tried to help me as possible as he can. And he always reply to my question within 5 min. It made me really surprised. I have never met such a person who give answer so quickly, even in Korea and Japan. I think it means that he always concentrate on his work. Moreover when I found to leave my cell phone in the house due to the termination of contract, he was willing to help me find my cell phone.Thanks to his help, I can leave with good memory

You · 3 February 2023

★★★★★ 5/5

Google

Jahdel was great and guided me through all the necessary steps :) Was a pleasure to work with and would recommend as a letting agent.

Adriana · 26 August 2023

★★★★★ 4/5

Trustpilot

Wonderful Experience with Life Residential

Life Residential is really very professional & supportive and specially my property manager Emma ODonoghue is very prompt & co-operative all the time. She had been lighting fast in providing resolution to all the challenges I faced in recent past. My sincere thanks to Emma ODonoghue.

Jaydip · 7 January 2021

★★★★★ 5/5

Trustpilot

Tianna

Tianna was great with her advice and keeping me updated with everything.

Ms · 5 June 2024

★★★★★ 5/5

Trustpilot

Abby Gooptu

Thanks to Abby Gooptu who handled our lease renewal in a professional manner.

Marjorie · 15 May 2024

★★★★★ 5/5

Trustpilot

Definitely recommend LiFE

Life residential have been great so far this tenancy. Alisha has been looking after us - ensuring any problems are escalated and fixed, and managing our relationship to the landlord.

George · 27 March 2023

★★★★★ 4/5

Trustpilot

Thanks Abby Gooptu for your assistance…

Thanks Abby Gooptu for your assistance and endeavours re the renewal !

Christian · 31 May 2024

★★★★★ 5/5

Trustpilot

Thank you to Abby Gooptu

Abby Gooptu has been very helpful, a big thank you to Abby Gooptu.

Will · 9 May 2024