Austin Rees Reviews 22

This company has no clue what service or property management is about. And it starts at the top with Dan Paige, the 'Director'. My poor experience started a year ago when they purchased a second insurance policy on my property, costing more than £7,000, even though there was already one in place and I'd specifically instructed them NOT to take out any further insurance. I then demanded they obtain a refund and was told that it was 'in process'. After a few months and with no confirmation that the funds had been returned I started a Complaints procedure, which is a complete charade. The Complaint was acknowledged by an Admin and then nothing - and nothing since. So I've reported them to the Property Ombudsman. Furthermore, they have not prepared a Maintenance Plan for the property, they have not kept me informed of any changes to the occupants of the property (which is required as it is a registered HMO) and most importantly, they haven't provided me access to the records and the bank account pertaining to the property. They claim that they are a member of ARMA but ARMA doesn't exist any longer, but they continue to operate as if they are members of an ethical & professional body, which they themselves are not. Beware and avoid.

If I could give them no stars, I would! The worst block management company I have ever dealt with. An urgent situation left unattended for days and wrote to the directors and delivered by hand complaining, nothing. Reading the reviews I am going to make a formal complaint to ARMA and the ombudsman. I am going to try and get them removed from the properties they block manage. Obviously the directors haven't read these reviews, or frankly don't care?! They are a complete shambles.

Scum! Lucy and landlord Reviewed my bank statements and contract and accepted me to place a holding deposit. Kept me waiting for 2 weeks while I was urgently looking for immediate accommodation. Found out they were considering multiple tenants and a few days later emailed they went with someone else .

Austin Rees have been ripping me off for the last 20 years, claiming to 'manage' my leasehold property. They do not, in fact, in reality, 'manage' anything at all. They just demand insane and ever-increasing amounts of money twice yearly for literally nothing, and threaten forfeiture (= destitution) if every capricious, arbitrary demand isn't met instantly.

They ripped me off for thousands I didn't owe. They harassed me about it for years. I was finally forced to pay under financial duress (they were bulking up the bill by billing me for solicitor's letters). I had to take them to court (FTT) to recover the money. They fought me every inch of the way, they instructed solicitors to badger and threaten me, they threatened me with forfeiture of my lease and their padded-out hearing costs. The court found in my favour, they were forced to return the money and the solicitor's fees, and they didn't get their hearing costs. They have never apologised or offered any explanation for their relentless, bullying, threatening behaviour, for which 'service' I am obliged to pay them money, twice-annually.

If you are forced by leasehold law to try to do business with them (I am), take legal advice, for you will surely need it. And if you have any option in the matter, run don't walk. They will fleece you and insult you and ignore you and threaten you. They don't reply to complaints, and the police refuse to investigate their obviously fraudulent practices. My MP does nothing.

You're on your own.

You've been warned.

Reported a leak to Austin Rees on the 5th January, still nothing done to fix it and its the end of February. I send emails, get little or no response. Wish any of this was surprising. Very much the experience I now expect dealing with Austin Rees. Getting anything fixed takes months and is usually poorly done. Would recommend avoiding any property they manage

Our block of flats is managed by Austin Rees, there are 10 flats in the block luckily we are only renting so god help our landlord!

The communal halls are run down and are rarely cleaned.

I reported our communal fire door is non compliant over a year ago and after several emails nothing has been done.

The front door isn't secure and can be easily "forced" open.

There is obvious subsidence within the building and apartments and they are unable to provide any evidence that a structural survey has ever been undertaken.

Emails left unanswered and when emails are replied to they are vague with their answers.

I have had to ask the council to step in regarding the subsidence as nobody can actually confirm if the building is safe to live in...

PLEASE DONT HIRE THIS COMPANY!!!

It is incredible having to give them 1 star when in reality they don't deserve any. What a mafia gang!! Scammers, incompetents, brazens, unprofessionals and thieves.

During the torrential rains of middle June, we had two massive leaks in the bedroom. They were like two open faucets pouring out rivers of water!!
Apparently the outer house wall is cracked, and this is causing the water to get inside our home. As a result of the enormous leak, the carpet in the room got completely ruined.

That same day, I notified the landlady of the house about the event, and she did the same with Austin Rees, which is the company that is in charge of managing the property. Weeks have been passed and despite me and the landlady insisting on the issu with Austin Rees, neither the landlady nor us the tenants have received any notification from them on what specific day they will come to repair the crack in the wall.
Meanwhile, the torrential rains keep happening and we continue to have leaks in the bedroom. And it's been almost a month since we are with this problem!!!

In my emails to Austin Rees I have explained the situation, I have sent photos and videos and I have warned that my husband is a clinically vulnerable person with cancer and that I suffer from asthma, both enough reasons for which the repair of the crack is urgently needed. But Joanna P (who is the contact person I am in touch with), not only avoids giving us a repair date but, in addition to showing that she gives a damn about the problem, she is ironicly mocking about our health condition. Honestly, disgustin humans like Jonna P should not be in customer service positions, and Austin Rees should be banned to give any kind of property service. They are the worst crap I have ever deal with!!!

Austin Rees manage our block of 3 flats they never return your call and they always rush you on the phone never transparent with any works that need doing charge 3 times over the actual cost this is a bad management services using leaseholder as a cash cow

***AVOID AT ALL COSTS***

- AR have baked administrative incompetence into their business model allowing them to mismanage & neglect their clients' properties with no recourse.

- They knowingly allow contractors to carry out substandard works, fail to address dangerous problems, & funnel funds to their sister company OA Surveyors simply because they can.

- I had to move out of my property on Wilbury Road because AR "forgot" to call the insurer for 6 months when the floor of my kitchen collapsed.

- AR blew £20k on major works with Everest Miles who failed to carry out repairs as specified. We have since been charged additional £1000s rectifying problems caused by their shoddy workmanship, even though OA Surveyors were paid >£2000 to oversee & sign off on the project.

- Water has continued to pour through my ceiling every time it rains for the last 5 months. There is seemingly little chance of getting this resolved without paying out £1000s more to new contractors.

- AR director Dan P is a slippery individual whose sole purpose seems to be deflecting problems by ignoring his duties to clients, sweeping aside serious complaints &/or failing to respond to calls & emails in a timely fashion.

- All works that they have been involved in with our property on Wilbury Road have taken longer, become more expensive & been carried out to a terrible standard.

- Do not believe the fake 5* reviews, working with Austin Rees will cost you thousands & cause serious distress in the process.

I was going to purchase a flat which they manage.
I rented this property until the property purchase completes.

I have seen many insects (loaches, bees, woodlouse) in the flat and I have my friend come in to check where they're coming from.

There is a bee's nest in the building as there is a large tree covering the living room.

Also in the bed room, there were missing skirting boards, and we found it missing all the way through in the room, living room and the kitchen.

The bathroom - it was very dirty inside and it wasn't sealed properly.

I spoken to the seller about these issues and the seller contacted Austin Rees, many times.

Nothing has been done until I decided to abandon on this purchase and move out.

I had to contact the council to have a look at the property. They acknowledged serious damp, bee's nest in the flat, however, because I was going to leave the property they couldn't do anything.

They also spent too much time on responding to my solicitor's enquiries. Since I made an offer on this property, I waited until 5 months past, and there were still no action taken by this company.

Also I asked the seller to cut down on the tree covering the living room, because the bees were flying around this tree and I was just one window away from them. The seller contacted them, but no action was taken.

So I paid a lot of money for pest control, handy man to fix these issues. I had to call drainage company all the time, because the toilet gets blocked once a week.

Also, there's always someone scattering rubbish into the communal garden, which is in front of the kitchen of this property. So the view from the kitchen was occupied by the rubbish. I kept talking to the seller, and the seller contacted Austin Rees each time, but no action was taken. Finally the seller had to come to pick the rubbish up for me.

Please see my pictures to see the state of this property. I don't want anyone to experience what I have experienced. Just do not rent or buy a property managed by Austin Rees.

Also this company is charging over £500 ground rent every year. If you become a leaseholder then you will be struggling with money. I am happy I am out of it, they shouldn't charge ground rent now, also this will be double after 10 years. You will be paying £1000/ year ground rent, on top of service charge.

I've had nothing but a positive experience with Austin Rees, we've used them as a block for years now, we have an excellent caring account manager in Rayana Betts who goes above and beyond to assist us.

They save us time and hassle as we could never know and understand the complexities of running a freehold the way they do.

I recommend Rayana in particular as she's been most accommodating and personable.

The past reviews say it all, over charging, inventing work for their sibling companies, and generally not actually managing the properties they are charged to look after are a common thread running through these reviews.

I Would also like to add their most sneaky scam - obtaining 3 outrageously excessive quotes for works, where one of the excessive quotes is significantly less than the other two to to give the impression the have arranged competitively priced work. Does that sound familiar?

So, that must be how they operate, rather than just the odd disgruntled customer.

There does seem to be growing anger and awareness of thir BS. Hopefully they will be out of business soon.

Avoid at all costs. This company is completely corrupt and incompetent. They will use their sister companies to undertake works, such as surveying etc. They will provide you with demands for unnecessary works. They will take several months to deal with your requests. They will overcharge you for everything, such as building insurance and lighting for common-ways. One day someone will have the determination and energy to investigate and expose them. I would recommend trying to go down the Right to Manage route (if this company manages your building).

As a tenant in a block they manage I have been shocked by their management.
They do not reply to all emails and ones they have responded to have been unprofessional... Not responding to the email in full and at one point just putting a one word reply. I was heavily pregnant and subsequently went into hospital in an emergency capacity which I explained would likely happen and they were incredibly dismissive of this. Beyond this lack of human empathy though they just didn't reply or address any of the issues being raised and remain completely unresponsive.
Honestly I am shocked by their professionalism and it's caused me huge distress.

I also agree that they should get a minus rating. I am a leaseholder in a building that they manage. All work carried out is shoddy and appalling. We have been waiting months for responses. I have been waiting 18 months for my window issue and today they turn up and decide that it is my issue after all and not theirs! I have asked 3 times for fire certificate, including from the director, and it is not forthcoming. I agree that we need combined action now. They are part of the River song group. I encourage you to stop paying the service charges and to let them know why, to make a formal complaint to Dan Paige at the River Song Group and then to go to the property management ombudsman. Otherwise they just continue to get away with it right and we continue to pay their fees?

I rent my flat and this lot are the letting agents.my ceiling fell down on the 20th april and im still waiting for a new one so many excuses but nothing done. my neighbour has been waiting over 18 months for her windows and roof window to be repaired has now destroyed her floors. They also do the maintenance there builders screw drill bits into light sockets to keep them on and gloves over the fire alarms. we have a door in the basement thats not even attached.
absolute joke do not use.
i speak to my landlord everyday and he only has contact from you when he has to email. doesnt matter that i dont own my property shouldnt take 17 weeks for a ceiling to be renewed.

Austin Rees seem to exist for the sole purpose of extracting money from leaseholders.

Whilst Austin Rees make excessive demands for unnecessary works, work that does need to be carried out is left unattended for years.

Additionally, their accounting presentation seems to be intentionally vague. This makes it very difficult to see exactly where money that is meant for maintaining the building is spent.

I am becoming increasingly suspicious that they have a habit of embezzling money collected from service charges and works etc.

They take months to do extremely menial tasks and let the property get into a really really poor state of repair. The worst is that this is not a cheap service; they charge an absolute fortune for service charge and for what? Building insurance is the only thing we seem to be getting for our money... That's incredibly expensive insurance!! Looking at every single other review on this site, it looks like we're certainly not the only ones with these issues. They seriously need to sort themselves out and start doing what they're paid for, or we'll be looking to take legal action for negligence.

Austin Rees are dishonest and incompetent. The accounting is never properly presented. They refuse to say exactly what charges are for.

Their properties are in poor state of repair and all maintenance is done to rather low standard.

Currently pursuing legal action

If you live or looking to live in a property managed by Austin Rees it better be fault proof as they do it so poorly. Putting the man on the moon took less time than to get them to fix a faulty front door lock. Took them
8 months and 5 attempts to do so and changing to change a light bulb has taken them more than a year to do so (still counting).
Also you better not have any leak, as its necessary more than a month to answer an email and put scafoldin. No works have been made ever since and the scaffolding has been there waiting for a week

I would give 5 negative stars if I could.