Leaders - Manchester Reviews 

Avoid at all costs or you will find yourself living in horrendous conditions. I am currently renting an apartment in what is meant to be one of the best areas of Manchester. My experience with Leaders in particular Dominika Vas and Lucy Byrne in the Manchester office has without doubt been my worst ever experience with a letting agent.

First off, I was lied to about their being parking permits available. There are no parking permits for this zone. This is something Leaders will have been aware of as their office is on the same road yet they clearly told me parking permits are available. Why did they do this? simply to con me into renting an apartment from them so they could receive their commission.

Secondly, the apartment never received a pre-tenancy inspection. When I moved in I wasn't taken to the property, I was given keys and told to make my own way there. When I arrived I found the apartment infested with insects, no lighting in the kitchen, no lighting in the lounge. It then took leaders 2-3 weeks to resolve the issue. it is illegal in England and Wales to let an apartment without lighting but Leaders do not seem to care. they are a law unto themselves and know how to play the system and believe me they do.

Thirdly, I am in my fourth month of tenancy and for the past 4 weeks I have been left without hot water or heating, in the height of winter. The problem initially started in November and Leaders have sent a contractor to look at the issue but after 5 visits and 5 bodge jobs I am still sitting here, in one of the best areas of manchester, paying thousands in rent with no heating and shoddy hot water. they seek out the cheapest contractors so they can tick the box that they have attended to your issue but .... how does that hep you? it doesn't, you are left in no mans land

When I contact Leaders about the issues I am put through what seems like an automated system and receive excuse after excuse after excuse. When I point out to them it is illegal to let a property in these conditions they don't seem to give a monkeys. Again, they know the system and know how to work it

Please be wary of this company, they lie, they make up excuses and they really do not care once they have got your money.

If you want to sign up to a contract that is then repeatedly broken while all the while being made to feel like you are insignificant then this is the company for you.

If you want to run the risk of renting an apartment, paying your money and then be treated like a piece of dirt, then this is the company for you.

I have 8 months left on my tenancy and I am furious there is nothing I can do except listen to their manipulative dismissive lies

If you have seen the movie - The wolf of wall street with Leonardo DiCaprio about fraudsters on the stock markets - then you will understand when I say Leaders, in my opinion make you feel like a victim. they will lie, manipulate and come up with all sorts of nonsense to part you from your money and make you a client or tenant but then once you are on board with them, you will be treated like dirt with next to no recourse.

so please, consider another lettings agency.

I fully expect Leaders to reply to this review with a cleverly worded defence as that is what they seem to focus their energy - manipulation and curating excuses - but ask yourself, who has reason to lie? the tenant who is paying money or the letting agent who makes money off of you ?

They are sound

They lack follow-up when you ask for maintenance-related items, but when it comes to contract renewal and payment, their follow-up is top-notch. This is based on my experience with them.

From start to finish they were very professional.
And help with all aspects of the move

It’s been 2 years since my first review and we’re still waiting for fitting the washing machine its place in the kitchen and to fix the rain water’s flooding in from window frame …
Leaders Manchester is so helpless so unprofessional for these issues as some other issues to make landlord to solve them because looks like landlord doesnt want to fix the problems.
His sounds like” if you dont like the place you can move out”
He lives in an other Country and he doesnt bother to look after his this property .He only thinks his money, getting every month !
Leaders Manchester team should be there for tenants not only for Landlords !!!

Good and helpful

Whenever i needed them, they was there for me.

Good and reliable

REALLY POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE AND PROPERTY MANAGEMENT . DONT SE THEIR NO DEPOSIT OPTION

I've been in an apartment under Leaders for quite a few years now, in that time I've dealt with a few property managers and I can easily say the latest one, Imogen Windsor, has been the most helpful. No building is ever perfect but Imogen has made sorting things our super easy, which is exactly what you want as a tenant.

Over charging for repairs

Alice was such an amazing help to me and my boyfriend for moving in to our first place together, she was constantly checking in and keeping us updated with everything! She was completely transparent and trust worthy is everything she spoke about with us to help us settle in and feel very confident and excited about our first move!
Amazing apartment, so clean and spacious and perfect location.

The building constantly smells of weed, yet management refuses to take any real action. They sent one email and then told me “there is nothing else we can do.” Completely dismissive and unprofessional. Avoid renting any property associated with this company property management or otherwise you will end up paying 1600 for free weed smell in your apartment

I had them for our apartment in manchester. First, they gave us a filthy apartment which had insects, stinky fridge, sticky floors, fuse lights etc. They were SO late in any response for help. Multiple times claimed non payment of rent even though it was EARLY and we shared proof the day we sent it. The actual landlord also told us that they did not pay him because we did not pay the rent. if we had any problem, they were impossible to get in touch with and never help. Will never reccomend them. The apartment was not like the one shown in images, lift never worked, contsant leakage, termites in the wall, the balcony collapsed, tears in sofas. After all that they had the audacity to charge us for cleaning when we left it extrememly clean, in a MUCH better condition than we found it.

A friend and I placed an offer for an apartment in Manchester city centre, and our offer was accepted on the same day. We had initially requested our move-in day to be 1/8/25, but were asked to start the tenancy on 28/7/25, leaving them only 2 weeks to vet all of our information. We were given links to register on Goodlord and provided all our information, including signing a tenancy agreement that stated our tenancy started on 28/7/25. We received no further communication other than automated emails for around a week, these emails included links and forms to complete the bill transfer to our names.

On 28/7/25, I was informed that my guarantor had been rejected. On the day the tenancy was supposed to begin. I asked for a reason and was told they couldn't tell me; my guarantor would have to contact them. He emailed and did not receive a prompt response, despite the email being sent to me being marked as urgent. We offered 6 months of rent in advance, which was rejected. By the end of the day, the issue had been resolved and a new guarantor had been accepted. On 29/7/25, we were sent a new tenancy agreement, paid the deposit and first month's rent under the impression that everything was now fine. On 30/7/25, we received an email informing us that the landlord was refusing to sign the agreement, and we were no longer permitted to move in.

Thankfully, neither of our leases had run out, and we still had a roof over our heads, which is not a fact Leaders Lettings knew. Due to their inefficiency, and allowing a landlord to pressure them into allowing tenants to sign an agreement that does not give them enough time to properly vet tenants, we were put in a situation that caused us immense stress and potential financial hardship.

We were told we would receive a full refund of the money paid, but that it would take 7-10 working days to process. We then had to cancel all bills in our name, which could have left us paying almost £100 in cancellation fees due to no fault of our own. Thankfully, this was not the case, but those fees would have still been our responsibilities to pay, despite it not being our fault.

While my housemate and I were lucky that these events have not left us in a dire situation, as we have savings to place a deposit on a new apartment and a lease that does not run out till 28/8/25, not everyone will be able to handle a situation like this as well as us. Anyone with fewer savings or a short turnaround on their lease could have found themselves homeless or, out of desperation, in less than safe or habitable housing. The representative we were in communication with was apologetic and compassionate towards us, but we never should have been through this.

Leaders should not have allowed us to sign an agreement for 28/7/25 if there was a risk that they would not have enough time to fulfil everything on their end. There should have been a greater effort to contact me before the tenancy began, so the guarantor issue could have been resolved sooner. There should have been a greater effort to return the money to us in a shorter time frame and give us a chance to find a new apartment in good time.

The worst experience. Our property was rented out through Leaders for one year and the whole experience was awful. A lack of communication, endless property managers, the last one, I wasn't even informed had left and clear lack of understanding. I had to constantly chase things up and at times sort things out myself which made me wonder what I was paying my percentage fee for each month. Needless to say, I wouldn't recommend them to anyone and don't be fooled by their presentations and booklets. We were hoodwinked and I am now so happy to be free of the shackles of this company. They only thing they lead in is constantly failing at what they promise to deliver.

Arranged a viewing for one of their properties letting agent was late and tenants showed us around the property, estate agent turned up after we had finished viewing. Sent in an offer form to apply for the property we had viewed and the letting agent informed us they would discuss with the landlord. We never heard anything after that and were completely ghosted. Very unprofessional service would not recommend

I had a water leakage issue in my bathroom with water spilling on the rug towards the bathroom entrance, I reported it and the response rate was amazing. The leak got fixed that same day. Thanks to Imogen Windsor and her team.

Really beware of dealing with this company and know your tenant rights. My tenancy was a complete mess with leaders having so many process issues the whole time. I extended my tenancy for 2 months and they were chasing me for 12 months rent threatening legal action. Of course, i couldn’t get through to anyone via email or phone to explain i was only renewing the lease for 2 months which i had already paid. Then come the end of my tenancy i had to threaten legal action via the TDS in order to get my deposit refunded. It had been 25 days and they hadn’t even done an inventory report! I emailed my estate agent multiple times and never got a response about when i would be getting my deposit refunded. It is only when i threatened legal action through the TDS that i suddenly got a response with the estate agent Anthea Clarke claiming she was ‘sick’ and her colleagues couldn’t cover her portfolio. They are a large estate agents how can they allow their estate agents to not do simple processes such as refunding a deposit. If you rent with these guys know your legal rights as a tenant as it was only through threatening legal action that they actually responded and eventually refunded my deposit 25 days after the end of my contract (legally it should be 14 days).