Harringtonslettings Reviews 

These people are utter shysters. My stepdaughter moved into a property which still required decorating. Decorators and other representatives of the letting agents entered the property without prior permission/ notification (contrary to Lettings agreement) on 5 separate occasions - one of which whilst she was asleep.

The property was vacated on the 24th of August. The lettings agency did not contact my stepdaughter to arrange a time for an end of tenancy check. They then sprang a cleaning bill of £260 on my stepdaughter. We have asked repeatedly for a justification of this sum, particularly as some of the claimed cleaning expenses are absolutely ridiculous and indeed fraudulent. This is because the new tenant is a friend of my stepdaughter, and she has confirmed that many of the issues it has been claimed were rectified by the £260 clean, were not in fact rectified.

Accordingly, I would recommend that people, particularly young women, avoid using this letting agency, as they have absolutely no regard for peoples privacy. Further, as a university student, my stepdaughter is well used to landlords trying to keep a damaged deposit, and accordingly she has been scrupulous in trying to avoid any loss of deposit. Previous landlords have only charged in the region of £25-£50 for a clean, and the sum of £260 claimed by this agency is extortionate.

Avoid, avoid, avoid!

There is a complete lack of transparency regarding who you are actually communicating with, as emails are deliberately left unsigned by any individual. Their understanding of property law appears to be virtually non-existent, and the level of customer service is extremely poor. Staff are often rude and aggressive, and the overall impression is that their primary focus is on making money rather than providing a professional or helpful service.

The sale of my flat although frustrating at times was handled with complete professionalism by Mark and Janey. 10 out of 10.

My experience with Harringtons Lettings was extremely disappointing. I reserved a room, paid the reservation fee, provided all requested documentation and guarantor information, and organised my accommodation plans around the expectation that the property would become available. However, throughout the application process, important details repeatedly changed or remained uncertain. I experienced uncertainty regarding upfront costs, changing move-in arrangements, delays relating to renovation works, uncertainty surrounding revised dates and costs, and ongoing communication issues throughout the process. After progressing significantly through the reservation process and making plans based on the information I had been provided, I was ultimately informed that the property would no longer be available because the existing tenant had decided to remain in occupation. I understand that some situations may arise that are outside of an agent’s control. However, I found the overall communication, organisation and handling of the process to be disappointing and unprofessional, particularly given the importance of housing decisions for students and the highly competitive nature of the rental market. As a result, I was left having to restart my accommodation search much later than expected after relying on the information provided throughout the application process. Unfortunately, based on my experience, I would not recommend Harringtons Lettings and would not choose to use their services again in the future.

Made and enquiry call for my daughter and spoke to a lady called Julia.

Really informative and gave a lot of information. Seems like a professional agent. Will follow up when I come to Durham

This lot recently took over management of my daughter's flat. They demanded I signed as a guarantor which I refused and increased the rent by more than £400 a month. Charging Brighton prices for Worthing properties. They're quick to take money but slack when it comes to repairs and problems. Another agent warned me Mr Harrington was bad news but I usually take things with a pinch of salt. Looks like he was right though.

Harringtons are a boil on the face of the rental sector that requires lancing, a thoroughly ugly, sordid experience. Parasitical opportunists whom take full advantage of the dire state of affairs in the UK regarding tenants rights.
You’ll need to swat up on all relevant tenant related legislation prior to engaging with this bunch as you’ll require to vociferously assert your rights and battle for every single little thing. And I mean everything. I was in a bind and I presumed they could not be as bad as my (then) current landlord. How wrong I was. Frustratingly Brighton & Hove Environmental Health department are lackadaisical and more concerned with the cost of issuing improvement notices, so Harringtons rub their grubby hands in glee, safe in the knowledge that they can make your life an absolute misery with no prospect of local authority action.

Should you wish to be treated appallingly, communicated on the phone by staff (usually Kate Plows) in a super confrontational, aggressive manner and whom deem it appropriate to condescend, patronise, generally act thoroughly obnoxiously and trample all over your rights as a tenant? Then this is your company. Oh, and for good measure they will send you pre-schooler composed, erratic, aggressive emails full of mis-spelt content, threatening all manner of legal actions which they have absolutely no grounds to proceed on. English GCSE qualifications are proudly not in abundance here it seems.
Their reputation precedes them to such an extent that local ward councillors who I talked too during my time of woe knew of their “interesting” business model, as well as the Environmental Health Department.
Should you manage to successfully battle Mark Harringtons lamentable, cult like conditioned staff and have successfully proven that you require repairs or indeed your home cleaned competently having just moved in (instead of walking into filthy house, with all of your worldly goods, contrary to contracted agreements), they will send around one of their “contractors”. In the first instance this is a friend of Mark Harringtons, another lovely, confrontational, overbearing lout whom is also an ex Sussex copper and terrible human. He’ll bodge some work, get 'aggy and threaten you (this happened) should you point out the problematic standard of work & it’s impact. This was challenged as I grew up in the ends & won’t be intimidated, however, this would scare the majority of folk.

Interesting how the ratings range from 1 or 5, there doesn’t tend to be a median average, either unbelievably great, or just plain awful. Emma Greton has a thesis length convoluted reason for this no doubt, that ultimately will be a work of fictional inane PR drivel.
I would strongly advise anybody reading this review section to take all 5 star reviews with a skip worth of salt, Harrington’s, that bastion of great service actually pay for them. Yes, they pay contributors for good reviews. Strikes me as a company whom are completely comfortable with the level of service they provide. For further reference Harringtons consistently lie about Mark William Harrington (the lamentably awful owner, should you wish to look him up on companies house) not being present in the office. Ever. He works remotely apparently….. a few steps across the floor at Insure 365, the company immediately adjacent to Harringtons (they share office space), Companies House list him as a direct participant in IIINSURE365 LIMITED

Should you press his staff enough however he might miraculously appear (despite working remotely, in erm, the same office) and bellow at you down the phone. Thoroughly professional behaviour.
For further horror stories check Trust Pilot, a student review platform Whichpad and Yelp isn’t much better.

Completely avoid. Come the revolution!

AVOID - glad we read our tenancy agreement! Harrington's tried to get us to sign an tenancy agreement with an ILLEGAL clause and refused to give back our holding deposit when we refused, all the while making ridiculous excuses for their illegal and unprofessional actions. Luckily, we knew our rights, but I worry for other young renters and students who may not have the knowledge or tools to recognise a poor estate agent and protect themselves from illegal contracts.

We put down a holding deposit for a house (we are students) and, when it came to paperwork etc. read the tenancy agreement of course. To our surprise it included a clause saying that we must get the house professionally cleaned at the end of the tenancy and provide Harrington's with a receipt for proof - which is obviously illegal. We emailed saying as much and asked if the agreement would be reworded. We got an... interesting reply saying that, since it would be professionally cleaned before we moved in, and we are expected to leave the property in as good a state as we found it, it was not illegal that they request we pay for a professional clean upon leaving. Which is definitely still illegal. We clarified that we weren't disputing the need to leave the house as we found it, but rather the need to pay for professional cleaning. They gave excuses saying they can't change the tenancy agreement, it's approved by trading standards (which Property Redress interestingly found no evidence of) and their solicitor, no one else has a problem with it etc etc. So we decided not to sign and asked for our holding deposit back (~£150 each, not much to some but a significant amount for us students!), seeing as us being unable to sign the agreement was their fault (for including the illegal clause) and not ours. We even pointed them to the relevant legislation since they seem to be unfamiliar with the Tenant Fees Act 2019! Surprise, surprise: they refused, giving more ridiculous excuses. After exhausting Harrington's complaints process, we involved the Property Redress Scheme (ombudsman), who completely agreed that the clause was illegal and therefore we were entitled to be refunded the holding deposit. Harrington's didn't accept this at first, but after some back-and-forth must have realised they had no leg to stand on! So in the end, Property Redress thankfully helped us get back our holding deposits, and we're so grateful that Harrington's didn't get away with it.

Please avoid Harrington's - there are plenty of reputable estate agents in the area that manage to obey the law, but if you're already stuck in a contract please be careful and know your rights! And remember that the Property Redress Scheme is there to help!

Absolutely awful,

Charge illegal fees, incompetent admin.
Rude and threatening.
They sent me a tennacy agreement,I signed it and started playing the new rent, then they retracted it and put me on a periodic because I made a complaint.

They are so unscrupulous it's unreal.
Money grabbing and illegal practises.

Yes this is Harringtons lettings Brighton

Harringtons are by far the worst agency I've ever dealt with, and I've been renting all my life.
They are virtually illiterate, all correspondence has been unclear & unprofessional, or else non-existent (we were sent an email from a third party locksmith informing us our locks were going to be changed without any comms from the agency about this) and ultimately unhelpful. We don't get any prior warning about anything they agree with the landlord and the admin staff have little knowledge about the legalities of the tenancy agreements or renting.
We were sent an updated tenancy agreement with massive rent increase (nearly 25%, despite a clause in existing agreement stating that rent increases will not exceed 8% year on year) and no explanation or justification. When queried, they hand-delivered a section 21 eviction notice the same day - the only efficient thing they've done - to strongarm us into accepting the new terms This is an agency for unscrupulous landlords, so if you're thinking of renting a property managed by Harringtons, I'd strongly advise that you reconsider.

Harringtons let my property for me and they were great, very informative and look after my property like it was my own

I recently had to contact Harringtons in regards to my mum’s tenancy and renewal . Georgie handled my query and was extremely professional. She remembered that I had viewed a couple of flats with her around 6 months ago too! She was very polite and informative, and made sure I fully understood all of the information she had given me

Great communication from the lettings team and the renting process was quick and efficient, lovely property and well maintained.

My experience with Harringtons was an appalling one. I was a guarantor and whilst they were very accommodating and supporting leading up to the rental, it all went downhill once contracts had been signed. I found them to be dishonest, misleading, unprofessional, rude and worst of all threatening to the point of harassment. I wish I had checked the reviews on this site and others beforehand. If you have had a bad experience, I strongly advise you contact the Property Redress Scheme, although I did not accept their offer of compensation, as I am considering legal action, the more people that contact them the more they will understand that this company treats people appallingly.

Awful.

Harringtons tell lies, charge illegal fees and are so rude. Place is filthy and mouldy.
Please use someone else, or be warned !!

Since I posted this review Harringtons have now emailed me and told me unless I remove it they will post a reply accusing me of benefit fraud. This is completely untrue.
I have reported this.

Good morning,

We have received your review on Trust Pilot.
We enclose a draft that we will be posting to the site.
You may wish to reconsider your post in this regard.
We will wait 24 hours for you to consider your position failing which we will then post.

Absolutely disgusted by the conditions in rented house. The property is not fit for habitation. The place was full of moulds and cracks when I moved in. They blamed the previous tenants for this. I let them know these with photos and videos and left the property immediately. They refused to give me the deposit and the rent of £750 I paid before moving in.

Watch out. Read your tenancy agreement very carefully. This company does not care about their landlords or tenants. I have been in a dispute with them for a while now.
They started legal proceedings against my guarantor and I wasn't even late with rent.
They have to charged me rent untill the new tenants moved in. They have now been dismissed by the landlords as they didn't rent it out. Also charged me an early exit fee of nearly £400 to terminate contract.
Please be very careful before signing anything with this company.

We loved Georgie, she was so lovely and has showed us around so many houses in the last couple weeks.

I was very happy with Harringtons. They were friendly and efficient and made the necessary arrangements promptly.

Dangerous especially for students they will ignore you, add addendums to your agreement and then threaten to evict you if you don’t sign (not uphold the original agreement). They will show up on dates different to what they have told you and let themselves in. Leave you without basic promised appliances for months. The houses are not in a state to be rented out, structural damage, slugs at night, damp and mold etc. You must Get professional cleaning when you move out (even though this is not the law), any move in photos you send them of dirt/ stains they won’t put on your inventory then will charge you for them when you move out. At the end of the day they will blame the landlord and the landlord will blame them. But will be nice and helpful if your looking for viewings from them.