Cardiff Student Letting Cardiff reviews

★★★★★ 1/5

Google

DO NOT LET WITH CARDIFF STUDENT LETTING! They made a mistake and said I would be accepted onto a property with the Cardiff university guarantor scheme, and I sent an email to double check which they confirmed it’s fine. Only two weeks later at the end of my current tenancy they have told me it’s not fine and not even apologised and blamed it on the landlord. I had already paid my holding deposit and no one even informed me they didn’t accept it. I had to call them up. The woman on the phone (Liz) dealing with this was incredibly condescending and would double down and say I have to do everything on my end to rent (when I have done everything I possibly could have) and didn’t even admit she made a mistake and kept making excuses for literally making me homeless!! They have no empathy or accountability for the mistakes they make and are so rude to you! Liz was so incredibly unempathetic with making a mistake that has led to me being homeless and was so rude to me with no apology. These letting agents genuinely have no kindness in their souls please avoid at all costs

Suraiyah · 16 September 2025

★★★★★ 1/5

Google

An abysmal year with this agency, in my honest opinion ! The photos (attached) were taken the day my daughter moved in, and unbelievably, the situation deteriorated from there. I won't spend much time on this review, as I've already wasted too much time trying to resolve issues over the past year. I was devastated that my daughter had the misfortune of falling under the "care" of this agency. The agency claimed the property was professionally cleaned before her tenancy began; this seemed simply untrue. Vermin droppings were found in the kitchen, as shown in the attached photos, and we reported this within the 14-day window stipulated in their Tenancy Information Pack. No action was taken. Numerous issues arose throughout the year. Some took an unreasonably long time to address, while others were never resolved. Notably, mould was present in my daughter’s bedroom wardrobes and remained unaddressed despite our complaints. There is plenty more to tell, but I simply cannot be bothered. The agency may respond to this review in an attempt to defend their actions, but as another parent of a tenant in the same property remarked, it was by far the worst accommodation their child had ever stayed in. Recently, my daughter moved to a new rented accommodation, and the difference in service is astonishing. Although there was some mould along the bay window and the bed's centre frame was damaged, the new agency cleaned and painted the window within two hours of moving in. They also delivered and installed a new bed frame and mattress within five days. In summary, assist your child in choosing their agency and accommodation carefully. I was very naive and regret not being more diligent.

Robbie · 1 August 2024

★★★★★ 1/5

Google

Had an unpleasant experience with unprofessional staff and a disappointing house visit. Throughout the viewing, the staff member simply trailed behind me without offering any guidance, any discussions. When I inquired about possible changes to the early termination fee and the contract start date, the only response I received was, ‘Ask the landlord.’ Thankfully the local landlord tends to be more helpful than they are. This raised the question: why should a student, unfamiliar with the local area’s conditions, bother going through the agency at all? The entire experience was an early red flag for anyone considering this rental, as there appeared to be no room for negotiation or any additional support provided.

Kai · 27 January 2025

★★★★★ 5/5

Google

I have to say how professional, caring the services are for Tenants and Landlords. Customer Service is a key differentiator and Cardiff Student Letting has this in ambudance. A personal thank you to Lloyd and team for their continued support, persistence and professionalism.

Javid · 28 May 2024

★★★★★ 1/5

Google

Unfortunately, the only reason I’m giving this student letting agency one star is because of my experience with the private landlord during my time in Cardiff. While it may not be entirely the agency’s fault, they do act as his maintenance agents, so I would strongly advise avoiding them if possible. The landlord in question is SOHAN SALL. If you find yourself signing a contract and he is listed as the private landlord GOOD LUCK. Especially if you’re a woman, be cautious. He is deeply disrespectful and, in my experience, displayed clear misogynistic behaviour. First of all, he refuses to communicate via text, he always insists on phone calls. It’s clear this is because he doesn’t want anything to be recorded or documented in writing. Whenever we tried to message him, he would immediately call instead of replying by text. At one point, he even tried to bribe my housemate, saying “I will give you a good reference for your next tenancy if you promise to clean the garden when moving out.” This kind of behaviour is completely UNPROFESSIONAL and MANIPULATIVE. When I first moved in, he treated my mum APPALLINGLY simply because she was carefully inspecting the property on my behalf. He dismissed her with, “I’m showing the tenants, she’s not my tenant,” conveniently forgetting she was also my guarantor and had signed the same contract. He even THREATENED to take the keys back and stop us from moving in. Dealing with him was a complete NIGHTMARE. He also made multiple FALSE ACCUSATIONS claiming that my housemates hadn’t paid their rent, when in fact, they had. It felt as though he was deliberately trying to intimidate us into paying more, as if he was hoping we’d panic and send additional money. He THREATENS, BLACKMAILS, LIES, and COERCES tenants. This is not someone you want to be renting from, and it’s disappointing that a student letting agency continues to work with him. I could say so much more, but if you’re a parent doing research for your child, trust me, you do not want them stuck with this landlord. Especially if you have a daughter, please take this as a serious warning. And if you’re a student or someone looking to rent have some self-respect. He will BELITTLE you, manipulate you, and make you feel powerless. He does not deserve to be a landlord. It’s as if he thrives on having control over others, like some sort of power trip. I have attached photos showing the condition of the property when we moved in, as presented by the landlord, along with a screenshot of his message in which he harasses us with false and threatening statements. In the message, he falsely claims that his ‘system automatically reports any missed payments to credit referencing agencies,’ which would allegedly affect our future financial applications and job opportunities. A private landlord cannot directly report missed payments to credit reference agencies unless they use a verified third-party service, and even then, tenants must consent to that arrangement, usually through the tenancy agreement. Only regulated credit providers like banks or credit card companies, can report to credit bureaus.

Juliette · 16 October 2025

★★★★★ 1/5

Google

Avoid like the plague. Absolutely horrendous and by far the worst letting agency we have ever used. They breached our contract on more than seven occasions over an 18 month period by entering the property without giving us any notice whatsoever even though complaints were raised. We were left without a working boiler for 3 months during the winter and no HMO licence displayed in the property which breaches the law. We have paid legal fees to attempt to leave the contract early due to not feeling safe in the property. They also tried to withhold our deposit for unjust reasons which meant we had to contact the deposit scheme to get involved.

Lily · 16 September 2025

★★★★★ 1/5

Google

DO NOT RENT FROM HERE! After four years of renting as a student in Cardiff (always with my full deposit returned) my experience with Cardiff Student Letting has been, by far, the worst! The agency deducted hundreds from our deposit for questionable charges, including £200 for “garden maintenance” despite the fact that: The garden was already in a poorly maintained, overgrown state when we moved in. No tools were provided and no expectations were communicated during tenancy, and they even sent someone to cut the hedges at our request shortly before we moved out. Expecting students to purchase power tools or gardening equipment is not only unreasonable, but it also reflects the predatory way this agency hides behind contractual clauses to justify dubious deductions! This is especially concerning given that they are a student letting agency operating out of a student union, where one would hope for a more supportive and ethical approach. The cleaning charges were similarly inflated we were charged hundreds, despite returning the property in a similar state that we received it. As, the property initially included black mould, peeling wallpaper, and general grime. They provided minimal photographic evidence before move-in, yet took excessive, zoomed-in images after moving-out, creating a completely unfair double standard. If you are a student or tenant considering renting with Cardiff Student Letting, DON’T. Our experience reflects an agency more focused on extracting money from deposits than supporting their student tenant. I would urge anyone renting from them to take exhaustive photographs at check-in, request full inventories, and be prepared to dispute unfair deductions. Additionally, if you have a garden, you should either be prepared to lose hundreds of pounds in your deposit or spend hundreds of pounds on gardening power tools!

Rudy · 16 August 2025

★★★★★ 1/5

Google

Provided a house at a decent price. However when we arrived the house clearly hadn't been cleaned properly (dirty carpets, dead spiders in cupboards and had wall pins on my bedroom floor). Also most bedrooms had mould issues and my chair was missing a bolt to hold the back on a friend had the same issue but found the bolt hidden in his room. Our shower head barely worked which I complained about in September I got one response then nothing, and ended up replacing the shower head myself. Slow response was common for all faults. And at the end of the year got charged £75 each so £75 x 9 ppl = £675 with most complaints being hoovering which for the state we received the house in seems completely unreasonable.

Oran · 16 July 2025

★★★★★ 1/5

Google

The worst letting agents I’ve ever had the displeasure of renting from! This is a long review by someone who only stayed with them for 6 months! They advertise as being “run by students for students” - this is a complete lie!! They are money hungry and useless - DO NOT RENT FROM THESE PEOPLE! We first arranged a viewing and turned up to be told by the current tenants that they had already informed the letting agents this time wasn’t suitable for them. The agent just seemed completely oblivious about this which was a hint I should’ve taken more seriously. The agents told us to rearrange the appointment and go home. The tenancy contract weirdly had this one line showing on the tenancy but CROSSED OUT: “The tenant does not have to pay rent if the property is uninhabitable”. When emailed about this, they said this is only due to disagreement about what “uninhabitable” means and it couldn’t be changed to add a definition as it is “in all of our contracts”. Dodgy!!! We went for the house anyway (student desperation for a roof over our head). We were told to pay half rent in the Summer months as we’d only start living there in Sept (as is normal for students). However, when asked if we could move our belongings to the house to keep over Summer (our old house was a street away), we were told that this wasn’t allowed! We were paying half rent for a house we weren’t living in, (a substantial amount of money totalling to more than £2000 between us for essentially nothing) but this wasn’t enough for Cardiff Student Lettings to allow us to just move some belongings in. We only got around this as one of us was staying in Cardiff over summer, so they let us move our stuff with his. But even this move was challenging. Our contract stated it began on 1st July, so clearly we should move on the 1st of July. The letting agents don’t believe so - they said the first move in date was 8th July! So if we had to move in, they expected students to just get a hotel for a week and keep all their belongings there? Luckily they discovered availability on the 1st for us after several emails, during which they just dropped off keys. So all this BEFORE we even moved in. Moving in was disgusting. Black mould on all the walls, dirty condensation on the windows, broken glass in the garden and chairs that would collapse at any second. The letting agents response? It was our fault for moving in “too early” and not giving them enough time to get cleaning staff in. They were informed of our move on the 29th of April!! They said people would be sent to treat the mould and that the inner window condensation is merely a cosmetic issue that doesn’t need fixing (while ignoring that this issue leads to more mould and higher heating bills!). The mould wasn’t treated and instead was cleaned by my housemate and his parents, due to no one showing up for weeks. When asked if they could get some compensation for this, the letting agency said no as it is “a cost that wouldn’t make sense to the landlord”, which shows exactly why their whole “run for students” motto is absolute bull. The chairs weren’t addressed until almost 6 months later, after multiple complaints including from our families. Then came my early move out. I had been accepted onto a semester abroad and emailed to inform them. The contract only stated that subletting wasn’t allowed but had no consequences for early termination of the contract. The house was unfit for human habitation anyway due to the black mould, especially with my asthma (which they knew about), so I could have argued this for termination, but informed them of the semester abroad anyway. I was told it would cost £150 & I was responsible for finding a replacement! when asked what the fee was for, they claimed “admin costs” but I was forced to do the work for them! Legally I wasn’t obligated to pay the fee (not in the contract) but did it to move out ASAP. Weeks after moving out, I noticed I stopped wheezing and was much healthier. I could write so much more but you get the idea: Cardiff Student Lettings are awful and heartless.

Srikavi · 8 April 2025

★★★★★ 5/5

Google

Of the several accommodations we stayed in as students, we can easily say our time with Cardiff Student Letting was the best. We truly felt at home in the accommodation we stayed in. In our interactions with CSL agents, they were always …

Farzana · 16 April 2025

★★★★★ 5/5

Google

Lauren is very helpful and kind!! She is patient and answers my questions in a detailed way. This is my first time in Cardiff and I am a PhD student at the University of Bristol, who tries to find my final year accommodation.

Shengnan · 1 August 2024

★★★★★ 5/5

Google

I had a good experience staying with CSL over the last year, friendly office and a swift return of deposit after end of tenancy!

Ella · 16 July 2025

★★★★★ 1/5

Google

NEVER RENT FEOM CARDIFF STUDENT LETTING I had the displesure of renting from cardiff student letting.several points , …

Jay · 16 July 2025

★★★★★ 1/5

Google

Moved into a property that was in an unclean and unacceptable condition, with the bath being held together by duct tape. Despite this, part of our deposit was withheld for reasons that were not properly justified. I will not be renting from this agency again.

Elain · 5 August 2025

★★★★★ 1/5

Google

Recently I went to over there and unfortunately I requested an en suit room.They are spoken with me that our contract start from 8th of August to end of June next year but when I got agreement from them(by email) I have already seen that they wrote an agreement from 1st of July - 28th of June.When I contacted them and I have explained to them that somethings were wrong on the our contract and before sign need to modify. They replied" Its our contract and You must accepted and obey everything we say".They are cheated in our agreement and wanted 1 month early sign contract and 3 days extra charge me in the end of contract . I do not recommend this agency at all.Please read your contract before sign ,They are not reliable people.be careful and avoid to get contract with them. in the end, when I have seen they do not accept to modify,I said" I do not sign it and I have requested full refund .They wasted my time about 3 days and I become homeless.

Mohammad · 10 June 2020

★★★★★ 5/5

Google

Genuinely do not know how the ratings are so poor. Having been treated so poorly by a certain letting agency based on Woodville road in our second year, I have absolutely nothing bad to say about Cardiff Student letting. From the initial viewings to the check out inspection, myself and my co-tenants were treated with respect and professionalism, the staff are friendly and have genuine concern for your welfare. Any faults and problems with the house were treated promptly when the agency was informed. Any viewings that were coming round, we were informed without fail with 24 hours notice. Within two weeks of the tenancy ending, we are due to receive ALL of our deposit back. Anyone that is looking for a letting agency that isn't going to lie to you, cheat you out of your deposit or ignore your problems, then you need look no further than Cardiff Student letting! Fantastic!

James · 10 June 2020

★★★★★ 5/5

Google

I have dealt with CSL for many years and have always found them to be efficient honest and fair. Great staff very courteous and responsive. Great business!!!

Kirsten · 15 January 2026

★★★★★ 1/5

Google

Trouble from start to finish. They have caused a load of trouble by giving out false information. You can not trust telephone conversations with them make sure you getting everything in writing. You never speak to the same person some are volunteering and have no idea what to advise about anything. The manager is always ill or unavailable. When you visit a property record the conversations from this letting agent as they tell anything just to get commission. Apparently according to most reviews they are wonderfully fantastic Shop around visit other agents as well before making any decisions.

David · 13 October 2023

★★★★★ 1/5

Google

paying over £450 a month just to not have working radiators. When one of my rooms mates went to tell them, they dismissed him and told him to figure it out himself. If you want a warm place, Cardiff student letting is not the place! Not to forget the awful pressure on the showers 🤦🏿‍♂️ …

Endz · 29 November 2024

★★★★★ 1/5

Google

The worst letting agents I’ve ever had the displeasure of renting from! This is a long review by someone who only stayed with them for 6 months! They advertise as being “run by students for students” - this is a complete lie!! They are …

Cardiff_philosophy · 16 April 2025

★★★★★ 1/5

Google

Trouble from start to finish, at first there was trouble with hot water in the property which was reported to the agency explaining that the hot water stops working at night they sent a handyman which signed the paper saying that there is …

Oliva · 16 April 2025

★★★★★ 1/5

Google

Claim to be helping students by being associated with the SU. Total lies. I moved into a 1 bed flat, which was so filthy including dust on all surfaces, slug trails, sofa from previous tenant, fluid marks on the walls, smashed in doors, and my parents washed the blinds with the shower head and they were still dusty. I was finding hairs, piercing balls and nose rings, and filth and insects all over the property. Within 1 week I had a flying ant infestation in the bedroom, coming from the walls. They told me to put ant powder down and refused to send an exterminator for 2 weeks despite insects crawling over everything and through ant powder. They sent a contractor first who put filler in some holes, causing ants to come out of the top of the window as well as under the radiator. It was a literal horror film and they showed no compassion or care for the distress this caused. Many other issues with the property but the worst of it was towards the end of tenancy I reported damp in the property, which they said there was no evidence of, despite black mould appearing on walls next to dehumidifiers I purchased. I moved out, cleaned the property and left ant powder placed by the contractor to prevent further infestation. They then took 23 days after the contract ended to issue me a notice they wouldn’t be refunding the full deposit - claiming £130. They had no evidence of why, except I left a few bits of cardboard on the table, as bin day wasn’t until after the move out date. Then, when I pressed on issues of damp as I was disgusted they’d try and claim for removing cardboard, which should be done when they professionally clean property before the next tenant, they admitted they were aware of the damp the whole time I was in the property. In this time they also admitted the properties they have do not get professionally cleaned in between tenancies, even though they claim to tenants they are professionally cleaned. They also lied about the deposit protection agency process and stated it would take months for me to get any money - a blatant lie easily disputed by ringing the agency, who issue the undisputed money within 3 - 5 working days. They are manipulative, refuse to do work properly, and seek to fleece students out of their money. They will let you live in a unhealthy, physically damaging property and do nothing but the bare minimum to help, after you’ve complained multiple times. They have no compassion towards their tenants and only seek to make money for the landlords, who interestingly, raised t he rent by £50 a month for the next tenants without seeking to address the damp or structural issues in the property. Not fit for purpose and other non union affiliated agencies treat their tenants better.

Tessa · 10 June 2023

★★★★★ 1/5

Google

I know what’s sorry means but that not the reason for you guys let me waiting out there for around one hour without any phone call and while I call the agent they said : he was there he did see you. He’s gone XD may I ask is that the member of the stuff don’t even know how to use the phone ??

Yilin · 10 June 2020

★★★★★ 5/5

Google

Extremely helpful agency. When I was quite desperate arriving into Cardiff they helped me finding a flat for a very reasonable price for a short duration without agency fee. While living there it was easy to interact with them regarding some minor issues, all of them solved quickly. At the end the check out went very smooth. Can't recommend them enough

Mischa · 10 June 2020