5/5
TrustpilotGreat service from Portico in finding…
Great service from Portico in finding me a new tenant so quickly in these worrying time. A massive thank you to Samuel in particular. Would highly recommend
Trusted Agent profile · London
Portico London reviews
★★★★★
1,366 reviews across 2 platforms
178 King Street, London, W6 0RA
Portico's office in London, at 178 King Street, is rated 4.3 out of 5 across 1,366 reviews on two platforms, including 248 Google reviews rated 4.5.
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Reviews
Every review we hold for the London office, from every platform, shown as written. First names only.
Trustpilot1/5
GoogleDO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES WORK WITH PORTICO HAMMERSMITH. YOU WILL REGRET IT. My experience with this agency has been abysmal from the start. The problems included misinformation about the pet friendliness of the flat (we were told we would be allowed to have a dog by the letting agent, so we went ahead and made a higher offer on the flat- our request for a dog was denied about a month later), disgusting living conditions in the flat coupled with an unwillingness on the part of property management to acknowledge or remedy issues within the flat (there was black mold, a dead bird beside our refrigerator that was rotting when we moved in, and rat and mice infestation which took months to remedy: all of which were never addressed, apart from the mice infestation (which took months). The walls were cracked, the windows were drafty and ill maintained, and there was never any sort of remedying of these conditions, although the landlord himself came to the property and told us he himself would send someone to fix it. The property manager changed multiple months during our six months letting the property; we could hardly ever get a response from anybody in management. Whenever we finally got a hold of somebody, the new manager never knew anything about the situation in our flat and it was upon us to fully fill him/her in; we were then told they would "get back to us", which literally never happened, ever. The biggest issue we've had (and are still having) is getting our deposit back from Portico. Although we meticulously adressed all concerns the landlord posed to us before moving out, and got his sign-off of approval before vacating the flat, AND had the check-out report come back without any issues whatsoever, we have yet to recieve our deposit back. We were forced to pay for a professional cleaning upon moving out, for a flat that had obviously not been cleaned before we moved in (hence the dead bird carcass that was rotting in our kitchen). WE HAVE BEEN MOVED OUT OF THE FLAT FOR SIX MONTHS. We have contacted the TDS and filed a complaint, but we are still waiting for the landlord to acknowledge us in any capacity. We have tried everything; we just want our money back. We have spoken to multiple managers at Portico, who never made any attempt of their own in the past six months to address the money they were illegally withholding from us, but have never had a clear answer on why this is taking so long; we have merely been shuffled around the agency, and been told that this new manager will solve all our problems within the end of the week (which has never happened). We have hired an attorney and are taking legal action against Portico. Apparently, this seems to be the only way to make the company comply with its own rules and regulations. As a whole, our experience with Portico has shown them to be a company that lacks any form of professional integrity. They have no qualms about stealing from you, lying to you and attempting to take advantage of those who have paid for their services. Do NOT work with Portico, especially the Hammersmith office. In all of my time in London, never have I experience such mind-blowingly abysmal, manipulative and negligent management, EVER.
5/5
TrustpilotGergana is so nice and paciente too
Gergana is so nice and paciente too. She helped me found my new home. Thanks
1/5
TrustpilotWorst agency I've ever worked with
Worst agency I've ever worked with. They were all milk and honey before we signed the tenancy agreement, after which they took ages to respond to any concerns and enquiries or to get things fixed. When we moved out they tried to charge us money for leaving them some expensive lamp shades instead of leaving bare lightbulbs, as well as trying to squeeze as much money out of us as they could. 260 + VAT to place 2 tiles??It is now 3 months since we moved out and we still haven't received our full deposit back, we now have to go through TDS to get our money. Avoid at all costs!
1/5
TrustpilotTried to rent a flat through Portico
Tried to rent a flat through Portico a while ago. Was a bit of a disaster. They tried to get me to pay 6 months in advance. I refused. They withdrew the offer. They tried to keep the deposit but as I had an idea it was going to go sour I paid online with a credit card. I was only refunded when I threatened to initiate a chargeback. Plush offices but disappointing business practices mean I have no choice but to leave one star.
1/5
TrustpilotHopelessness taken to a new level - both for landlord and tenant
We have been letting properties for over 20 years and have had all sorts of tenants and managing agents through that time - both good and bad. Portico are in a league of their own though for all round incompetence, rudeness and disorganisation.We only became involved with them when they took over a previously very good managing agent but it did not take long for their excellent staff to move on and we were left with the Portico way of doing things: unanswered calls and e-mails, failure to deal with issues and dissatisfied tenants as a consequence. Almost a year after our last tenants left and we had at last parted company with them they called telling us they had found a new tenant! Only today they sent us an "unpaid bill" from 2017 that they had failed to deal with.I realise that yet another one star review will add little to their Trustpilot status - surely one of the worst on record?- but I would warn both landlords and tenants away from them.
1/5
TrustpilotBe Very Very Careful
Portico manage some nice properties for many different landlords. We were gracious enough to pay half a year’s rent in advance. The following things have happend whilst renting our property through Portico:• We were never told by Portico a tube line ran underneath the property and had no idea until it was too late and we spent our first night at the property only to realise in horror• The property had numerous faults when we moved in including broken locks and a faulty shower we could not use• Our complaints and issues raised were regularly ignored by management• One of Portico’s handymen installed a replacement lock back to front on our front door• We also had to report a faulty sofa and Portico tried to blame us for the fault without having inspected the issue themselves • Portico sent in their staff into our flat without our permission and were in breach of our tenant rights and in breach of contract• Portico tried to blame certain issues of their own making on the actual landlord• Staff are arrogant, genuinely lie and ignore / do not respond to things when asked to by email• Portico make it clear (in writing) they don’t care about you the tenant, only the landlord• We met the previous tenants from our flat and they had all of the exact same issues as us. As did our neighbour• If you don’t believe us check out all the other Trustpilot reviews for yourselfWe promise you’ll regret renting with Portico
1/5
TrustpilotAvoid This Company!
Avoid This Company!They left my tenants for four days without hot water & heating after the boiler broke and couldn't have cared less when I raised the issue with them. The lettings manager ignored my calls and emails and I'm currently in the process of reporting them to the property ombudsman. Their stock response to any problem is to ignore it and hope it goes away. Rude, unprofessional and seriously incompetent - don't waste your time and money with them.
5/5
GoogleAaron was a star throughout the process. I couldnt fault him for his professionalism in getting this contactless move sorted. H e is a great estate agent. Highly recommendPositiveQuality
1/5
TrustpilotDONT GET INVOLVED WITH THESE PEOPLE
DONT GET INVOLVED WITH THESE PEOPLE. Did not bother honouring the conditions of the contract when we moved in: WE DID NOT HAVE HOT WATER AND THERE WAS AN ACTUAL SMASHED WINDOW. The agent's are the most sleazy salespeople you will ever have the misfortune of meeting. Our's did not disclose that the landlord had filed for a building permit and we were thrown out after 6 months. We also had many issues with the flat (leaking ceiling etc.) and they NEVER bothered to send anyone. Now they can't even be bothered to give me and my partner references on time for us to move into a new flat as soon as possible. liars, thiefs, deeply unprofessional charlatans. WORST. COMPANY. EVER. Avoid like the plague.
1/5
TrustpilotWe had problems before we even moved…
We had problems before we even moved in! Our original move in day was delayed by nearly 2 weeks all because they didn't send us the guarantor form for a week! And their excuse was "well the intern is leaving soon" as if that somehow makes it ok to leave people homeless for 2 weeks!Ever since moving in we had more problems. First of all the check-in inventory was completely wrong, including every room saying "no windows found". When we moved in, most of the windows did not open and some were sealed shut illegally due to them being loose and whistling. They eventually sent someone to take a look - a week before we moved out!Despite reporting repairs multiple times, it took weeks and sometimes months to get a response. They would randomly reply within a day, then vanish for another week, then come back saying they'd fix the more unimportant repairs. For example, our garden door did not lock property the entire year - and the garden is publicly accessible!At one point we went a week with no heating - while the weather was -2 degrees outside, which is also illegal! It took 3 days just to get hold of someone on the phone/email as their stupid phone system cuts you off after 10 minutes on hold, effectively booting you back to the bottom of the queue.Now after moving out, we finally get our check-out inventory and it was very bad. It was done 3 weeks after we moved out, during which the house has not had any other tenants inside. Yet now the check-out is full of things regarding dust/cobwebs, despite the fact this would have accumulated during the 3 weeks of empty house. It is also full of things that were reported in the check-in - before we even got into the property.They have always been polite and acted helpful, but as a company they are beyond terrible!Would give 0 stars if I could...
1/5
TrustpilotAbsolute nightmare - AVOID PORTICO
If I could have chosen zero stars then I would have done. If only we had read the reviews on trustpilot before we rented - AVOID PORTICO THEY ARE ABSOLUTELY SHOCKING. Where should I start - here’s a few examples- took months to fix anything- did not complete the work included as condition of our offer (told us they had, we found out once we arrived with our furniture on move in day)- sent unqualified person round to do electrical work- no response for weeks to an urgent maintenance issue- provides safety certificate with issues and said “you said you wanted a safety certificate - you didn’t say it had to pass”- attempted to make ridiculous reductions from deposit when we moved out despite the fact there was no damage It’s interesting that they have very high staff turnover - one great guy was new and left within a couple of weeks. Probably shows what a nightmare they are as an employer as well as a tenant.Eventually we got our deposit back in full via the deposit protection scheme disputes service. For anyone reading this battling with Portico about deposit deductions, use the dispute service, don’t waste your time continuing to engage with Portico
1/5
TrustpilotA tenant's worst nightmate
I don't know what Portico were thinking taking over Spencer, which was a decent agency to deal with for us as as tenants.This company is horrific. They take months to fix anything. They illegally enter our property without us knowing about it. They take weeks to respond to emails (or don't respond at all). They lose the keys. They charge extortionate contract renewal fees every year. When we did negotiate a lower fee, they still chased us for not paying the original amount.I'm dreading to think what we'll have to go through when we finally move out, based on the reviews here (there's another page with more reviews on Portico on Trustpilot).STAY.AWAY.
5/5
TrustpilotSam was super helpful!
Sam was super helpful; had answers to most of our questions, and promptly got back to us when an answer wasn’t on hand. Stuck to COVID-19 guidelines too!
5/5
TrustpilotA big thanks to Sean at the Walthamstow…
A big thanks to Sean at the Walthamstow branch. He went above and beyond and made what could have been a difficult situation go away. Would definitely recommend!
5/5
TrustpilotClaire was very helpful with our…
Claire was very helpful with our valuation, spending a lot of time to talk through everything and came armed with lots of back up research too
1/5
TrustpilotI honestly feel like they should be…
I honestly feel like they should be reported to the police. AVOID THEM AT ALL COSTS. They charged us extortionate fees when we moved in (nearly £700.00!) then they were completely ignoring all emails and phone calls about repairs and issues we were facing in the flat (they left us with no heating and hot water for nearly two weeks at one point!). They were lying about arranging repairs so we would be waiting for someone to come and then no one would show up. But the check out and deposit handling exceeded our worst expectations. It's been nearly two months since we moved out and our deposit has not been returned yet so we had to raise it with TDS. They are now trying to deduct money from our deposit for some absurd things! Reading other reviews I really have no idea how they are managing to get away with all this! Avoid them at all costs!
5/5
TrustpilotMagda is so helpful!
Magda is so helpful.Nothing is too much trouble for her, and she always goes out of her way to make sure she has helped wherever possible!
1/5
TrustpilotBeware of them
After 15 years of renting in London, I can say I've never come across such evil and incompetent agent's before. They charge extortionate fees (when renting and when extending your contract) for absolutely shambolic service. They take ridiculously long to fix anything, we've even incurred some considerable costs due to repairs not being carried out on time. The last non-emergency repair in our bathroom took them 1 year 4 months to complete. Twice they didn't even arrange the repair date with us, so the handyman came round without us being aware of it, which is in complete violation of our contract.Beware of them. What they do should be criminal. I hope they go bankrupt and stop ruining peoples' lives (just look on other review sites to see that they do).
5/5
GoogleHelped us to find the perfect apartment so quickly!! Mohamed was friendly and knew exactly what we were looking for. Thank you so much!
5/5
GoogleBoth Aaron and Erick were very helpful and thorough when helping me secure my new flat. I would highly recommend anyone use their services.
5/5
TrustpilotGrazyna is excellent!
Grazyna has been excellent at answering my queries, she is readily available and extremely knowledgeable. I can't recommend her enough, big thanks to Grazyna for your help and effort!
1/5
TrustpilotAvoid at all costs
Having just finished 3 years of tenancy with Portico, we have experienced the most incompetent display they could possibly offer.There have been many issues throughout our 3 year tenancy however the most unacceptable has been the handling of the deposit. Upon check-out they presented a check out inventory with some proposed charges, the document was completely irrelevant as there had clearly been absolutely no cross-referencing with the check in document at the start of our tenancy. Having raised this with them we are now having to call them multiple times a day, as they still haven't contacted the landlord ONE MONTH LATER. The excuse every day being 'i'm afraid i've got 10 of these calls to make today'. We have been passed from person to person as each of them sells us false hope and then goes on holiday the following week making us no closer to getting our deposit back, money which we need to place as a deposit for our next tenancy. So a word of warning to anyone reading this, DO NOT be a tenant with portico, its just not worth it.
1/5
TrustpilotPortico complaints and deposit issues.
Portico complaints and deposit issues.All, i am a previous tenant of portico and am in the process of registering complaints with the regulators in respect of their work. In short; Their staff do not reply to reasonable requests, they give misleading information in respect of their obligations to tenants, they fail to act with reasonable care and skill in the undertaking of their work and they do not have a coherent complaints policy or guidance. I urge all of you reading this to contact me on the following email to detail your issues so i can formally register these on your behalf with the regulators. (Consumer_complaints_london(AT)outlook.com)Regards ML
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Tell us what you need and we'll put you in touch. Portico hasn't joined The Trusted Agent yet, so we'll pass your enquiry to them or to up to three other top-rated agents near London.
