Catalyst Housing Limited Reviews 265

I've been trying since last year to get Catalyst to arrange for an electrician to visit and repair a faulty electrical switch.
Perhaps not 'life or death', but despite numerous emails, automated responses and repeated promises, latest of which was to provide an 'urgent response', the switch remains as broken as the promises.
Ironically, the latest Catalyst glossy 'rag' (Issue 41) arrived today which states on page 11, "We have strengthened our internal processes to make sure customers aren't left chasing appointments and updates".
Sounds impressive but unfortunately a work of fiction.
"Try harder" springs to mind!

Catalysts housing knows how to collect rent on time but don't listen to customers. They don't answer calls or emails. Never get a shared property from them. They are useless. Regret every minute I decided to join them. Months on months I've tried to call and email. No reply. Horrible experience. The worst of the worst.

Terrible service - avoid at all costs! Only giving one star as I can't give ZERO. I have been with Catalyst in a shared ownership for over 16 years and it's been a frustrating experience from start to finish. Initially they promise the earth but back track at each and every occasion. They are slow, disorganised and no one appears to know what they are doing or what other teams are doing within Catalyst. In December 2021, I bought my house outright from Catalyst and simultaneously transferred the ownership into my sole name (from jointly owning with an ex). The process took SEVEN MONTHS to complete with constant chasing of Catalyst. They charged me 3 times the fee they advised it would cost to start the transfer of ownership, tried to charge me a random made up fee of £420, (which they later refunded £370 when I had in writing what fees were involved before the process was started. I am still waiting for the remaining £50) and would not sign off necessary paperwork to buy the house until I paid the fee, To add further insult, they also have not refunded me the rent they owe me from the date I completed on the house purchase! They do not respond to emails, calls and even was asked to stop emailing them as they are 'very busy'! I've had to even get my local MP involved in a vain attempt to get them to pay back the money they owe me. They don't reply to my MP either. Next step is contacting the Secretary of State for Housing. I have even tried to complain on multiple occasions to the 'Customer Relations Team' and they don't even bother replying! Outrageous. If you have no choice but to use Catalyst, get everything they say in writing and save it. Complete cowboys - you have been warned!

***I left the same review on Google, they replied immediately saying someone will call me back with 24hrs. Guess what? No contact whatsoever. Tried calling, on hold for 26 mins and call was cut off. Called back again requesting a call back, still haven’t received a call back 24 hrs later. Appalling.***

Have been trying to contact them for 2 weeks was promised call backs,never happened,emailed them,nothing happened,this is shocking,go in arrears and they are on phone straight away,another case of a useless 'public service'

No one to speak to, no one answers the phones, 10 years with them.and have never met one representative, please avoid, do not get stuck with one of their homes, rent increase every year, and pointless "service fee" every month. Their building insurance doesn't cover anything inside and I pay a fee for communal areas even though it's a house not a flat and I have private neighbours

I have metal health issues and moved from council to catalyst which I now regret I live in a 1 bedroom maisonette and there charging me £50 electronic every week I'm trying to get hold of them but no one answers the only person I've got through to was the repairs team which tried getting hold of them but couldn't I've been on hold for 2-4 hours today and last few days makes me sick and for the comment below my mental healths deteriorated to a point I'm back in hospital because I've been put in a catch 22 and honestly they don't care, they have me in dept since I've moved in which is between them and council to sort out but nothing gets sorted, I've moved out when there still getting paid off the council which is wrong but I'm not paying electric a person in a 3 bedroom house should pay what joke stay clear more hassle then anything.even had to plaster the whole house because nothing but gaps with a paint over the list goes oooon. Still haven't sorted it or called me bk Saturday 3rd December 2022 still haven't heard anything.

Catalyst The Lanes Thorn
Purchasing our new home through The Lanes in Thorn was a very nice process. The sales executive Krissy was absolutely brilliant in keeping us informed and up to date. She was very prompt in responding to emails and ringing us with updates or delays. Krissy made the process so comfortable and we felt comfortable going to her with any questions. We highly recommend dealing with Krissy as she was officiant and understanding through the whole process.

I moved into my new home a couple of weeks ago, all went smoothly, any queries I had were answered quickly and thoroughly either via email or phone. Krissy and Joseph were great to deal with, very helpful and professional.
I have had a small issue with the heating but reported it to customer services who replied within an hour and now have an engineer booked for next week to look at it. Very happy with Catalyst, thank you

My experience dealing with Krissy and Joseph was great. They are very helpful and made the process of purchasing & moving into our home stress free. Anytime we needed some advice they were always available. A massive thank you to them both ☺️

Because I have to give a star.
Upon reading other reviews it now solidifies my belief that Catalyst over a ten year stretch promised to repair major work such as the heating and the last 2 years+ a condemned boiler.
All the while no permanent solution.
I have requested several documents such as the repair log and an EPC certificate.
It is clear that this is an old property and Catalyst wilfully neglected the basic up keep and wilfully let this property full in great disrepair all the while expecting full rent.
The energy bill is sky high and upon reading a dwelling has to have an energy rating of at least E
I am sure no running water or heating it falls way below this grade,so my question is what was your solution.
I leave Catalyst to reply.
There are many things wrong with this property that I have not listed,when I log on to your policy it is my firm belief that someone is having a laugh,
Especially when you could have been sued a long time ago,did you get a request for compensation against furniture or items that had to be disposed of because of the damp conditions
No
All my family and I wanted was a home could we get that?

We have had the worst experience with catalyst housing. Our issue has been on going for the last 2 years. We have had dozens of technicians come in and no solution or repair just opinions. The repair team and the complaints team have given us empty promises to fix it and never reply back or give us any updates, until I complain. We still have severe damp and mould that has been causing us to become ill and asthmatic.

Failed to respond to complaints. Left a disabled person without support in one of their flats.
Appalling service incident #3697565 still nothing resolved, no phone calls or promised email. Also you now have an emergency plumbing issue unresolved since 13/12 despite promises to sort out!
Whilst you are at it, you may want to investigate the complaint that we raised 12/11 on behalf of my sister, raised which has never been acknowledged?

Poor Service in dealing with complaints. I was recently awarded £500 from Housing Ombudsman for their Maladministration.

Numerous calls and repair forms filled in to get communal street lights on since Sept 2021 and as of 30/11/21 still nothing has been done. There is a clear breach of health and safety having everyone walk at night with just 1 out of 3 working street lights Catalyst did confirm there are responsible for fixing these street lights but sent cowboys MCP without the right step ladder height 3 weeks ago but nothing still has been done to fix the repair. Catalyst, Page Road in Bedfont has 1 out of 3 street lights working for over 3 months. I have been advised to call if your contract cowboys don't show up but isn't it your duty of care to ensure the jobs are completed especially communal repairs. I will not stop until all page Road/Lewin terrace in Bedfont has communal street lights that work as there are more default street lights. Absolutely diabolical.

I truly believe Catalyst has set up a customer service system that is impossible for its tenants (long waiting hours on the phone, no replies on e-repairs reported, no follow up on complaints etc). It also like you as a resident have to go through so many hurdles to even speak to customer service. I guess this way we all give up and nothing is ever repaired otherwise known in business terms as a cost savings for catalyst.

Catalyst housing has got to be the absolute worst housing ass in London. We're dealing with a pandemic yet 7 people came to my home and at the end of the day the only thing done was 1metre floor covering near the front door. Catalyst still wasting money and other people's time. Tenants should sue. I can't believe they're allowed to get away with treating their tenants with such little regard. 90% of their staff are so rude. I've had to record it because noone would believe it. Tenants protect yourself, collect your evidence and record whenever possible. 1 plus- they answered the phone within 3 rings today. stark difference between the 15-60 minutes I'm use to

Absolute sham of a company!

Our lift has been broken for since July 2021. Despite Catalyst been notified by majority of the buildings tenants and having numerous repair requests sent in they still haven’t fixed it.

It doesn’t seem to matter who I speak to they all have a different story. The specialist team who is responsible for the repair of the lift went as far as to lie to management about the lift being repaired when it clearly has not been fixed.

This has made life in our building a living hell. We cannot get our groceries delivered and on the odd occasion that the lift does decide to work properly the delivery people get stuck in it.

I personally have a health condition that can lead to climbing stairs being an extremely painful and unbearable experience.

The fact that Catalyst has left the lift in this state for 5 months is absolutely unacceptable and the companies inability to communicate properly with its tenants about the status of the lift repair and what will be done to rectify the situation is a disgrace.

This has gotten to a point where the building in no longer fit for human habitation especially for tenants who have health conditions as we cannot easily gain access to our apartments and is also a clear violation of the Landlord and Tenant act.

Do yourself a favour and stay as far away from Catalyst’s developments as humanly possible. They do not care about the buildings repairs or the tenants that reside in them.

Chatted with Kate. Very helpful and informative. Every question answered. Thnk you

I have had the pleasure of taking out an equity based loan with them to help me get on the housing ladder. 11 years I kept to my end of the contract. Paid the extortionate increasing interest on time every single month without fail. Go to sell the property and they are genuinely the worst company I have ever had the misfortune to cross.

I have decided to take legal action against them because of their breaches of contract and refusal to refund overpaid interest.

Sad thing is I gave them a quick resolution and they refused. I tried to engage with them but they have done nothing but refuse.

That's not including the poor service, delays, forms they insist are completed that could be interpreted as changing terms etc.

I also have an open case with the ICO over data protection.

AVOID anything that relates to their homebuy team.
If you already have a contract, seek legal advice.

Edit - I have deliberately kept this vague as a solicitor was contacted today regarding this matter. Catalyst have asked for more info on this trustpilot review within 13 minutes of it posting yet spend weeks not responding to me. I have directed them to the reference number with 6 months plus of correspondence in.

Edit - So the contact promised was from a poor gal telling me I had a credit on my account that needed refunding to me. The amount is disputed (by over £100) as I don't understand how interest on a zero (£0) capital balance can grow to anything more than 0p and I overpaid with 45 days worth of interest (Paid 60 days but the 15 days was owed but paid before the normal monthly due date so no overdue interest). Especially as there was a seperate admin fee and there is nothing noted in the contract. I await this calculation.
What's more interesting is that less a week before the complaints team told me nothing was owed to me. Clearly their thorough investigation wasn't at all thorough. I would say I'm shocked but I'm not as this is their low standard of service being evidenced yet again.

Edit - Still waiting for the statement of my account a week after contesting the amount they claimed. Should be as simple as pressing print.

Edit - Apparently the amount I say they owe me was correct. Refund being arranged (once my ex husband tells them they can pay me, despite them having previous correspondence from him stating that I can act 100% solely on this matter). Pity their stage 2 complaint response by their complaints team couldn't be bothered to check with accounting. Catalyst complaints team still think that the offer of compensation made in July 2021 is still an adequate amount despite Catalyst nearly causing my house sale to fall through because of their delays and not answering questions for months after (house completed 15th October 2021 - 4 months after the offered compensation) and them holding onto overpaid interest since the house sale (nearly 2 months after house sale and 6 months after they offered compensation). The saga continues...

Customer service and report and repair are horrible.
I have Raised broken windows years ago and literally called them as we speak now to see what the status of the issue is -they hung up on me twice so far which is a record!
It took 2 years to fix a leak on the roof, never calling back - customer service or report team can be rude etc...
Stoping there but, there are so many other bad experiences with them !! really not good.

At this point I’d rather live rent free in my car.