Octavia Housing reviews

★★★★★ 1/5

Google

Incompetent staff, not calculating charges correctly with rent and service charges, sending multiple emails and phone calls until they changed their mistake, only until 3 months later my statement is incorrect. Property damaged by heating service, still not repaired despite multiple emails, and not compliant with tenancy contract. I will be taking this further with solicitor and will NEVER buy a SO from them.

Sab · 12 September 2024

★★★★★ 1/5

Google

Incompetent staff, not calculating charges correctly with rent and service charges, sending multiple emails and phone calls until they changed their mistake, only until 3 months later my statement is incorrect. Property damaged by heating service, still not repaired despite multiple emails, and not compliant with tenancy contract. I will be taking this further with solicitor and will NEVER buy a SO from them.

Becky · 24 August 2024

★★★★★ 1/5

Google

I am so exhausted from trying.to get these housing association to do the basics. I have no heat, my storage heaters don't work, I have been gaslight from a person named Marie that keeps calling every so often to ask me if I got heaters and …

Louise · 17 April 2025

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Incompetent staff, AVOID AT ALL COSTS

Incompetent staff, not calculating charges correctly with rent and service charges, sending multiple emails and phone calls until they changed their mistake, only until 3 months later my statement is incorrect. Property damaged by heating service, still not repaired despite multiple emails, and not compliant with tenancy contract. I will be taking this further with solicitor and will NEVER buy a SO from them.

SH · 9 August 2024

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Worst Landlord ever tell lies even to a…

Worst Landlord ever tell lies even to a judge on Oath in court, I have a problem with them again over the last court case sorted out of court in the end but cost the charity £4,500 in legal fees but they have no money to save secured tenants paying in rent increase for incompetence and letting people who are on benefit's run up huge arrears they can only get 25% back out of the benefit's soon to be 15%.

James · 14 March 2025

★★★★★ 1/5

Google

WORST WORST WORST PLACE EVER They provide the worst service, I recommend you avoid them. We have had a fire alarm ringing in the communal space for 3 weeks and it is not being taken care of by Octoavia despite raising it multiple times.

C · 16 March 2025

★★★★★ 1/5

Google

First gotta say, well done all tenant for showing octavia how bad they are at least those who managed to give tenants a poor service, the 1 star tells alot. they should be investigated. There’s already no parking, and now they’re increasing the rent what the heck? Avoid them at all costs. The staff is extremely poor at engaging with tenants and offering help. You have to hold your ground. They’ll even threaten you and lie; you need evidence. Keep records of communication, preferably in writing, or record the calls in case you need to go to a tribunal. I regret moving here. They also charge random bills. I recently received a sudden three-digit bill out of nowhere, even though I’ve been paying all my bills on time. They expect me to pay it, too. I can’t make this up. You can’t even change your providers, so they trap you with an expensive plan. Ever since I moved here, I’ve been paying £60 every 6 days for heating and electricity. That’s £3,600 per year, while the average bill in the UK for a two-bedroom household is normally £150, £200 per month (i.e., £1,800, £2,400 per year). Tenants at Octavia pay a 50-100% markup. This is theft, and tenants should be allowed to change their providers. There’s no reason for us to stick with Octavia’s provider. I looked online, and it seems many Vitali Energy customer have seen their bills increase by around 40%. The word is they charge customers a retail price ie. 29p per kWh for gas. instead of using residential price.

Abraham · 3 January 2025

★★★★★ 5/5

Trustpilot

I’m writing as a resident to express my…

I’m writing as a resident to express my deep appreciation for the exceptional service I received from one of your call handlers, Caio.

KaoutarSekkafi · 9 October 2025

★★★★★ 1/5

Google

The housing association is mediocre. Most of the employees are rude and unprofessional that should be fired. They totally ignore the well-being of their good tenants and more interested by the money. Not helpful at all when it comes to resolving issues, you are left on your own. The bad tenants are the only ones getting away. They make fake promises knowing they will never follow up or accomplish.We are still waiting for the cold water in the shower, abestos to be investigated after 2,5 years reporting the issues to them continuously. One thing they are great at is "ignoring tenants". Avoid this housing association if you can. It's very sad, such a great old institution turning really bad. I never named people but T. Nylander  and L.Alleyne have been so incompetent dealing with our complain, it's scary

Lili · 24 December 2022

★★★★★ 1/5

Google

This housing is one of the worst in the whole country, don't take my word for it, look at what tenants write!! I became a tenant because of the location but soon regretted it all. They only care about themselves not for you the tenant. They will play games with you withholding information then somehow blame it on you. No parking for us, we noticed several empty parking bays after constantly asking them to give us a bay they moved us from the waiting list to one of the last people, initially we were in the first 4. Then they gave the empty bays to zipcar, the company valued at millions, yep. They applied for section 106 Prioritising companies over tenant is their thing. Then they removed another bay from a tenant and decided to keep it for their contractors, who btw never use that bay instead the contractor just parks in non marked bays always.(fun thing is when we asked octavia parking team they refused to give us this information, we had to do our own digging and now we know why they refused to tell us) They make money from issuing tickets to their own tenants as they are the landowner and share the revenue from issuing tickets with the company called secure-a-space who manages the parking on their behalf , unfortunately they are not breaking any law for negligence in issuing parking spaces to tenants. I word it negligence because there is clearly priority over companies moreover more spaces could be created but refused yet on the same layout for the other block of flats they did create new parking spots, makes 0 sense why they refuse it on our side, and some tenants have more than 2 parking spaces while same cannot even get 1, the word for that is negligence Let's keep it to that , as mentioned earlier they got 1 star from practically all tenants who reviewed them. (doesn't even deserve 1 star, they are mediocre & lamentable as a housing association, try find a different housing association, trust me ) We tried everything possible to resolve it amicably but they refused. Looking to move out ASAP as i am currently paying over 200£ per month for a private parking spot when i just changed my car to an ulez compliant one and Im dependent of the car for work, definitely dont want to stay with octavia ANYMORE will switch to peabody, a housing association that actually cares. If it gets flagged plz email me as to which wording so i can re-edit it, everything mentioned is the absolute truth. . PS. City CarShare. Car2Go. Spaceship. Getaround.Modo.Autolib' Drivy. , hiyacar ya'll like car sharing buisness model like zipcar, go apply for parking permit with octavia housing, you will be prioritised over keyworkers and tenants living in the housing associating, FACT update: Response to octavia: No, the zipcar bay wasnt requested by the council, it was a Section 106 that would Increase the likelihood of gaininig planning permission on a site. Why else do you have only 1 across all your sites .... Your tenants dont need a zipcar bay ser, you could have gotten the planning permission without a zipcar bay, you got literally westfield here that has so many parking spots. Your answer makes no sense im sorry.

Ebra · 23 November 2022

★★★★★ 5/5

Google

I absolutely love this housing trust and all the workers 👍 I find them so helpful, wether I'm on the phone / home visits/ repairs/ general help .. but as today proved their empathy is outstanding . Finding myself in a 'tricky' financial situation ( benefit delays) I had to get a foodbank voucher from them .. I wasn't made to feel embarrassed by this predicament I unfortunately found myself in .. on the contrary - I was greeted at the desk by a beautiful young black woman who couldn't have been more helpful.. whilst there I picked up some very useful leaflets on forthcoming events and housing problems that might arise ( who to contact etc) But what really made my day was Alexi Jones who gave me the food voucher with a big smile and accepted a hug of gratitude from me .. Nyan -and Liz were the other members of staff who made me feel very welcome indeed ,, THANKYOU Octavia for being my landlord for SO long - approx 12 (?) years and hiring such a great team ,, If I've got the names wrong - I apologise as I suffer from short term memory loss ,,, I honestly don't know how I'd have got through until my next benefit pay day without this help 👌👌👌

Evelyn · 24 November 2019

★★★★★ 1/5

Google

Awful experience. I am writing to formally express my dissatisfaction with a recent experience involving one of your parking advisors, [S.]. My interaction with her was extremely disappointing, marked by a lack of professionalism, empathy, and respect. The purpose of my call was simple: I needed to confirm if a tenant was on the waiting list. However, what should have been a straightforward query was turned into an unnecessarily lengthy, 8-minute conversation where [S.] spoke to me in a condescending manner, undermined my intelligence, and, unfortunately, became increasingly aggressive and insulting. Her tone was inappropriate, and it felt as though she was using the call to vent frustrations, which would have been better directed to a therapist. I am deeply concerned by her behavior, which I believe should be thoroughly investigated by management. Her actions have caused me emotional distress and triggered anxiety attacks, making this interaction far more impactful than a standard customer service issue. I trust you will take this complaint seriously and take appropriate steps to ensure respectful and professional treatment for all customers in the future.

Criticism · 11 November 2024

★★★★★ 4/5

Trustpilot

My window fell out of its frame someone…

My window fell out of its frame someone from mears came but only left black tape and said they will send report for priority I telephoned the housing today they put me through to mears and what a Awful Awful service the person who answered my call told me I have to wait until the 31st for them to come and fix the window I begged and begged him to please that’s to long then I can hear in the background a woman telling the person who took my call saying just put the phone down let her wait just put it down now man . Yes that’s what mears did to me how disgusting how dare you talk about me in the background like I was a dog and the ugly attitude in your voice was really shocking to hear that . I’ve upgraded my score than I initially had stated as a member of staff from Octavia housing called me personally and gave me the opportunity to discuss what had happened with Mears the person who phoned me was really nice and very helpful with the situation with Mears it was important that Octavia knew what had happened and I felt reassured by Octavia that it was going to be dealt with. So thank Octavia for reaching out.

Sharon · 23 August 2022

★★★★★ 5/5

Trustpilot

Took 6months (Caio made a difference )

Took 6months for a change of my number to be updated onto the main gate entrance intercom..

Janet · 21 October 2025

★★★★★ 5/5

Trustpilot

⭐ 10/10 Review for Caio Mendes De Paula…

⭐ 10/10 Review for Caio Mendes De Paula, Customer Experience Advisor ⭐

Fowzia · 31 October 2025

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Stole my belongings… I’m

Moussa · 7 September 2026

★★★★★ 1/5

Google

The property gate has been broken for over five to six months, and no action has been taken to repair it. Despite making several attempts to contact the responsible party regarding this issue, no repairs have been carried out and no response has been provided to address the concern.

Husna · 25 August 2025

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Poor poor poor communication - buck passers

Poor poor poor communication. Not really sure what their role is other than take our money. They don't know how to manage property maintenance teams - they've gone through five in as many years.. five!!! that should tell you enough. They admitted to being middle men and that when issues happen they blame the property managers or maintenance teams as they can't do anything - "we are lease holders like you" pffff. They are supposed to be landlords but landlords actually help when issues arise. They do not work proactively, they do not manage the maintenance companies they hire well at all (in fact they let one company spend thousands and thousands of ££'s of the residents money without keeping tabs on them and of course they blamed someone else) and did I mention their communication is poor? If we have a heating or hot water issue they seem to think keeping you guessing is the way to go. I've lived in council estates, poorly run studio flats, rented through landlords and I've never come across such a company. If you are looking for affordable housing please do your research before signing up. 9th Nov 2021- and once again today for the 7th year in a row our hot water and heating has gone down and our maintenance fees go up.

Mr · 9 November 2021

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Worst company

Worst housing company I’ve ever dealt with. Our building manager is a man called Rizzle. He needs seems to me found. We have had many issues including the parking gate for the underground car park broke, was told I would have to pay and park my car somewhere else. It wasn’t Octavia’s problem apparently. Called the helpline and was told they might see if they can get someone out over the next few days, but because I couldn’t verify if someone in the building had covid they most likely could come. Despite the gage being outside!

Jack · 3 November 2021

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Wish I could rate this housing…

Wish I could rate this housing association lower than one. I’ve been without heating for a week now, I’ve called numerous times to report this and they have yet to do anything, I keep getting the run around and my time wasted. This is absolutely ridiculous and unacceptable!!! The worst ever!!!!! I would avoid this housing association at all costs.

Stephanie · 1 November 2023

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Don't move in

All i can say UNPROFESSIONAL, SO FAKE, UNRELIABLE

Aklima · 5 November 2025

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

The worst housing association ever

The worst housing association ever. They promised me a new kitchen and bathroom as it is over 20 years old and there are problems I have been waiting for over 3 years now and every time I raise the issue they just completely ignore me. Meanwhile all my neighbours above me have received a new kitchen and bathroom. My mum has passed away and they want me to downsized and I have agreed. It has been over 7 months now and I’m still here but they sent me a letter saying that I need leave the property. They tried to get me to do house swapping but as there issues with the property nobody wants to swap because of the condition of the property if they had been looking after it and stop ignoring we wouldn’t have these issues. They offered me a flat that I could not view physically and had to view via whatsapp how I am suppose now my bearings with property if I can’t look around. All they do is just ignore people all the time and cause stress there is too much to say about terrible. Lets even talk about the way they speak to people it is horrible to say the least very condescending and demeaning.

Hlyf · 11 May 2021

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Avoid this Housing Association!

I own a flat with this Housing Association. The building is covered in scaffolding, and the construction work is scheduled to be completed in September this year.My flat has been on sale since January 2020 and have lost out on 3 buyers only because of miss communication or lack of communication on their part.My last buyer backed out at the last minute just before exchange of contracts.Some of the information they provided was inaccurate, perhaps done to scare buyers off... I wish I could give them less than 1 star

Jenson · 11 May 2021

★★★★★ 1/5

Google

Constantly raising your rent and the services are terrible. My building health and safety is absolutely awful. Octavia are just rubbish absolute rubbish housing association

Hajar · 25 April 2025