Newton Property Management

Newton were my letting agency for 4 years while I lived in Battlefield, and all things considered they had been the best letting agent I had dealt with until then (and believe me, there had been a few dodgy ones).
When I started my tenancy, I had been with Charles White Property Management, which was bought over by Newton and the staff transferred. My details and deposit information went over without any hiccups that I was aware of — the Safe Deposits Scotland scheme had yet to be rolled out at this point, so it was a bit of a concern.
Pros
— I would be informed in writing at the start of the year when inspection dates were, so there were never any surprises.
— If I had a problem, I could usually reach someone that day
— Out of hours plumbers were great.
Cons
— Communication and coordination between tenant, contractors and third parties involved in incidents need improved.
Let me explain. The worst issue while I lived was the leak that was ongoing for several months. The leak didn’t affect me directly, but it was seriously damaging my downstairs neighbours bathroom, which was under my kitchen which was once a bathroom! Several factors fed into this ongoing issue… the first was that several plumbers couldn’t find the source of the leak. I had plumbers from the agency, plumbers from the factors, and environmental health had to get involved. I believe that the agency handled it as best they could. In the end it turned out there were leftover pipes containing water from my kitchen’s former life. It required carpenters, plumbers and coordination between the factors and the letting agency. But at last, the headache was over! During this saga, communication wasn’t the best. They would tell my neighbour that plumbers were coming, possibly assuming she’d tell me, but I wouldn’t find out about it until I was about to leave for work to find a plumber on my doorstep. And vice versa to my downstairs neighbour. So many wasted trips from the plumbers could have been avoided if we’d both been notified at the same time!
This was a blip in an overall pleasant tenancy. All in, this is a fair and decent letting agent. You know where you are with these guys, and with flat inspections being a necessary evil for the tenant, it is especially useful to be notified in advance. More agencies should do it!!!