Linley & Simpson

We went through Linley and Simpson to find our first house. As if by some stroke of luck, they’d been the agents chosen to market houses for rent on the new The Oaks development in Gipton as part of the government’s try before you buy scheme. Looking at the pictures, and then the rent per month, we were in awe at the prospect of living in a house so nice (and new and shiny!), with parking for 2 cars and a massive garden, for such a bargain price. We made enquiries and went to see it, and fell in love immediately. So we got the ball rolling straight away, our application was filled out and taken back in within 2 days and not long after that, we’d arranged to go for an interview at the office. The girls in the office were friendly and we felt at ease asking any questions we had.
I have a few gripes though. One was that we had to call them up a lot to find out where our application was and if the house was even ours so we could stop looking. Once we’d been given the all clear, things started moving and after what felt like an eternity, we had the keys. The second, we discovered when we were sent a rent invoice from the housing association who actually own our house, saying we were some £600+ in arrears. We knew we weren’t — we’d paid everything on time and in full, and it turns out the HA were equally as confused. Then it came to light — Linley and Simpson had sent them a load of paperwork referring to our estate and the one on South Parkway in Seacroft, but they hadn’t put any information as to what paperwork went with which house. But to be honest, it was a worry we could’ve done without because we did think we actually owed over £600 — and we also knew we couldn’t afford to pay it.
On the plus side, our house is lovely!
Updating this to downgrade one star! We’ve since found out that when we paid our deposit and first month’s rent, L&S used some of it to pay their estate agent fees, sending us into arrears. Not impressed in the slightest. It’s been put right now, but that was 7 months worth of hassle that we just did not need.