Hallam Hills Sheffield reviews

★★★★★ 3/5

Google

Update: I have just received my deposite on September. I rent a room from Hallamhills agent, and terminate the contract at the middle of March. Hallamhills promised to refund my deposite 190 pounds, but So far I haven't received it yet. I wrote many mails to ask about my refund, no any progress. It should be done five months ago. Could you tell me why? @Jonathan Lettings Negotiator Hallam Hills Estate Agents

Lu · 22 September 2020

★★★★★ 1/5

Google

Hallam hills Estate agents is the most worst agency I came across in Sheffield. I lived in one of their apartment for 4 months. Once I took over the tenancy, I already informed them that I would like to extend it further. They agreed it and said to come before 3 months before the tenancy ends. I informed them regarding that time, at first they agreed regarding tenancy extension and after that they informed me that they already have a tenant to move on. This shows their irresponsibility. Also, after that when I asked for the deposit back, they were making charges for what we have not done. I claimed it with perfect audio and video proofs and they only deducted few more amount from what they have first sanctioned. The reality was that I have cleaned the house in a very pleasentable manner than how they given it to me. Atlast I was forced to accept the amount they sanctioned because this was sanctioned because of my continuos emailing and calls to them for 3 months. In addition, their documentation was not so good. Even though I was a student, I was getting council tax from city Council even if I have submitted council tax reduction documents. I struggled a lot to change it as well. Anyway, I struggled a lot with this agency. I will not recommend this agency to anyone further because you will be in trouble for sure. I have given 1 ⭐ only because then only I could post this review and reach this experience to other people as well.

Anila · 23 September 2023

★★★★★ 5/5

Google

I found the company on the internet and the person in charge answered the first call. I am a freshman at Sheffield Hallam University, so I needed all the help I could get to find suitable housing on a budget. I am grateful that they listened to me and made the effort to find me the best housing for my budget. I must commend them for their understanding of students and will recommend them to all my colleagues. You are the best.

Lewis · 3 October 2022

★★★★★ 1/5

Google

So basically, when we moved in, the flat wasnt cleaned as was promised to us (had to actually scrub everything, there was flour on top of the kitchen drawer handles as well if you can imagine - so obvisouly not even tried to clean), there were also blue tac/tape marks on the walls. Upon looking through the paperwork of the house we saw that the inspector found some issues that apparently were never resolved (as there were no further paperwork stating any repairs). Deposit was 800 pounds (400 per person) which was a pain to recover (in the end we didnt even get everything back) as they are notoriously bad at answering back emails or phone calls about deposits. After waiting 1-2 months for the deposit they came back to us and told us that they are charging us for the marks on the walls (which were present when we moved in) and to change the bed mattress (which we took very good care of having a matress protector and everything). So basically they try to scam as much as possible to keep some deposit for them. We were able to dispute the mattress cost but they still took money for the wall marks. Also interestingly, the cost of the mattress replacement on the contract was different to the cost they were trying to charge us so that's fishy as well. Overall, never want to deal with them again and if you can avoid them I suggest that you do. Nothing worse that companies like that preying on students.

Nikitas · 30 July 2022

★★★★★ 1/5

Google

Absolutely disgusted with the renting team!!!!! We are in a fully furnished house and the oven has packed in, we’ve rang up to 23 times in the past 3 week and no one has decided to answer, got through to the sales team and was told we would get a call back and never did, rude staff that quite frankly couldn’t care less about their customers, when we finally got through all we got was “okayyyy, erm I guess we will give you a call back” and hung up, could have got more conversation out of a plank of wood. Sort your staff out Hallam hills I’m absolutely disgusted!!!!!

Laura · 30 July 2022

★★★★★ 1/5

Google

they do not even deserve a 1 star . DO NOT RENT ! I have lived in the HMO property as a student (4 students) since July. We were not informed prior to moving in or when we moved in that we did not have fire doors, which weren't installed till 6 months into the tenancy which is not only illegal but incredibly unsafe. It has also been about 9 months and we haven't had proper smoke/fire alarms installed or working ones in the legally required areas. We have had to involve the council with these issues as they were not taking our safety seriously in any way. There have been many issues where is has taken months to fix maintenance problems which have been important such as; the kitchen cupboard coming unattached from the wall, we didn't have a working boiler for more than a week and were told they couldn't fix it sooner because they didn't have a key and couldn't let anyone in. It may have been the Christmas holidays but we still we were left without hot water and heating for a week in the middle of winter. Some of these issues are very dangerous and it is incredibly irresponsible that they have let us live in these conditions. When having fire doors and smoke/fire alarms are a legal requirement for an HMO, and not having them makes this, a dangerous property. the property clearly had not been professionals cleaned prior to moving in as there was dirt everywhere(black mould ) and a bin full of rotting food in the bathroom including a bedroom with walls full of back mould .so many things have gone wrong and haven't been the way a rental house should be and I will never be renting from them again or be recommending them to anyone . We have also come to discover that out deposit was not secured with a deposit scheme until 1 year after it was paid ( it's supposed to be secured legally within 30 days of payment ) . I am not sure if it is cause we are all students but it feels like our safety and well-being are not taken seriously in any way so do not rent from Hallam hills if you want an agency that will look after your safety or take you seriously.

Iona · 30 July 2022

★★★★★ 5/5

Google

Jonathan is the most responsible staff member in this company. It's my first time coming to the UK, and I bought a house. He helped me a lot in managing it, even when the tenants had problems. He was willing to help, even though it wasn't his responsibility. Nowadays, finding a good property agent is difficult. He is the most responsible property agent in Sheffield."

Michael · 29 September 2023

★★★★★ 1/5

Google

To all students and non-student alike. Avoid this agency like fire when it comes to renting, especially if you are planning to rent your next student accommodation or a multiple-tenant building like the Boomerang in Fawcett St. This agency will try to: -take your deposit -ignore your maintenance issues -ignore any issues related to common areas alike -let people with a criminal record to rent a house or not evict them if they commit one I rented a place called boomerang where lived 10 people on 1 floor with 3 shared disgusting bathrooms and a kitchen that was never ever cleaned if not by 2 kind people that had to clean after everybody if they wanted little bit of clean space. I was lucky because I had an en-suite but I feel sorry for those who had to use shared bathrooms. Only about 2-3 people were taking trash after I was told to take charge of it as HH did not care about the administration of the building floor. I made a plan that nevertheless almost everybody disregarded. We were assured that the cleaning service was cleaning our floors and kitchen, instead, it was the agency guy living or residing upstairs cleaning the floor every now and then. At some point, he stopped doing even that. We had problems with damp, broken bathrooms, broken things, and stolen things in the kitchen. HH did absolutely nothing, nor the landlord cared, he himself was trying to enter our rooms when he was pleased breaching the quiet enjoyment clause. I have discovered that each room had different rent agreements so I ended up paying more than other tenants despite them having also en-suite and bigger rooms. Ultimately, I managed to negotiate it on the premise that I would leave the propriety unconditionally without paying. One of the tenants committed a criminal charge and HH did not care at all, we all moved out due to this reason as we did not want to live with a criminal, on top of other issues that you can see above. At the end of my tenancy they postponed returning my deposit for 2 months after leaving the propriety. I had to call and call until they finally bothered to have a look into it. They tried to charge me 25£ for removing shared property outside and for general cleaning of the room. I did not care much about 25£ but moving the duvet 5 steps to the bin was not a justifiable reason for charging me the deposit which also DPS advised whilst returning me the amount. Considering that the room I left was in a better state than I received, this was laughable I am keen to press legal charges as they failed to protect my deposit by substantial 2 months. I would advise you to be careful and avoid Hallam Hills if you have better options. Below I am attaching photos of the bathroom when I was moving in, as not having any other options at the time, they assured me this would be fixed before i moved in, I waited 10 months for the to do anything about it, and what they did is they placed a plastic White Vented Hollow Soffit under the top part of the toilet. Which basically just covered it. There is no point putting all the inventory here but you get what I mean. Be aware.

C00kie · 31 December 2020

★★★★★ 1/5

Google

To all students and non-student alike. Avoid this agency like fire when it comes to renting, especially if you are planning to rent your next student accommodation or a multiple-tenant building like the Boomerang in Fawcett St. This agency will try to: -take your deposit -ignore your maintenance issues -ignore any issues related to common areas alike -let people with a criminal record to rent a house or not evict them if they commit one I rented a place called boomerang where lived 10 people on 1 floor with 3 shared disgusting bathrooms and a kitchen that was never ever cleaned if not by 2 kind people that had to clean after everybody if they wanted little bit of clean space. I was lucky because I had an en-suite but I feel sorry for those who had to use shared bathrooms. Only about 2-3 people were taking trash after I was told to take charge of it as HH did not care about the administration of the building floor. I made a plan that nevertheless almost everybody disregarded. We were assured that the cleaning service was cleaning our floors and kitchen, instead, it was the agency guy living or residing upstairs cleaning the floor every now and then. At some point, he stopped doing even that. We had problems with damp, broken bathrooms, broken things, and stolen things in the kitchen. HH did absolutely nothing, nor the landlord cared, he himself was trying to enter our rooms when he was pleased breaching the quiet enjoyment clause. I have discovered that each room had different rent agreements so I ended up paying more than other tenants despite them having also en-suite and bigger rooms. Ultimately, I managed to negotiate it on the premise that I would leave the propriety unconditionally without paying. One of the tenants committed a criminal charge and HH did not care at all, we all moved out due to this reason as we did not want to live with a criminal, on top of other issues that you can see above. At the end of my tenancy they postponed returning my deposit for 2 months after leaving the propriety. I had to call and call until they finally bothered to have a look into it. They tried to charge me 25£ for removing shared property outside and for general cleaning of the room. I did not care much about 25£ but moving the duvet 5 steps to the bin was not a justifiable reason for charging me the deposit which also DPS advised whilst returning me the amount. Considering that the room I left was in a better state than I received, this was laughable I am keen to press legal charges as they failed to protect my deposit by substantial 2 months. I would advise you to be careful and avoid Hallam Hills if you have better options. Below I am attaching photos of the bathroom when I was moving in, as not having any other options at the time, they assured me this would be fixed before i moved in, I waited 10 months for the to do anything about it, and what they did is they placed a plastic White Vented Hollow Soffit under the top part of the toilet. Which basically just covered it. There is no point putting all the inventory here but you get what I mean. Be aware.

Foxtrot · 18 December 2020

★★★★★ 1/5

Google

Hallem Hills dosent even deserve one star. This place is run by a bunch of scammers. I have vacated the house before 5 months and I am yet to get my deposit back. By this time I have lost hope that I will get my deposit back. They never respond back to emails. International students in Uni of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam university be very careful if you are opting this agency. When you leave the country they don't pay back the deposit, thinking that we won't be able to take any legal action against them. It's not only me the other 2 students who stayed with me also didn't get back the deposit. As per contract the deposit has to be protected under DPS, but when i checked in DPS website I couldn't find any information. So be careful

Jamin · 22 September 2020

★★★★★ 1/5

Google

My initial concern was that after paying the holding deposit, and having my guarantor sign the legal contract, was that there was no communication from Hallamhills after being told that I had been successful in passing the checks for the property. I was told that the contract would be sent in the week commencing 07/08/2020. The contract was not sent in that week. I phoned the office on 17/08/2020 and requested an explanation of what was taking so long, to which I was told that the landlord had already rented out the property. This is appalling practice as I have handed in my current tenancy notice, therefore it is a strong possibility that I could become homeless on the 06/09/2020. My second concern is that Hallamhills is operating ILLEGALLY in regards to agent fees and not in accordance with the Tenant Fees Act 2019. I was illegally charged £695 holding deposit. As a holding deposit is capped at no more than one week’s rent, which in this case would be £173.75. The Tenant Fees Act 2019 prohibits a landlord or agent of privately rented housing in England from requiring a tenant or any persons acting on their behalf or guaranteeing the rent, to make certain payments in connection with a tenancy. I am having to pursue this matter via the First-tier Tribunal and the property ombudsman. DO NOT USE HALLAMHILLS!

R · 16 September 2020

★★★★★ 1/5

Facebook

Will never go with Hallam Hills again, after 4 months of constant phone calls and emails I FINALLY got my deposit and months rent back they owed me! I left my contract early and was paying until someone else moved in, but they didn’t tell me someone had moved in whilst I was still paying and had the keys, so I walked in on a random man in my house. Constant problems, living in black mould and the landlord and estate agents did absolutely nothing. In fact for a 1 bedroom flat which is tiny, it’s just short of £1000 for 6 months electric which they aren’t compensating, even though I had to have 2 dehumidifiers on constantly to be able for it to be slightly liveable. Please don’t make the mistake I did

Abby · 11 September 2020

★★★★★ 1/5

Google

My initial concern was that after paying the holding deposit, and having my guarantor sign the legal contract, was that there was no communication from Hallamhills after being told that I had been successful in passing the checks for the property. I was told that the contract would be sent in the week commencing 07/08/2020. The contract was not sent in that week. I phoned the office on 17/08/2020 and requested an explanation of what was taking so long, to which I was told that the landlord had already rented out the property. This is appalling practice as I have handed in my current tenancy notice, therefore it is a strong possibility that I could become homeless on the 06/09/2020. My second concern is that Hallamhills is operating ILLEGALLY in regards to agent fees and not in accordance with the Tenant Fees Act 2019. I was illegally charged £695 holding deposit. As a holding deposit is capped at no more than one week’s rent, which in this case would be £173.75. The Tenant Fees Act 2019 prohibits a landlord or agent of privately rented housing in England from requiring a tenant or any persons acting on their behalf or guaranteeing the rent, to make certain payments in connection with a tenancy. I am having to pursue this matter via the First-tier Tribunal and the property ombudsman. DO NOT USE HALLAMHILLS!

R · 21 August 2020

★★★★★ 1/5

Google

After conversing over the phone with a nice member of staff we agreed a viewing. Whilst this member of staff was nice and tried his hardest he struggled to communicate and kept calling me calling me by the wrong name. After driving 2 hours for a viewing the estate agent was 5-10 minutes late and could not have cared less about the viewing although was pleasant enough. The house itself was filthy. Slug trails all throughout the house, absolutely revolting and whilst this is the tennants responsibility the two tennants I asked if I should rent the house said no because the letting agents were so terrible. Mould was coming through the walls and the house had clearly not been cleaned in a very long time. If clean this house could have been decent so we went to go and sign. The letting agents firstly tried to show me the contract to the wrong house and her answer to everything was “I don’t know” without even trying to find out from her superiors. She tried to make me pay a deposit without even reading a contract. Also on the phone I was told I would not get a holding deposit back if I signed the house, which also seemed odd. All in all nobody had a single clue what was going on and even sitting there for 20 minutes a couple people came in to vent their frustrations to the staff. The aura seemed really off and then just as I was about to pay the deposit she said there was a 2 pound fee on their card machine. When paying 850 pounds upfront why is there a fee on a card machine? I stepped outside and asked my housemate and she said the whole thing was sly, underhand and money grabbing. The man sat behind us said he was taking money out of peoples deposit to pay for a deep clean because of each house due to COVID, which he then backtracked on as this is clearly unfair to the tennants and the landlord/letting agents responsibility. All in all I would NOT recommend even having viewings with this letting agent, avoid at all costs!

E · 24 July 2020

★★★★★ 1/5

Google

Very awful services. Everything with the agreement was fine. But faced many issues regarding bathrooms and more. No timely updates from our agent Mukhar regarding any issues which we were highlighting via mails. The agents have access to the house even when you are not in. We had an issue in the house which was not followed up correctly despite of giving a police complain. However we were forced to pay a penalty at the end of our agreement even when there was no evidence and police record noted. Things were suppressed initially but we had to bear about 300 pounds towards the end. That was a pinch in the pocket, so I am not very happy with the services. I will not recommend this agency to any one.

Sachin · 26 March 2020

★★★★★ 1/5

Google

Truly awful letting agency. Promised a bunch of stuff from the initial viewing e.g. house clean, walls fixed, fences fixed etc. Once we moved in we realised they hadn't done a single thing! I say "once we moved in" because they provided us with the wrong keys to begin with originally so all the vehicles and people i had hired to help move had to be sent away because the agency was closed and we couldnt get access to our property. They were uninterested in the costs of what had affected me. So once we got in the house, it smelled of the previous tenants dog which we had in writing would be "professionally cleaned" before we moved in yet still smelt of dog wee. On their original email they stated "the previous tenants didnt upkeep their end of the bargain to clean them" which obviously penalises us as new tenants. Then a month later they claimed that "their professional cleaning company" had been into the premises to clean but couldnt get rid of the smells and stains even though in the earlier email they said they didnt do anything. contradictory. So once we were finally in the house and settling down, this is where you find the real problems with the property. The was a hole in the bath tub to which even today they have still not rectified. We kept asking for hallam hills handy man to come fix it. They even sent one around who measured the space for replacing it but then a month later was still asking us like the problem had disappeared. When we called the handyman the lack of professionalism was embarrassing. He would ask me things like "can i text him during the week cause he hasn't got his diary on him" or failing to turn up on a date agreed with a feeble excuses the following day of personal issues. Not company issues but actual bringing his own issues into the reasons why he didn't show up. Kitchen equipment like the oven hobs didn't have any instructions on them so you could never actually tell when the hobs were on or off. quite dangerous. When me and my partner expressed the idea of changing them they were only interested as to who was going to foot the bill of the new hobs and a engineer. Again, not actually rectifying the problem. We were penalised by the previous tenants of the property as when we asked if we could have a pet they said "you can only have a pet if you agree to professionally clean the carpet". I find this hypocritical and embarrassing once again. How can you ask us to do something you didn't honour in your contract originally. The house was practically falling apart and I think we saw the handy man twice in a whole year. 1st visit he corrected a dangerous box of wires underneath the stairs. 2nd visit he measured the bath and warned us this could take a long, long time to rectify (which they never actually did). On the 3rd time he literally showed up to install a light on our back garden (which was hardly essential compared to how the rest of the house was) which only last about 2 months and actually stopped working. There was 2 x names on the contract. Mine and my Partners yet they only provided one key (and they were the wrongs ones to begin with). We repaired the fence, We fixed the holes in the sink and the bath tub. We did everything in our power and knowledge to clean the previous tenants smells and dirt. They did nothing. I have literally signed up for a google account just so i can write this as a word of warning to anyone who is thinking of using this agency. We have cleaned the carpets, moved out and they have arranged their own viewings since dirtying the carpets again by wearing outside shoes inside and on the carpets. They charged us a application form which was obscenely expensive for us to literally write our names on a piece of paper. They then pass on your details to a third party company called good2rent. So i cant actually understand what this the point of this application fee and form is for when you have re-fill out all the information again on good2rents website. I don't recommend this letting agent on any level and would advise to avoid at all costs.

James · 25 February 2020

★★★★★ 5/5

Google

I recently moved to Sheffield Hallam University and was in urgent need of housing. I called the Hallam Hills agency and spoke with the employee Rachel, whom I must commend for her great kindness and patience. She sent me offers throughout the day and was very patient. Thanks to her persistence, I found suitable housing for my situation. I congratulate the agency and its employees.

Barry · 2 November 2022

★★★★★ 5/5

Google

Being a first-time buyer I was anxious about the process of searching for a property. However, the process became much easier when I was introduced to Adam a representative from Hallam Hills. I called about a specific property and he informed me other properties that might have been on interest. During my viewings, he was very professional and well informed about the area and various properties. He also worked hard to secure a deal on my first property and updated me every single step of the way. I would highly recommend Hallam Hills to my friends and family.

Komal · 27 December 2019

★★★★★ 5/5

Google

Adam’s was AMAZING! As a first time home buyer, Adam made sure to give us all the in & outs on how the process works and made us feel at ease. He is very knowledgeable in what He does and really went above and beyond to make sure we found the perfect house (which we did). He is very patient, passionate, and personal and got a feel for exactly what we wanted right away which made the process so much easier. I have already recommended him to a couple friends and will continue to do this. I can't thank you enough, we would never be able to do this without him. Definitely recommend. :)

Corey · 27 December 2019

★★★★★ 1/5

Google

Oh my god, never move into a place with this estate agent. Me and my flatmate have had so many problems with this flat and this agency throughout the whole year, the first month I moved in I had no WiFi. There was also no microwave, a disgusting kettle, a disgusting oven, a generally disgusting flat, a freezer jammed shut from the amount of ice having built up in it, mushrooms growing in the bathroom, mould all over the bathroom, a broken window covered with a wooden board in one of the bedrooms, no blind in the same bedroom, a smoke alarm that we didn't think worked and even then it was never tested when we were there and a broken venting system. There's more but this is all I can remember at the moment, in the end we lived with all of this (aside from the microwave that we spent months pestering them for) as actually getting them to do anything was such a complete nightmare and a seemingly impossible task. By the end of our tenancy all we wanted was our deposit back, we'd actually made the flat cleaner and fixed more stuff ourselves but this again seemed an impossible task. 2 months of repeatedly emailing and ringing them, the same automated response and idiot on the phone that seemed only there to do nothing I might as well have been talking to a brick wall. Only after contacting the landlord we got our deposits back straight away! It's just been a nightmare living there under these estate agents, if there's anything I can do now is just warn other people to never move into a place with them, RUN AWAY. Worst estate agents ever.

Isobel · 22 November 2019

★★★★★ 4/5

Google

"QUOTES DENOTE AN OLD REVIEW" "Absolutely disgraceful customer care, took them three months to be bothered to close the utilities accounts they held on the property for previous tenants and even then they transferred the electric instead of closing the damned account. If you are set on using them please for the love of all that is holy, check everything and chase them up every day or they will just let problems fester in the hopes that they go away." Following the posting of the above review it has become apparent that the estate agents were not to blame for a large portion of our issues. Instead the fault lay with our Landlord who has miss classified the property as single occupancy causing a whole host of issues with utility and insurance companies. In addition to this it later became apparent that a large amount of the long wait times for repairs and resolution was also down to this individual not a lack of contact from Hallam Hills. Throughout a series of disputes with the landlord they have been nothing but helpful and courteous in mediating these issues.

Chris · 22 November 2019

★★★★★ 1/5

Google

DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS LETTING AGENCY! I don't normally leave reviews, but avoid Hallam Hills at all costs. They seem okay until you try and leave and they completely scam you for your deposit. Despite photos of the property left in a good condition; buying new furniture (and leaving it for them) and approaching them with issues throughout the tenancy, they're trying to take £340 from the deposits. Full on scam, don't get caught by them.

Becca · 22 October 2020

★★★★★ 5/5

Google

When we found out we were relocating to Seattle, we were thrilled! And then terrified by real estate horror stories like bidding wars, prices skyrocketing, and properties selling for way above asking price. How could we possibly figure this out, as non local first time home buyers? Then my friend suggested me Hallam Hills who answered the phone right away and set us up with one of team member, who was so helpful to us in understanding the process. He was always available to us, day and night to dedication about our new house. We easily buy a house by help of Hallam Hills so thank you.

Mikel · 22 November 2018

★★★★★ 5/5

Google

Hallam Hills gave me a flat in rent near Sheffield Hallam University. I thought I had a pretty good knowledge about renting a flat. But it wasn’t “quite” as simple as I thought. Hallam Hills has most patient person I know; they are completely open to hearing what you have to say and continues to listen whole heartedly when the next day you’re saying something completely different. They seemed to always be available for my questions and sync ups when I was feeling under water.

Henryy · 22 November 2018