Rescued from a high-street agent — Lauren's flat back on track.
Lauren came to us after a major high-street agent had let her East London flat to unvetted tenants, ignored maintenance for months, and left her with a property in disrepair, three months of unpaid rent and 15%+ in fees. We took over, did things properly, and turned it around.
Lauren's flat — properly managed, properly looked after
Let in a week — but at what cost?
A major high-street agent placed tenants in Lauren's flat within a week. Sounds great — until you realise no reference checks were carried out, no credit history was reviewed, no landlord references were taken. The "speed" was the warning sign.
Six months of being ignored
The tenants raised maintenance issues. Leaks went unaddressed. The agent stopped responding. The property quietly fell into a bad state while Lauren — assuming everything was fine — kept paying her management fees.
Three months of lost rent & 15%+ in fees
Predictably, the unvetted tenants stopped paying rent. Lauren ended up with a damaged flat, three months of unpaid rent, and a 15%+ bill in agent fees and "service charges" for work that was never done.
City Flats took over — properly
We assessed the property, asked Lauren to address the existing condition issues (the only thing we ever ask of a landlord), then sourced new tenants through our full vetting process: landlord reference, credit check, employment and affordability. No shortcuts.
Happy landlord, happy tenants
Today the flat is fully managed, the tenants are happy in a property that's actually maintained, Lauren's fees are no longer eating into her profit, and her workload is zero. Every issue gets handled — by us, before it ever reaches her inbox.
Same flat, same tenant model.
Completely different outcome.
What separates a good agent from an expensive one isn't the speed of the let — it's everything that happens before, during and after.
- Full landlord references taken
- Independent credit checks
- Affordability assessed properly
- Maintenance logged & resolved fast
- Transparent fees — no hidden charges
- Zero workload for the landlord
"I wish I'd switched sooner. With my old agent I was paying more, getting nothing, and ended up with a damaged flat. With City Flats it just… works. I don't have to chase anyone."
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