Flat Board Reviews 37

Horrible company culture. They scam people and go to an extent of even threatening them! Please avoid this company at all costs.

I had an extremely negative experience with the real estate agency HouseHat, and I feel compelled to share my story to warn other potential customers about the risks associated with signing a tenancy agreement with them. We entered into a contract with them for the rental of an apartment, but from the beginning, they demonstrated an unprofessional and unethical attitude.

Initially, they offered me a room in the city center. However, as soon as they learned how much I needed that room, it suddenly became unavailable. Instead, they offered me another room, 20 minutes away by bus, claiming that they were providing a great deal for the inconvenience. All of these claims were false. They charged me £975 for an en suite room, while other tenants are paying at least £150 less each month.

They had me sign a contract that is borderline legal and, for lack of a better description, TERRIBLE ONE FOR TENANTS. The contract includes ridiculous clauses, such as the ability to evict me without cause after the third month, leaving me trapped in this nightmare.

Furthermore, they violated the clauses of their own contract, creating a situation of discomfort and uncertainty for me and my family. Not only did they lack transparency, but they also attempted to make us pay amounts of money that appeared to be outside English laws and regulations. For instance, they tried to withhold the reservation fee (which is illegal) by omitting it from the first monthly rents. Fortunately, I received a heads up and was able to retrieve it. Additionally, they failed to secure my deposit (a substantial £1125) in a third-party deposit, as required by law.

It is evident that HouseHat takes advantage of clients' lack of knowledge about the real estate market or their difficulty in finding an apartment. Now, I am trapped in this tenancy agreement, and they are holding my money hostage, demanding further payment. My only recourse is to seek legal advice.

Moreover, if anything happens on your side, be prepared for them to call you at all hours of the day and night, even on weekends, pressuring you to pay, sometimes with a 24-hour deadline over the weekend. However, when you need assistance from them, they will do nothing to help.

They are so unethical about their job that the employees flee from the company. As a consequence nobody knows what is going on and it is always a nightmare to communicate with them! I didn't even had a check in for the room because of that! And if somebody calls and he is the CEO, be sure that the reason why he is calling you is to scam you. He is the the one that pushes his employees to do unethical actions. He will try to get you on his side by lying to you and then ultimately steal your money.

For all these reasons, I strongly advise everyone seeking reliable and professional real estate services to steer clear of HouseHat. My experience with them was extremely disappointing, and I hope others can learn from my situation. There are many more honest and transparent real estate agencies on the market, and HouseHat is definitely not one of them. STAY AWAY!

The Founder - Rahul Karnani runs the worst company ever! No sense of direction and no ethics whatsoever. Fake Brit accent and thinks he can change the business structure without even being properly educated. Website has wrong information like the WhatsApp contact number - of course upon reading this it will be changed but you can only understand by this mere irresponsible move how he runs the company. Their employee Mona called me for an interview and I could sense that she's not giving correct details about the company, job position, etc. I have checked with ex employees on LinkedIn and they say Househat has the worst work culture ever! If you are looking to join the company, please stop and look elsewhere. It's fake, unethical work culture and there's no team. One employee even told me that she was advised to stop her education and join the company at a Senior position. I mean who does that?! Seriously! I will NEVER join this company from the feedback from ex employees. Also, this company name is HOUSEHAT, not Flatboard. I don't understand how Trust Pilot is not taking action against this company for misleading people with the incorrect company name. Founder thinks he's oversmart and can cover up for the unethical work he carries out. NO ONE SHOULD EVER JOIN THIS COMPANY.

honestly had the worst experience with these guys, from illegal charges to bad communications within teams. save yourself the trauma and run when you see their company name. the absolute worst place to rent.

This company is Househat and the name keeps changing because they don't want people to give bad reviews. It was 'H' and now changed to Flat Board. I mean this name isn't even registered. Notice how the website is correct. The Founder is extremely rude and inconsiderate - I checked him on social media and you should see how immortal and rude he sounds in his YouTube videos. It just proves what a character he is and how he runs his business. Read the recent reviews and they are true - it's really a scam! During the month of July they had a good team who would respond and actually care for their customers. I've spoken to that previous team and they said Mr. Rahul Karnani - Founder of Househat is extremely rude to his employees and not to engage with the business because of the malpractices. Imagine employees telling you this and they have all left now so it's just Simran (who I guess is in the UK) and Rahul who keeps taking different names pretending to be employees. What a horrible person to scam people like this. You should really check his YouTube videos and how he talks with sometimes abusive and inconsiderate language. Also, a FAKE ACCENT!!! Hope this review helps many customers and potential employees to NEVER engage with the Founder and his company.

There's no team of this company. It's just the Founder Rahul Karnani using different names like Kay, R Kay, Karnani, etc and some mistake it for being different employees. It's basically 2-3 including the Founder and employees keep leaving because they know the truth of this horrible company. The employees I've spoken with in the past said that the Founder Rahul Karnani mistreats his employees and makes them lie and work around unethical practices. They keep changing their numbers on WhatsApp so it's like the tenants dont know who to message. Emails are not replied too and the Founder bluntly tells you there's nothing they can do about it and they are facing a change Or transition in the team. I mean which company has a change in team every 3 months - it's simply because the Founder has no principles and morals. Mainly the Founder encourages and cooperates with tentative tenants till they pay them and then just ignores tenant calls, messages, issues, etc. It's the worst company ever and the Founder has no moral and ethical values whatsoever. Literally no one should EVER fall into his malpractices - the employees and clientele. WORST COMPANY AND FOUNDER EVER!

Stay away at all costs. I can't tell if my horrible experience has been down to staff negligence or genuine maliciousness.

Either way, avoid sending a penny to this company, and check the profiles of any positive reviews for Househat - many of them are fake.

work culture is extremely unorganized and unethical, not because of the people working but simply because of the Founder. They mislead employees through false promises. This whole company and the Founder is a scam

STAY AWAY FROM THESE PEOPLE!!!!!
They run a terrible business, frequently breaching contract and breaking the law. They are horrible and inconsiderate and do not care about tenants. They gave us less than a days notice to move out which is highly illegal, as well as entering the property without notice and this is also illegal. They haven’t returned deposit and come up with weird lies. They left us without gas and electric on many occasions and are absolutely fine doing so. The landlord they work with are also untrustworthy. STAY AWAY

Steer clear.
(Househat UK Limited househat.co.uk -they've removed their name from here and changed the website link)
Scam agency targeting international students.
Whatsapp conversations agreeing contract information are changed to disappearing messages once you move in.
Accidentally send you a contract with the wrong amount twice.
Roof tile fell off the roof, fire alarms battery ran out and too high to reach, no one came to look.
I didnt get a front door key for 4 months and then it was left on the floor in front of the property without telling anyone - luckily another tenant found it and asked why it was there.
Agency tells you and airbnb tenants that there's a cleaner and crockery when there's not. They use this to deter from the fact that the contract states that you are responsible for the cleanliness of both your room and the communal areas of the house. After you move in and contact them to say that the communal areas are messy and look lile theyvr never been cleaned (not even a vacuum in a carpeted property) , people arent cleaning up after themselves, airbnb tenants are leaving scum in the shower, filth on the toilet seat and are using your cups and plates, they advise that you can tell them to stop /clean after themselves or the agency can arrange a cleaner, of course, at your expense.
Deposit deductions for estimated energy billed to every leaving tenant with no invoice or breakdown of the actual charges. The contract says £50 per month per tenant is paid to the energy company and you will be charged for any excess but they also have airbnb tenants residing in the property. They also dont give you a refund for underpayments during warmer or lower consumption months.
Deposit deductions for cleaning costs on checkout are a given even though the room I moved into wasn't cleaned and I left it in a cleaner state.
They try to strong arm you into paying illegal contract renewal fees by way of consistent calling and emails (50+ contacts in the space of 2 weeks) - fees that were banned in 2019. It seems that they think they can get away with this because the majority of the tenants are not from the UK so may not know their rights.
They send daily room viewing emails to everyone in the property and dont turn up or turn up without sufficient notice - e.g., 17 hours notice.
They dont turn up to complete check out.
The communication is incredibly poor, especially after you've moved out. The deposit protection scheme that they use returns the money back to them rather than to you and even if an amount is agreed to be deducted, they send you a different lower amount.

Househat provides rooms for students and single professionals. The process of contracting is easier than renting a regular flat/apartment. It is especially recommended for those who live abroad but want to reserve a room in the UK for future stay.
The process is as follows. 1. Select a property and check it through virtual viewing; 2. Apply for a contract through WhatsApp; 3. Pay the required deposit (holding deposit & security deposit) and submit documents showing status and finances via the Checkboard app; 4. If the documents pass the review, a contract will be signed online; 5. receive the key and move in. For me, the process was very smooth. For those without a UK bank account, there is a 'Quick Pay' gateway on the Househat website.
From virtual viewing to moving in, staff (maybe) from the Oxford branch, Simran, Rahul, Nadia, Monique and Anna were most helpful. They were all very nice, facilitated the process quickly and were available to answer questions at any time.
Reasons for losing one star: 1. I got information on the SpareRoom website and sent a message, but did not hear back until a week later. Maybe I should have contacted them directly at the email address or phone listed on the Househat website; 2. The condition of the room, when it was handed over, was not perfect, there was rubbish and dead insects in the chest of drawers and under the bed; there are some damages on the furniture and the window and I am a little worried if it will be deducted from my deposit when move out. 3. The Quick Pay gateway is very convenient, but I felt a little uneasy because no receipt or copy is issued after payment.

Untrustworthy company. After putting a holding deposit down on one of their rental properties, househat demanded that I pay a £935 security deposit before I had seen any sort of tenancy contract. Landlords/agents can not ask for a holding/security deposit before the tenant has seen and agreed to a tenancy contract, as per the Tenancy Fees Act 2019 (page 33), therefore I refused to pay the security deposit until I had seen a written contract. Despite citing the Tenancy Fees Act 2019 to househat, they still refused to show me a tenancy contract. When I asked for a refund on my holding deposit, househat refused, even though it was them blocking the progression of the tenancy agreement, not me. I then sent an email, again citing the Tenancy Fees Act, explaining that if nothing was done, I would involve the authorities and seek legal action, and as if by magic, my security deposit was refunded the very next day with no reply to my email.

The actions of househat make me seriously question the legitimacy of the company. Please avoid them.

Terrible experience. They would try to scan you in every way they can. Unexplained bill charges. Deduction in your deposit; they lay about cleaning feeds when that cleaning never happened. They make you proof that you clean the house when you leave the property ( they ask me for a video). They didn't put my deposit money in the security deposit account until I had to ask them to do it several times. They never give my room key (no explanation about that at all). They take in my case 3 months to pay my deposit back. Some other tenants have to wait for 5 months.Very dishonest agency.

Current tenant. Having a lot of issues with this scam company. Seeking legal action.

Stay away.

It was a very good experience. The Househat team was very patient and very polite in explaining the whole procedure. They helped my find the best property according to my needs.

Keep up the good work.

Househat's admin team is not be trusted. The communication within the team is non-existent, leading to problems that will never be solved, and they are dishonest to make you pay fees for nothing.
However, I found one very helpful agent, Sagarika. He has been very efficient and reactive in solving many problems on his own. I would surely recommend dealing with him instead of the admin team.

Mr.kay was very polite and clarified my doubts regarding the property with so much patience.

I've had an overall pleasant experience with the agency, mostly discussing with Raj, who managed to extend my contract in a current property. He was just one phone call/e-mail away and helped me with the process or referred me to other colleagues when necessary.

Sagrika is a workaholic and she understands situation better than others.