Squarefoot Apartments Reviews 

Squarefoot Apartments are an exploitative company who are willing to break the law in order to make money. I lived in one of their properties for a year and a half. Here are some issues I experienced:

1) When I was paying the deposit, they asked for over £100 in admin fees in cash suggesting perhaps some illegal activity in their bookkeeping. The agent who showed me around made me feel rushed in securing it and therefore I didn't question this.

2) I requested blinds in my living room as I had two extremely large windows with apartments facing opposite. They refused immediately, stating the landlord refused. I requested their contact details so I could check this and they refused. This is ILLEGAL. I e-mailed them the relevant law to show them and they continued to refuse, instead choosing to fit the blinds in order to silence me.

3) When my 12 month contract came to an end, I chose to let it turn into a periodic tenancy agreement which happens automatically. Despite this, they still requested I visit their office to sign a new contract - I explained there was no need as it was automatic and they insisted. When I did, they surprised me with a fee of £180 - for doing nothing. I refused, explaining also that I did not appreciate being surprised with such a large amount of money and I left the office. I heard nothing further and assumed the matter was closed. A few weeks later, I receive an automated text message telling me that I need to renew my contract or they will start viewings on the property - implying they were giving me notice to vacate the property which they had not; I was still living there with a valid contract. I rang them and explained the situation, the owner of Squarefoot Apartments called me back and was extremely rude - demanding that I pay this money. They lied and tried telling me there were admin costs involved in this new contract, when I corrected them in this, it changed into admin costs in changing my deposit. My partner is a landlord and is well aware this is not the case - when we explained that the £180 fee suddenly became for simply keeping their business running. That is NOT acceptable. He threatened to evict me despite this being something only the landlord can do and not the estate agent. I paid to find out who the owner of my property was, since Squarefoot refused to provide this information and contacted them. They were very surprised to hear that Squarefoot had threatened eviction as they had no such plans - an empty threat for £180.

4) When preparing for moving, my new property requested a reference. Squarefoot refused until I handed in my notice - this could leave me homeless if I wasn't able to secure a new property in the interim. When questioned, they provided no explanation other than "you're in contract" which still doesn't answer why they cannot provide a reference. I could be renting two properties at the same time if I wished to - being "in contract" is irrelevant and is yet another example of them being unnecessarily obtrusive.

5) When I initially signed my contract, they had a clause that I must conduct professional cleaning at the end of my tenancy (this is now an illegal clause and cannot be claimed for). This is not necessary if the apartment is in the same/better cleanliness as when it was originally letted. I ensured it was of a higher standard, despite this they tried to charge me £95 as a cleaning fee - it was clear this was automatic as they provided no evidence (which is solely their responsibility, not of the tenants to disprove it) and it is highly unlikely that £95 would have been paid to cleaners - it is more likely this would have contributed their "business running costs". As my partner is a landlord, he produced a fake cleaning invoice - the cleaning cost was removed and my full deposit was paid to me, despite the state of the flat not changing before or after providing the invoice.

6) The majority of the staff I have interacted with have been rude, patronising and inarticulate when challenged on any of the above issues.

I posted this review on Google, they replied with lies and ommitting key facts. I am in the process of reporting them to the council

My Experience with letting an apartment had been great. Alex finalised the tenant agreement. She was professional and honest.
And made the whole process very easy.
5*****