John Shepherd Estate Agents - Birmingham Reviews 178

Great service and attendace on the emergencies I had during my stay .
Totally recommendades

Pleasant and polite, also very quick to help resolve my issues. Just waiting for the work to be done now but so far very good

I am writing this solely on the basis of two people Lara and Alisha. Lara came in and took over the disrepair issues I've had in my property for many years from the previous tenancy "managers" and their neglect.

Lara has been quick to respond and query on my behalf where needed to help me move back into the property, as well as provide updates so I don't feel left in the dark when I was housed elsewhere during the repairs.

I genuinely cannot thank Lara enough for being vigilant and supportive. something I believe others should take note of.

Also to Alisha who has been great with any other property issues I have had, with response times and great communication.

Thank you both these 5 stars are solely for you two!

Don't use this agency. They illegally charge referencing fees which are not a permitted charge under the Tenant Fees Act 2019. They also fail to give adequate keys and fobs, and repairs take too long. Highly recommend to stay away from this agency

Great service from Gita and Claire, they helped me renew my tenancy and sorted out maintenance issues promptly. Appreciate their support and professionalism! #goodservice #great communication skills. I highly recommend John Shepherd for stress free renting.

Lara is a credit to JS. Our tenancy is due to renew in January and our first year here has not been great. Total lack of communication from our ‘property manager’, really poor service. However after speaking to Lara just once, she has sorted all of our issues in less than a week! She has been proactive, listened to and understood our frustrations, very helpful, excellent customer service, professional and acted straightaway. I can’t recommend Lara enough and I only wish she was our property manager from the very start. Thank you so much Lara, you’re an asset to JS and I hope you receive the appreciation you deserve

A very disappointing experience with the Birmingham branch. I’ve been reporting several maintenance issues for over a month, including a faulty bathroom vent with black soot, a jammed window, and overhead shower heating problems. I still have no clear updates. Communication is extremely slow, sometimes with 10+ days of no response. Only minor fixes have been done while the urgent issues remain unresolved. As a tenant hoping to extend my stay, the lack of action and communication has been very frustrating. I hope the company improves its responsiveness and takes tenant concerns more seriously.

A big thank you to Lara at JS Colmore Row for dealing a late payment issue with the tenant in my rental property.

As a landlord to a fully managed property, the property managers are always available and go above and beyond and I would whole heartedly recommend this service.

Hi Team,
Thank you for your response; I appreciate it.
For your awareness, I had previously escalated this to Lily Johnson, but unfortunately, there was no response. I followed up again this morning based on your note, and still haven’t received any reply.
Thanks,
Rajani

Lara has been really helpful as a property manager, she replies fast and chase up the process for us.

I can’t recommend Drew highly enough for his efficiency, honesty, and professionalism. He was consistently supportive and transparent.
Unfortunately, a different team mishandled my case regarding clear furniture damage, and no resolution was reached. This reflects on that team alone, not on Drew.

I moved in recently and my property manager Lara Soarswhite has been really helpful. They were some things that needed to sorted out, and she has been understanding and quick to respond with solutions.

Quick responses by
Lara Soarswhite

Abysmal company. They took over the management of my flat and it was terrible from start to finish. Draining and costly. I cannot understand how this company is still in business. In trade magazines their reputation is in the gutter and it's above what they deserve.

They have managed two of my properties and manage the complex for one.
They are the worst. Whatever can go wrong, it will.
They don't communicate, don't care and don't really do their job well in general.
They don't take responsibily and never pick the phone up either.
My review is based on two offices, Birmingham/Solihull.
Edit:
You manage one in Solihull and you managed one in Bham until a few months back. But since I got an email from you (personally from you Lily) regarding building maintenance (so you are still involved).
Unfortunately it is you Lily who are not responding to my emails. And the fact that you say you don't manage my properties, it confirms my problems.
In Solihull the service is significantly better (agents are reasonable, unfortunately Emma left who was a very lovely person and helpful), but the email John Shepherd sent recently about a new service that you automatically start charging for if I don't say no, that was very nasty.
I updated my review to 2* because the people in Solihull are much more helpful, but the company is still 1*

Both Megan and Gemma were very professional, whilst helping us through a smooth transition.

Big thank you to both.

For 9 days, Simon, who was responsible for my case, told me that he could not reach the landlord. In the end, he said that the landlord refused me simply because I had just graduated from university. During this period, I had to stay in an Airbnb for 9 days, yet I did not receive any apology from either him or the company. I believe they are not doing their job properly and do not care about their clients.

John Shepherd has been managing my flat in Birmingham city centre, and overall, they’ve done a good job. From the beginning, they’ve been responsive and helpful—definitely better than competitors, based on what I’ve heard. I’d like to specifically praise Alisha Donaldson, who has been an outstanding employee. After my flat was flooded, there was a huge volume of emails from myself and other involved parties, yet Alisha remained incredibly helpful and professional throughout. She managed communication with unresponsive tenants and coordinated contractors efficiently. Her dedication and calm handling of a stressful situation truly stood out. I’d really like her supervisors to be aware of the excellent work she’s done. Please make sure this exceptional team member gets the recognition she deserves.

We viewed an apartment in Derby for a client who was overseas at the time. We parked up in the parking space assigned to the property, and waited for Tanisha to turn up - half an hour late she turned up.....
She said NOTHING about parking and never asked for our number plate.
About a week later we received a parking fine from Parking Eye who oversea the parking for the property.
We called Tanisha, she said she would sort it out.
We then received another fine letter. Again we contacted her, as did the lady we viewed on behalf of. She told us both she would sort it out.
We then received a letter threatening us with court action unless we paid the fine. Again, she assured us she would contact them and sort it out.
We then received a letter telling us the fine was now £130 and they were taking us to court. My husband faced with this paid the fine. We have called John Shepherds SO MANY times, been lied to and fobbed off, we even emailed Joe Martin - Regional lettings manager - directly only to receive an automated reply. We have emailed him again twice since then and received the same automated reply stating that a colleague would be in touch soon. RUBBISH. No one EVER contacts you from that place, not ever in our experience. We're sick of it, we warned them we would let social media deal with our experience with them and their utter disregard for innocent folk and fines given due to THEIR incompetence and the CONSTANT lying from their staff. So here it is, well done John Shepherd Estate Agents in Burton on Trent. Wouldn't trust them one bit with letting or selling any property, based on our experience we would avoid them AT ALL COSTS!!! EDIT: 240725 Generic reply sent to me, clearly the complaint isn't be taken seriously by John Shepherd as with ALL the negative reviews left!!

I’ve been extremely pleased with the service provided by John Shepherd Estate & Letting Agents - Birmingham. They’ve managed my rental property with professionalism, efficiency, and great communication from day one. Their team is always quick to respond to any issues and keeps me regularly updated, giving me real peace of mind as a landlord.

They’ve also done a great job finding reliable tenants and ensuring the property is well maintained. It’s reassuring to know my investment is in such capable hands. I would happily recommend them to other landlords looking for a dependable and proactive letting agent.
Thank you very much