Hastings International London reviews

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

I’m not often compelled to write a review...

As a current tenant in a building where all apartments are managed by Hastings, I feel compelled to let others know just how awful the experience has been so far. All of the other reviews that say they are unresponsive are putting it mildly. Out of dozens of calls and emails from myself and other residents in the building, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen or heard of someone getting a reply. Call backs do not happen. Appointments to have face-to-face meetings to discuss their chronic mismanagement simply go unattended. Hastings are responsible for securing our buildings’ front door with an access system. Over 6 months the door has been literally “open to the world” due to the property manager’s (Denise McCabe aka Denise Bonner) negligence. During this time the building has been robbed twice. Most recently, the police have described Hasting International’s conduct as “totally unacceptable”. All residents had been pleading with them to secure the building for weeks, and the excuse for the inaction was simply “Coronavirus”.The door security issue is the latest in a long line of horrific experiences with this company which include cowboy handymen, dodgy fixes to household problems that last less than 24hrs (sink fell out of worktop in four different apartments within weeks of one another - took ages for them to “fix” and ours actually fell out again 24 hours later, without even being used), zero communication, and insane administration practises, the only purpose for which seems to be to allow Hastings to hold on to more of your cash for a longer period of time (at one time they were holding TWO deposits from us, for the same apartment, how do you figure that out?). And you’d better hope you have a lawyer on retainer when it comes to any renewal of lease or checkout from tenancy - the deposit claims are spurious and they do not respond in a constructive manner when queried. In fact, the deposit protection scheme automatically gave us our money back because Hastings did not respond to us over several weeks - a silver lining I guess. All of this, and they recently tried to increase our rent by circa 15% in a flat/down market. Avoid this company, as a tenant if you want to keep your sanity, and as a landlord if you have a moral compass.

Jonathan · 8 August 2020

★★★★★ 4/5

Trustpilot

Good service

I have recently renewed contract for second time and process has been easy. Kay has been giving prompt answers to email and over all very happy with the serice.

Priya · 27 April 2021

★★★★★ 5/5

Trustpilot

Tenancy renewal

I worked with Kay and the whole process was quick and efficient.

Ante · 28 May 2023

★★★★★ 5/5

Google

Professional, efficient and effective

Koon · 27 October 2025

★★★★★ 5/5

Trustpilot

Experienced Agents

Thanks to Kay, Jason and team for the renewal. We have been using Hastings since day 1 of our purchase. Happy with the services

S · 24 November 2021

★★★★★ 5/5

Trustpilot

Super efficient agency!

It was our first time with Hastings agency, but it’s not going to be our last for sure. Efficient and professional agents, always on the loop and ready to help, answer questions and support, even after signing the contract. Definitely recommended!

Ania · 19 June 2024

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Rented a property that they managed in…

Rented a property that they managed in London SE1 for 1 year. When we first moved in, the flat was dirty as they didn't even bother checking whether or not the previous tenants had cleaned before they left. Furthermore, the inventory was not done. Clear instructions were not given for how bills were paid and the relevant companies to contact.Fast forward to 1 year later, they were very inflexible with the move out date even though I had an agreement with the new tenants. Nightmare landlords who are just out there to get as much of your money as they can.

Anna · 16 August 2019

★★★★★ 1/5

Google

The worst experience renting a property I have and hopefully will ever have. Issues with the flat such as a broken washing machine and light fittings in the bathroom took weeks for them to fix. Mixed messages were repeatedly received from the landlord and Hastings at the end of the tenancy (Hastings telling us we had to leave when the landlord wanted us to stay). At the end of the tenancy they then only asked one of four people that had lived in the flat whether they were happy with the deposit check. The money was then deposited to him only and he has consequently taken some of my money for himself. I will be avoiding Hastings at all costs moving forward and would advise that everyone else does the same unless they want to lose money and have a constant battle with their living arrangements. Appalling service start to end.

Chloe · 17 June 2019

★★★★★ 5/5

Trustpilot

Good contact and support and quick response

We have a rental agreement managed by Hastings in the Borough branch. So far they have been very helpful and professional, Kay and Louise are very quick to respond to any issue or questions we have had, e.g. replacing faulty equipment within day, so over all really good feedback to give for the team there.

Nicolas · 2 August 2023

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

I wish i could give them something…

I wish i could give them something lower than a star. They do not deserve to operate as agency. They are inefficient, unprofessional and super rude. Every time we were trying to call them, the manager was unavailable, always on a meeting. My friend was sick and in bed on the day we had our check out report. We called them thousand times and explained the situation, that she cant give the key cause she is sick, and they did not even reply to us.Stay away if you dont want to end up with mental issues cause they drive you crazy with their behavior

Kal · 17 May 2019

★★★★★ 5/5

Trustpilot

Kay was amazing

Kay was amazing, very helpful. Highly recommend.

Karen · 30 July 2023

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Disgraceful!

What a disgrace! It seems that their only strategy is to get as much of your money as possible. After leaving the property in an even better state that when we moved in, they started making vague claims, willing to get our deposit money. Initially we were so surprised that asked them to check if they have done a mistake and the claims were about another property. How naive thought. When we said we do not accept any of this because we have done no damage, their only reply was that if we disagree we should use the dispute resolution service of DPS. It took ages for the resolution decision to come but we finally got our deposit back. It was obvious that their claims were irrational and irrelevant. They just bet on putting pressure on tenants since the whole thing takes ages. Their service during the tenancy was bad too. What more can one say when they had allowed access to the apartment to a technician without authorisation...If you are unlucky to have to deal with them, be super careful. Make all communications in via email, pay much attention to the check in/out reports and respond in writing to the comments you do not agree, create your own inventory reports as detailed as possible, timestamped and generally be super cautious with them. Of course avoid if you can...

Gusz · 1 March 2019

★★★★★ 5/5

Trustpilot

Kay has been incredibly professional…

Kay has been incredibly professional and helpful. Quick to respond and ready to help.

Karim · 10 December 2022

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Awful company, will never rent with them again

- Zero assistance from their property managers. Took 3 months to repair a broken window in winter, despite chasing on a daily basis. They were only responsive when I found the landlady's email address on Google and emailed her directly...- It's taking over 2 months to get my money back for the deposit. I have rented 2 flats before, never had a similar experience- When me and my flatmate saw the flat agents were literally fighting among each other for who had to rent it - involving us customers in their personal fights... I.e. we were shown the flat by one agent but another one contacted us to have the rental proposal submitted via him. We thought there was nothing weird as he was from the same company, until their manager got back to us to ask 'who did what' among the agents... such a circus!Would recommend not to rent through them unless you really have to!

Giusy · 5 February 2019

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Worst agent in the world!

Worst agent in the world, no clear communication constant change within a couple of minutes was told 4 different times for a viewing to only be 2 mins away to find out the property has been already let, after just confirming I will be there in 5mins to the property being rent already. Never met any estate agent company, worse client service, poor regard for customers. Stay far away. Even if they offered to pay my first months rent look at the review previous to mine I would run away. Absolute scam and should be shut down

Kujtim · 16 January 2019

★★★★★ 5/5

Google

Although I didn't complete a purchase with Hastings, I'd recommend them for viewings - I had a viewing with Emmanuel and he was incredibly helpful, providing all the info I needed and even suggesting nearby other properties to view. He came back with any additional info I'd asked for very quickly, and was very helpful throughout

Alex · 16 June 2023

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Just garbage.

They will rent you a flat with broken furnitures, broken lights and dog pees and poos on the balcony, they will also ignore your requests for fixing such issues, or they will say they will fix the issues but they never done. Worst experience, cannot believe this is how they treat their customers.

Weiqiang · 5 September 2023

★★★★★ 4/5

Google

I had a viewing with Emmanuel for a property I was really interested in. He was really approachable from the beginning and provided a thorough overview of the property. Eventually I decided to move forward with another one, however I will definitely consider Hastings if I ever wanted to purchase a property in the future.

Roki · 16 June 2023

★★★★★ 1/5

Google

This was one of the worst estate agents i have ever dealt with!! watch out for the extreme agencies fees, rude staff, extreme deposits (which they refuse to give back, until you pay the £300 professional cleaning fee). They also use the most efficient maintenance team who take over 6 weeks to come and fix basic jobs! i will never use hastings again in my life and I will strongly advise people to not make the same mistake as i did!

Jack · 17 June 2017

★★★★★ 1/5

Google

I have never had a worse experience dealing with an estate agency than dealing with Hastings international in Rotherhithe. They choose the move in date, they have huge agency fees, they promise you a professional clean which never happens, they fail to repair damaged parts of the flat (until we finally get a maintenance man to come and fix it 3 emails and 5 months later), we clean the flat to a professional level but they do not agree and then charge £300 for someone to clean it! Stay well clear from this joke of an estate agency who are 100% focused on PROFIT and 0% focused on the consumer who has to somehow try to afford to live in London's extremely inflated housing market.

Samuelwood2009 · 17 June 2017

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Please be aware that this company will …

Please be aware that this company will waste your time . I had two flats I was looking at and I was happy to take either of them. But unfortunately lanlord wasn't happy with company let... that was quite surprising because I had all the references from previous Lanlords and really high income. Never mind that.... I paid my 550£ hold deposit and then this agent disappeared. We called to office and they were saying that they will call back etc. Never received any call from so called manager. After nearly three weeks I received my money back. Really nasty attitude and unprofessional agent.

Diana · 7 June 2017

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

NEVER USE THIS ESTATE AGENCY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have never had a worse experience dealing with an estate agency than dealing with Hastings international in Rotherhithe. They choose the move in date, they have huge agency fees, they promise you a professional clean which never happens, they fail to repair damaged parts of the flat (until we finally get a maintenance man to come and fix it 3 emails and 5 months later), we clean the flat to a professional level but they do not agree and then charge £300 for someone to clean it! Stay well clear from this joke of an estate agency who are 100% focused on PROFIT and 0% focused on the consumer who has to somehow try to afford to live in London's extremely inflated housing market!

Samuelwood2009 · 28 September 2016

★★★★★ 4/5

Trustpilot

Overall good experience as tenant of…

Overall good experience as tenant of one bed-room. maintenance issues were resolved in timely manner.The only thing we didn’t like, that they didn’t tell us when we were viewing the apartment that the landlord is planning to repair and paint the walls and replace flooring so we had some discomfort during these days. But overall no problems with this company.

Daniyar · 15 November 2022

★★★★★ 2/5

Google

Unfortunately this has been my worst experience to date of a negotiator . Seems that he has miscommunicated many things between tenant and landlord that led to unpleasant incidents .he was not willing to help when things were getting “ messy”. I believe in every deal there is a give and take especially with the fact that I love overseas . Would rather not use in the future .NegativeQuality, Professionalism

Jo · 16 June 2021