Thornley Groves Estate Agents - Hale Reviews 35

We are about to complete the purchase of a property through Thornley Groves estate agents in Hale. Buying or selling a house can be a stressful process, but the team at Thornley Groves were consistently professional, supportive, and impressive throughout.

Chris, the branch manager, initially helped us with putting in our offer and was fair, transparent, and professional from the outset, which immediately gave us confidence in the process. Claire regularly checked in with both us and the vendor to ensure everyone was aligned and that all paperwork was progressing promptly. This made us feel well supported and helped keep things moving quickly without unnecessary delays.

As we were part of a chain, there were some challenges in getting the top and bottom of the chain to agree on a completion date. Jamie, who originally showed us the property, was exceptional in handling this. She took the initiative to draft a detailed email, bringing all parties together, and used her professionalism and experience to resolve the situation and secure an agreed completion date. Her efforts were instrumental in ensuring a smooth conclusion to the transaction.

Overall, I cannot recommend the team at Thornley Groves highly enough.

My partner and I would like to say a huge thank you to Claire Hayes, Assistant Sales Manager at the Thornley Groves Hale branch.
We’ve had a more challenging property purchase, as the owners of the property live abroad, which made receiving answers to queries and resolving maintenance issues (that needed addressing before completion) more difficult.
Throughout the entire process, Claire has been consistently supportive, responsive, and proactive. She has been on hand across all communication channels—chasing updates, coordinating with all parties, and helping us overcome every obstacle that arose.
We would recommend Claire in a heartbeat to friends and family, not only because she went above and beyond at every stage, but also because she offered such a bespoke, personal level of service—something that’s increasingly rare to find these days.
Many thanks, Claire! R & J 😊

I asked for a review of my tenancy agreement and it was resolved in a timely manner. Emma was efficient in sending the contract via email, the only thing I would say was the voicemail was left on as if she was still on holiday, but she had not switched it off on her return so I had to phone the normal office who was helpful.

As someone who was helping my brother with his move, I am writing to express my absolute shock and disappointment with Thornley Groves. I've never heard of a letting agent operating with such a lack of professionalism, and the ordeal my brother went through was deeply frustrating.

The issues began when they started an impromptu bidding war on a rental property. It felt like a high-pressure sales tactic, not a fair process for a rental, and it was the first sign that this was not a standard letting agency.

The situation became even more unbelievable during the application process. Even after my brother provided all of his necessary employment details, payslips, and excellent references, the agent insisted he grant them access to his personal HMRC data and bank accounts via Open Banking. This demand was so invasive and inappropriate for a rental application that he had to decline.

My brother's refusal led to the agent threatening to keep his holding deposit, despite him following all of their application steps. The entire situation has been a huge inconvenience for me personally; I'm holding all of his furniture at my house and had to take time off work to help with what we thought would be a smooth move.

In the end, we both believe he was fortunate to have gotten out of the process when he did. The actions of Thornley Groves were completely unprofessional and we would strongly advise others to avoid them.

I recently reserved a rental property with Thornley Groves and was extremely disappointed with their practices. The entire process felt unethical and invasive, leading to what I would consider my poorest experience with a letting agent to date.

The first issue I encountered was the agent's practice of asking prospective tenants to engage in a bidding war for the rental property. This felt highly unprofessional and created an unnecessary and stressful environment, a practice more suited to a sales transaction rather than a rental agreement.

Following this, the data verification process was unreasonably intrusive. While I understand the need for standard checks, the agent was insistent that I provide access to my HMRC data and my bank accounts via Open Banking. Despite being fully furnished with my employment details, payslips, and excellent references, the staff I dealt with were adamant that I would not be able to proceed without this highly sensitive information. It felt like a gross invasion of privacy, and I had to decline, as this level of financial scrutiny is typically reserved for a mortgage application, not a rental.

As a result of my refusal, the agent implied they would be keeping my holding deposit. Based on the strict legal rules governing holding deposits, this is a baseless threat. The holding deposit can only be withheld under very specific circumstances, and declining to provide invasive, non-essential data does not fall into that category.

Overall, the experience was unprofessional and deeply frustrating. I would caution others to be aware of these practices.

Cannot rate Jamie high enough. She was absolutely brilliant with the whole process. I feel extremely confident in her advice. She is an asset to Thornley Groves

We cannot praise Claire enough for her professionalism in dealing with the recent sale of our parents property.

Jamie and Claire were professional, friendly and always quick to respond.

Honestly the best estate agents we’ve ever had, and this is our sixth move. Claire Blackham is efficient, reliable, and very pleasant to communicate with. All the team, Chris and Jamie likewise. No other agents have come anywhere near their quality of service. There is no b%#!%t! Well done!

I found the team at Thornley Groves very responsive and helpful. They chased the relevant parties when required to help move the purchase along, and were very easy to deal with. All in all a very pleasant experience, would definitely use again.

I cannot praise Tom Beevers enough
He got us an offer within a few days of listing the property , the sale went through smoothly and quickly due to Toms constant over sight . He was extremely communicative and supportive and made the whole process run smoothly . Definite 5 stars for Tom

Thornley Groves did not release information about “cleaning issues”when trying to withhold deposit money, and provided misleading evidence to the Tenancy Deposit Scheme when we disputed their claim. TPO found in our favour but this took weeks. How many tenants does this happen to, and how many don’t think they’ll win so don’t fight it? Take LOTS of photos at the start and end of your tenancy, and don’t put up with their nonsense.
TG also were slow to respond to other issues and had poor communication even when we logged a formal complaint. We took our case to The Property Ombudsman and again won our case. This should not have been necessary. AVOID RENTING WITH THORNLEY GROVES, and if you have no choice, keep lots of photographic & email evidence to save being out of pocket. Shame on you Thornley Groves!

From our initial meeting with Stuart I found Thornley Groves to be professional and efficient. Their sales package and photographs showed the house in the best possible way. Arabella and Liberty provided feedback after viewings and the administratively the process was excellent.
I would highly recommend Thornley Groves Hale to friends and family.

Excellent service 👍 specially Collette and Ryan Timperley.

It was a pleasure working with this estate agent as Stuart was instrumental in securing the purchase and would respond to messages on the same day. Kate followed through on a few further enquiries and all the staff were pleasant and helpful.

We recently sold our house through Thornley Groves, after disapointing perfomance from another agent, and they went above and beyond the call of duty to push a very difficult conveyance through, after securing a sale that again was not easy to obtain. I have no hesitation in recommending their services. Special mention goes to Rhiannon who was excellent.

Excellent and friendly customer service from Adeeb Ahmed. Thank you!

I have been super impressed by the standard of salesmanship and professionalism within the Hale Branch of Thornley Groves a special mention to Rhiannon who was a delight to deal with .
I would not hesitate to use this branch again and would highly recommend them to future sellers and purchasers alike .

Letting through thornley groves was smooth and straightforward. Claire was very helpful showing us around the apartment and answered all of our questions. Both her and Emily were quick and helpful throughout the whole process of applying for the property.

Great service and support provided by Rhiannon recently at the Hale branch of Thornley Groves, nothing was too much trouble when it could have proved a problem !

Thanks again
Sharona