Portico Property - Battersea Reviews 

Very happy to have been assisted by the very helpful Jodie in my letting experience with Portico. She went above and beyond for us - we really appreciated her knowledgable and friendly demeanour, it made a potentially stressful process much easier. Thank you!

Very happy with my experience letting from Portico. Special thanks to Jodie for being incredibly helpful and responsive throughout the process.

My experience with Portico Battersea revealed concerning discriminatory practices in their property viewing process. Letting agent Laura Gomes demonstrated inappropriate and potentially discriminatory behavior during what should have been a simple property viewing inquiry. Despite this being a preliminary stage where financial vetting would be premature, the agent initiated intensive questioning and suspicion about my financial status and professional identity.

What makes this particularly troubling is the agent's reaction to my professional profile. As a young Asian woman who happens to be a Founder/CEO of a social venture and affiliated with prestigious institutions, I encountered immediate skepticism and suspicion. In a gesture of professional courtesy (though not required at this early viewing inquiry stage), I provided my LinkedIn profile for verification. However, rather than alleviating concerns, this seemed to intensify the agent's discriminatory behaviour.

The discrimination became explicit when the agent said I was 'unable to provide clarity' on my professional identity as grounds for refusing to arrange viewings - despite my verified credentials and institutional affiliations which I so generously provided. This occurred at an inappropriately early stage, before I had even viewed any properties or expressed interest in a specific unit. I wasn't even in love with the property units on offer, I was merely giving them a chance. To put this in perspective: this would be akin to a restaurant demanding proof of income before allowing someone to view their menu.

Most concerning was how the agent's behavior shifted after reviewing my LinkedIn profile, which revealed my appearance and background. And when I confronted her in a polite, professional tone, all communication abruptly ceased. This was a clear case of 'ghosting' that, in the context of the previous interactions, suggests discriminatory intent. I reiterate that when confronted about this entire inappropriate pre-viewing scrutiny, no explanation was provided.

This conduct raises serious concerns under the UK Equality Act 2010, particularly regarding equitable access to housing services. The combination of premature financial vetting, discriminatory gatekeeping based on protected characteristics, and complete withdrawal of professional communication suggests a pattern of prejudicial screening practices that warrant attention from regulatory authorities.

For potential clients, especially those from diverse backgrounds or with non-traditional professional profiles, this experience serves as a concerning indicator of potential discriminatory practices at Portico Battersea.

Worst estate agents i have ever come accross. Staff is totally incompentent at their jobs, ended up fighting over non existent contractual clauses resulting in excessive delays and unnecessary stress.

I am an ex tenant of the apartment where I do not live anymore, but Portico has keeping my name on the contract still, over one month after my Contract has been ended, as due to their poor performance and lack of internal discussions, the contract for the new tenant is not made yet, as they started to do so too late, and had too many mistakes during the process (every email and contract had wrong information it them). I am suffering mental and financial burden due to their incompetency, and the worst part is that, apparently, I don't have any say in regards with this breech of contract (where they are still using my name even though I have said multiple times that I want it to be removed, and as the contract was finished on the 14th of November - today is 17th of December, and my name is still on that contract, even though I do not live at that property since the 14th of November).

Estate agent experience was not good at all, for example we travelled all the way down to London from the north to view a property we’d had an offer accepted on (having not yet seen it) and portico had agreed / arranged with the landlord. Then emailed us whilst we were on the way to say there was work being done and we could no longer see it, after much pleading and us essentially not taking a no as an answer we did manage to go, however there was so much un necessary stress through our experience securing a lease with Portico (very grateful they don’t manage our flat), wouldn’t recommend them unfortunately as they don’t show much care to the tenants involved, you feel like just another number.

We recently had a very good experience

Please avoid Portico at all costs.

I had a terrible experience with this property management service, leading me to terminate my tenancy early.

Firstly, when signing the agreements and doing reference checks the Portico application portal was broken, forcing me to make a 2+ hour trip to their office without any compensation or apology yet when we collected the keys, there was no ID check nor did anyone from Portico come to check us in to the property or provide guidance (in hindsight this should have been a sign of what ‘service’ was to follow’).

The property itself was in a shocking state: damp throughout, with peeling paint and a musty smell. There were serious rodent issues that were poorly addressed, and the carpets were heavily soiled despite promises of replacement.

The windows were rotten and unsafe, the appliances rusty and overall, the cleanliness and maintenance were unacceptable. Furniture was in disrepair, with broken chairs and a filthy sofa that looked like it had been taken from the street. Nothing like in any of the pictures where it was advertised.

When raising complaints Porticos communication was awful, we had to physically go to their office just to get a reply from them. Heidi was quick to respond to the emails before we had signed and sent money but went very quiet afterwards. Kristian despite signing off every email (when we eventually got replies) with his number is incapable of answering his phone.

We sought legal advice regarding the situation, but the early exit fee was cheaper, so we left the property as soon as we could. I wouldn’t recommend this service to anyone and cannot recommend avoiding enough and hope this review helps others to avoid a similar situation.

Quite possibly the worst communication experience with any letting agents i've ever been faced with.

As someone who has been renting in London for the past 10 years, I have never had to deal with such unprofessional behaviour.

Kristian is incapable of answering emails, phone calls and the office phone (and his phone) directed to an automatic answer phone message every time you will call.

I have never been informed of any other way to raise any concerns regarding the property (which is nicely filling with mould which is doing wonders for my asthma)

I cannot wait to never have to communicate with Portico again, if I did not have to report genuine building issues including mould and heating issues, then I would gladly never contact them again other than to give my 2 months notice.

On moving into the property we were not issued an inventory report even after multiple chaser email we never even received a response. There were items of the property that never functioned when we moved in, such as radiators and dishwasher, and even after multiple mails asking for them to be fixed there was no response and left broken throughout. On leaving the property Portico deducted a large amount of our deposit for items that were pre-existing when we moved in and sent across the inventory report that we had never seen and the report was massively missing documenting a large amount of damage that was already at the property. Response time of agents was poor and any call we made we not answered or replied. Would not recommend or ever use again.

I have been renting for a decade and have dealt with 6-7 letting agencies. This company is by far the worst. Here’s just one reason why:

As the contract neared its end I decided I did not want to renew and actually left the property about 6 weeks prior to the end date. After being prompted by Portico/Leaders (about 2-3 months before the end date) for the chance of a renewal I declined, informing both the letting agents and the landlady that I (and another tenant) would not renew the tenancy, but the third tenant would. During this exchange they responded affirming that I would not renew, but that they are processing a "change of name" for the incoming tenants and that a new contract was to be drawn up. I also ask about my deposit as was told that I would need it to be released directly by Lauren. I was, understandably, confused. My contract was due to end on the 21st of June and a new one was being drawn up, so surely despite the "change of name" I should have the deposit paid back to me? I replied back to clarify but this reply was, predictably, ignored.

Multiple emails and voicemails seeking clarification were ignored.

Only when I gave my number to the assistant manager of the branch did she call to explain that I was still liable for the house even after my contract ended. This was only 3 weeks before the contract was due to end. Instead of ending that contract and drafting another, Heidi instead informed me that they were processing a renewal of my original contract but with a "change of name" tacked on to process the incoming tenants (hopefully before my contract was finished). Therefore, if the "change of name" process had fallen through the letting agents would have continued to charge me (and the other leaving tenant) indefinitely, despite my clear intention to leave and lack of consent/understanding with a renewal process. Note, this clause was not outlined in my contract, and repeated requests for contractual evidence were ignored.

Through conducting my own research I discovered that I may not have been liable and was prepared to go to court if needs be. Luckily it did not come to that, as the change of name was eventually processed but with only 3 days to spare. This tardiness was, once again, due to multiple delays on the letting agency and caused me a gross amount of distress as I was unsure whether I could afford to continue to pay for the property after the end of my contract. However, whether or not they had the legal basis is irrelevant to my complaint. The lack of consent received for the renewal process even after seeking clarification is abhorrent.

If my contract was due to end on the 21st of June, and I was not seeking renewal, wouldn't it have been easier to just process an entirely new contract? I believe the renewal/change of name was processed in this way either due to laziness or a financial loophole, both unethical practices.

To finish - it's absolutely ridiculous that I would have been forced to pay for a property after the contract had reached its end date. Once again, it was not in the contract and the legal research I conducted seemed to contradict this, but if that's the law, that's the law. What is even more baffling is that this process was not outlined in my contract and no one (until the assistant manager of the branch 3 weeks before the contract was due to end) informed me of this process despite repeated attempts at clarification. This is a shocking failure on your behalf.

After issuing my complaint, the regional director essentially dismissed my concerns, insisting everything was working as expected. She did not address my actual complaints and ignored my direct follow-up questions. It's nice to see such apathy from a senior staff member.

I do not require a response from anyone. Nothing you say can undo what has been done, and no excuses can forgive the repeated level of negligence within the company. I will actively discourage anyone from renting or buying through Portico/Leaders. The stress of dealing with your company is not worth it.

I never write reviews but just had the absolute worst experience I've ever had with an agency. I was approved to move into a flat but after a back and forth, I was forced into the Residency 'zero deposit' scheme that was not mentioned at all on the property page. As this was stated by the agent to me on the phone, when I pushed back on it after thinking it over, the agent denied it and said that they never said it was a dealbreaker to move into the property. This was a total lie as she stated this clearly on the phone when we spoke and outlined the many 'benefits' which basically involves spending money that is never returned to you at the end of the tenancy.

I also asked to know more about the property and the terms of living there before sending a holding deposit which they also were incredibly difficult and unclear about. They never sent me anything and then sent me a message saying they are going to have other viewings in the property. They tried to blame it on me asking too many questions and wanting to know about the property before moving in.

What a terrible experience and waste of time. Please think twice before signing on with these people.

Mychris Bila was nice, friendly and patient，she made our new home experience very pleasant. Portico agents are also professional and we highly recommend them.

The team have always been very attentive and come back to any issues quickly!

Would recommend.

I’m a landlord who has let a flat in SW11 through Portico and its predecessors for nearly 25 years. Medleen, who heads the Lettings side of the Battersea office, is a long-standing branch manager and a pleasure to deal with, ensuring I have almost no void periods between tenancies. Her colleague Ieva who handles property maintenance is fantastic too. She is excellent at keeping both landlord and tenant abreast of works and takes everything in her stride from fixing a bannister to sourcing and fitting new windows for the entire property. Bravo Battersea branch!