William H Brown Sowerby Bridge reviews

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Dishonest sales particulars - Failure to disclose material facts

After a 70+ mile drive to view what seemed to be the perfect house on paper - great house in need of some major updating, pictures made that clear - Great garden, very private with beautiful natural boundaries all around and not at all over looked by anyone.The house was empty and the agents had said we could look around the garden and have a look through the windows whilst we waited for the chap who was booked to show up around. We were wow'd by the back garden as it was a great size and so private. We were very excited and happy to have found a gem and were eager to get inside.Then the agent arrived and proceeded to tell us in a matter of fact way that a 1/3 of the garden was not included in the sale and would be sold off separately with outlined planning consent to build 4 new detached houses. That one sentence totally change the houses standing and took away all the privacy that is currently enjoyed by the property. We proceeded to view the house but made it very clear at that point that this information should have been in the sales particulars and in the online advertising details. We also said our offer would be drastically reduced if we were to make one.We decided that we liked the house and could accept the smaller garden but felt the price to high made a few offers that we were prepared to pay. Our offer was rejected so we walked away - A quick google search shows this house has been on the market on and off since 2013 with the same furniture inside, so we came to the conclusion the seller is unrealistic and decided to walk away.We wrote off a complaint to William H Brown asking why they hadn't given prospective buyers the information about the garden and they didn't feel it necessary as the agent was happy to inform people as they viewed. 4 detached houses being built in the garden and they don't feel buyers have the right or need to know prior top arriving at the house?An estate agent has a legal and moral duty to give any such information out that they have that can affect a buyers decision prior to them becoming financially involved. I might add, the ombudsman has stated that a buyer becomes finally involved when they turn the ignition key in their car and drives to view a property.Will Cross - Compliance Controller at William H Brown (Connells Group) decided against my complaint because he didn't feel the property was misrepresented and the fact that we made two offers backed that up.We did make an offer, our first offer was 60k below guide, and our second and final was 35k below guide.It transpired that Will Cross was looking at the photographs and his reasoning was only the areas of garden included in the sale were shown. Bagshaws Residential who are also part of the Connells Group tried to sell this house at auction and failed - Again, this is listed on Rightmove with all the garden pictured, even the areas that aren't included in the sale. This is the place we first found the house.. So they are reviewing.Both William H Brown and bagshaw residential are selling this house and they are also selling the land - They have a total of 4 adds between them on right and not one of these agents have mentioned 4 detached houses are to be built in the garden. William H Brown have since added an agents not to say the boundaries are being redefined - Yet they do not note planning has already been granted to build 4 detached houses in the garden.Yet Will Cross of the Connells Group does not believe this property is being misrepresented.It also needs to be said, they haven't sold this house and have failed the owner also by thinking it acceptable to let buyers know when the view and not allow them to decide before they arrange to view.

Philip · 26 June 2017

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Gidea Park Branch - Avoid!

We have been extremely dissatisfied with the service we received from this branch throughout the sale of our property. After we accepted an offer, the team essentially disappeared, leaving us to handle both transactions ourselves. We were forced to coordinate between all parties, chase solicitors, follow up with the lender, and manage the entire process over the course of four extremely stressful months. WHB provided no meaningful support or assistance during this time.Even the estate agent representing the property we were purchasing expressed their shock at the appalling service we experienced. They had to step in and fill the gap left by WHB to ensure our sale was progressing.The only time we witnessed any enthusiasm from WHB was when they signed us up. After that, their level of professionalism, engagement, and service declined dramatically. Their sole tangible contribution was organising the viewings, and beyond that, they offered little to no value.

Amin · 21 September 2024

★★★★★ 2/5

Trustpilot

Don't Even Bother

Current tenant in a property managed by William H Brown. Landlord is what you would call rogue and flat out refuses to carry out basic maintenance tasks as well as essential electrical safety items. This agency are not interested in helping in the matter. Rather they are happy to collect your money via the rent paid and allow bad practices to carry on. If you're a rental prospect or even a potential buyer, steer well clear as they are only interested in your wallet rather than your standard of living.

M · 6 April 2016

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Totally disgusted with William h brown…

Totally disgusted with William h brown currently renting through the mildenhall branch and I need to move out by oct as my landlady is moving out, they have been no help phone or email about properties no help at all say they’ll phone me back never do I feel it’s because I’m a single parent and they think I can’t afford anything so wake up browns us single parents are doing ok. Never did I think I’d be descriminated against being a single parent !!!!

Shelli · 1 September 2024

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Promise the skies, deliver what exactly?

When I heard the sales pitch about how they can afford to offer no sale no fee because they're a huge agent and can afford to take the losses, I should have considered whether this also meant they were lazy and lacked any hunger for sales. Seems they're main selling strategy is to argue for the lowest selling price, only to come back in 2 weeks and try to push an even lower sales price, so ultimately it is the vendor who 'takes the losses'. 26 August 2024 - the lacklustre service rolls on. Complete failure to vet viewers leading to time wasting and sheer frustration. Avoid!

Heff · 26 August 2024

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

I would leave no stars if I could

I would leave no stars if I could. No communication. Was recommended modern auction method, hopeless, price plummeted and eventually we found out from the buyers a member of staff recommended a low bid. Very poor or no service at all.

Debbie · 5 December 2025

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Bunch of illiterate clowns - don't waste your time!

Staff apparently not able to read or write or dislexic! I asked for a an email to confirm the date of my valuation - didn't receive one because the illiterate on the other end of the phone seemed incapable of writing the address down, despite me repeating it several times! He then proceeded to talk over me to blank my response, causing me to raise my voice in order to be heard - still haven't had a response from them!

David · 26 July 2024

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Brown by name, brown by nature

I was interested in viewing a house marketed by William H Brown, but because the listing contained no information at all about services or council tax, I emailed the branch a list of questions. This was ignored.Several days later, to follow up, I 'phoned to ask the same questions. I was told that someone would call me back within the hour. No one did.I 'phoned again after three hours, was given the same story, and the same result. No one at WHB could be bothered in the slightest. Business must be good.I gave up and went somewhere else.

Owl · 20 July 2024

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

This is an appalling estate agents…

This is an appalling estate agents company who do nothing but constantly harass you everyday to get you set up in absolute dubbed properties to rent from my experience, plus their attitude is very pushy and rude too as they fail to always reply to your messages or needs so stear clear of this organisation - DON'T CHOOSE THEM!!! May I also add that cause of their blackmailing to get me into a property that had a history of mould on one side of the back to back property, it has increased my asthma condition which they were asked about before but no honest answer was given so thank you tripe heads for your lack of care towards health

Quentin · 16 July 2024

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

If I could give minus stars I would. They are criminals.

Our experience with William H Brown has been absolutely horrific from start to finish. This is genuinely the worst letting experience we have ever had, and the level of negligence, dishonesty, and disregard for tenants’ wellbeing has been unbelievable.

Rebekah · 3 December 2025

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Absolutely terrible

Absolutely terrible. We agreed to the purchase of a flat, but after four months, our solicitors informed us that the seller didn’t even have a copy of the lease. This oversight by William H. Brown wasted our money and time , as they didn’t check the details before listing the property.As a goodwill gesture, they showed us another flat before it went on the market. We made an offer via email, it was accepted, and we were told we could proceed if we completed the survey within a week. We did the survey, secured a mortgage offer, and then found out that a neighbour put an higher offer, and the sellers decided to go with that, even though they had signed a contract with William H Brown. We had no rejection of offer or correspondence whatsoever .They wasted our time and money and unprofessional behavior with constant blame-shifting. I do not recommend William H. Brown at all. Please read all the reviews or speak to ex buyers you will be amazed before considering them .

DoDi · 9 July 2024

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

AVOID AVOID AVOID

A dreadful experience. Lots of promising words at the start but once you’re signed up nothing, no contact all. As an example, they promised to send round a professional photographer but took a few photos on their phone for “office use”. Next thing I know those crappy phone photos are online. When selling a house, the first month is when you get the most interest and I lost out on that due to W H Brown lack of enthusiasm and engagement. I will never use them again.

Steve · 8 July 2024

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

If I could give 0 I would

If I could give 0 I would, from the start it was bad, booked a valuation in for the Thursday, on the Tuesday got an email to say my valuation slot had been cancelled so rang the number on the email to rebook, got through to one branch to be told that branch doesn't deal with my area and they gave me the branch that does, so tried ringing them after numerous attempts and unable to get through I emailed back to that email address to say the issues I was having. Someone finally rang me back, the girl on the phone explained it was a head office mess up to why I had been booked in with the wrong valuation person, ironically the girl said she felt like she had spoke to me before (this is where the irony sets in, it wasn't head office that booked my original valuation in, it was in fact her! So first lie from william h brown), so booked in with their valuation guy to come on the Saturday.Anyways Saturday comes, he's all prepared with information on my house and the area etc... however, much of the information he provided was either known lies or half truths, he asked what other estate agents had valued the property at and then added 5k to their valuations. At the end of everything he said so shall we sign you up then, when I said ill have to think about it, he then turned to my partner (baring in mind this was already made clear the house was mine) and asked what he thought (did not like this, felt like undermining was apparent in his approach). He then said about booking us in for the Tuesday after to get us signed up.After he left, upon a little thinking decided to go with another estate agent so rang up william h brown and cancelled the Tuesday appointment, gave the reasons why and thought that would be the end of it, but no 10 minutes late the valuator rings up to find out for himself why I had decided to go somewhere else so after that phone call thought that would be it, how wrong could I be, over a week and a half later now just had my 5th call from william h brown and when I said in this last call about sick to the back teeth of them ringing me and it always being off different numbers she said they don't all share the same system so doesn't know who's called and when, I do not believe this, I believe the harassing people into signing is their technique.So word of advice, do not even get a valuation from this company..... avoid like the plague!!!

Jenni · 4 July 2024

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Awful overall..

Awful overall... super friendly service to start with and had it tenanted quickly but that's where the good stuff ends and the nightmare begins... the tenants were not "ideal tenants" as they had said, of course they did not let you have much information about who they are prior to agreeing to take them on. You have no choice in who you take on essentially. Wouldn't be surprised if they promised the tenants something you had not agreed to and blamed the landlord for not delivering.Oh, in addition they have expensive hidden fees so if you think you are getting a good deal you are not. They as any others hide behind their well drafted terms of business, of course they lure you in on other terms but this is just verbally mentioned to you.Good agents are hard to find unfortunately.

Jag · 3 July 2024

★★★★★ 5/5

Trustpilot

The best estate agent in town!!

We cannot praise and thank Ben and his team enough for the true support and caring attentive service. We had a extremely stressful time during the sale of our house due to short comings by some of the solicitors in the chain. Ben was on hand to guide us and give us a truly wonderful end result!! We would recommend Ben and his team to any prospective sellers or buyers!Paul and Susan Stenhouse

Sue · 27 June 2018

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Avoid Stevenage branch at all costs

Started out overly friendly couldn’t do enough to get things moving then once they got my payment, everything stoped lack of communication constantly having to chase false promises constant delays -just a heads up they take payment before they do the work not after so I lost money for a mortgage I never got from Deniz in the Stevneage branch. I’ve used William h brown before (not this branch) with no problems but this experience with Deniz and the Stevenage teams was truly shocking. Avoid at all costs! When actual work was involved the team were rude and unhelpful making the process even more stressful.

NA · 5 June 2024

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Absolutely shocking customer service

Absolutely shocking the way they treat customers.The initial meeting was good, but the minute you sign on the dotted line for them to sell your property, it all goes downhill from there.Three times I had to tell them I didn't want accompanied viewings (I worked in new homes for 14 years, so I think I know how to sell a house!) and someone would "be on their way"!!!!I felt that the staff were patronising, and couldn't really be bothered.In the end I changed agents to get a better service (of which I did) but in the end one of the original viewers made an offer, so we were reverted back to WHB.The sales chasing was hit and miss, even our solicitor said he didn't know who was representing us for the first few weeks!!The straw that broke the camels back was the email I received a week before we completed from Amanda, to say that they had referred us to the debt collection part of WHB and they wanted us to pay ASAP! I rang and asked the member of staff to get Amanda to ring me as we had not yet completed on the sale!!!!No one ever called, not to apologise for their mistake, but also to tell us we had completed!Discusting way to treat customers. AVOID AT ALL COSTS

Tina · 15 May 2024

★★★★★ 5/5

Trustpilot

We have to thank Jack and team at the…

We have to thank Jack and team at the Stevenage branch of W H Brown. Jack gave us a valuation and the house sold within 2 weeks. Every question we had was answered promptly and professionally. We would highly recommend W H Brown and would definately use their services again.

Jane · 21 February 2023

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Very poor service from the Scunthorpe…

Very poor service from the Scunthorpe branch, I was convinced to sell (or attempt to) my property through the modern auction process, PLEASE DO NOT USE THIS SERVICE, the communication and feedback from the auction team and the Scunthorpe WHB team was diabolical, after 4 months I gave up with them, even then they did not acknowledge my email or offer any form of apology for the poor service.

Ian · 31 October 2024

★★★★★ 5/5

Trustpilot

I have been dealing with Megan Evans at…

I have been dealing with Megan Evans at WH BROWN Parliament Street. Megan has been brilliant, super helpful all the way through the process of selling our house. Highly recommend.Annemarie Tait

Annemarie · 13 May 2024

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

From rising damp to black mould

From rising damp to black mould, their response was to clean the gutters and that was it. Needless to say it returned every few months. We had no boiler for the last 3 months from December to April, in a house that the back windows are single glazed. We was provided 1 small heater to heat the whole house and given £100 rent reduction for this which is absolutely disgusting. Apart from Tom staff are argumentative and sarcastic. All round bad experience.

Aaron · 17 April 2024

★★★★★ 2/5

Trustpilot

Disappointed in Holderness Road Hull Branch

My daughter purchased a property through the Holderness Road Hull Office, although staff were initially very helpful, Charlotte became very rude to me because I didn’t want to use their solicitor they recommended, they were going to charge £1200 + for the conveyancing. It is obvious she was going to get a commission from it and when I quoted other solicitor prices she became defensive, got very angry and told me to stop talking and listen to her, when I said, don’t talk to me like that she put the phoned down on me. Totally unprofessional. They also blamed our new solicitor for holding things up, admittedly they were very slow but the sellers solicitor had only sent part of a document our solicitor requested, but WH Browns staff didn’t want to know about this. They kept saying the seller was angry and frustrated at the delay but if her solicitor had sent the full document in the first place it may have progressed quicker. All in all I would not recommend WH Browns.

Elaine · 15 April 2024

★★★★★ 5/5

Trustpilot

Hi just sold my house through this…

Hi just sold my house through this agents at 1st i was struggling then eventually this nice person called shona came into my life and sorted everything out without her i would of not been here in my new house iv had a grt experience with her she attended my calls and emails straight away and helped through out this journey she was a god send for me please everybody ask for shona she is grttt 100 percent efficent 😊

Kulwinder · 11 April 2024

★★★★★ 2/5

Trustpilot

The vendor has lost many thousands

Viewed a property, offered asking price, advised that there were 2 other offers, we were prepared to offer more. Vendor wanted time to consider offers. We were then told that they had accepted another offer. We were not given the option to make another offer. Then I received a copy of the email to the buyers whose offer had been accepted - a very unacceptable and unprofessional mistake. There seems to have been no duty of care to the vendor to obtain a better price.

M · 5 April 2024