I would strongly advise anyone considering using this estate agent to proceed with extreme caution. My experience has been incredibly disappointing.

They sold me a property while knowing there was Japanese knotweed on the land, yet this was not properly disclosed or highlighted during the sale. This is a serious issue that can significantly affect a property's value, mortgage eligibility, insurance, and future resale potential. I feel that transparency and honesty were completely lacking throughout the process.

It seemed that the priority was securing their commission rather than ensuring I was fully informed about such a major issue. At no point did I feel they were acting in my best interests as a buyer. Looking back, I believe important information was either withheld or downplayed to make the sale go through as quickly as possible.

The lack of professionalism, integrity, and communication has left me dealing with unnecessary stress, financial concerns, and the potential cost of dealing with an invasive plant that can take years and significant expense to eradicate.

Buying a home is one of the biggest financial decisions most people will ever make, and buyers should be able to trust that estate agents will act honestly and disclose any material issues that could affect their decision. Unfortunately, that was not my experience.

Based on my experience, I cannot recommend this estate agent. I would encourage anyone considering purchasing a property through them to carry out thorough independent checks, ask detailed questions, and not rely solely on the information they provide.

Only include claims that are accurate and that you can support with evidence. If you're unsure whether the agent actually knew about the Japanese knotweed, it's safer to say you believe it was not properly disclosed rather than stating they knowingly concealed it.

Abdur ali.,,I agree. This matter needs to be brought into the open. Cases like this should raise public awareness because the financial impact on home buyers can be significant.

In my opinion, Ryder & Dutton should immediately engage with their customer, carefully review all of the evidence, and make every reasonable effort to resolve the matter without the need for lengthy court proceedings. Good customer service means listening to customers, investigating complaints thoroughly, and working towards a fair outcome where significant financial loss is alleged.

Based on what I have read, there appear to be serious concerns that deserve proper investigation by the appropriate bodies. If there have been any failures in service or record-keeping, they should be addressed transparently.

This is a story that deserves media attention, as it could help warn future home buyers. My advice to anyone purchasing a property is to carry out thorough surveys and obtain specialist reports where appropriate, rather than relying solely on information provided during the sale.

Ryder & Dutton handled the sale of a family home and their service was outstanding. We had a sale agreed within a week of the property going on the market and thereafter the brilliant Geraldine Marsden was hugely proactive, helpful and good humoured in steering the sale through to Exchange and Completion. From my first interactions with Tony and Jess during the marketing process, Luis for fantastic photography, through to Geraldine on the post-sale arrangements, the experience was great and I would highly recommend them.

This case deserves wider public attention. In my experience, the issues surrounding the disclosure of Japanese knotweed have had a significant financial and personal impact. Japanese knotweed is a material issue that can affect property values, mortgageability, future saleability and the overall cost of ownership.

I would encourage Mohammed Rahman to share his experience with local and national consumer journalists, including the Oldham Times, the Manchester Evening News and other media outlets, to help raise awareness of the importance of full and clear disclosure of material property information during the home-buying process.

If any journalists or consumer organisations wish to understand this case further, they are welcome to contact Mohammed Rahman directly so that he can provide the relevant documents and evidence relating to his experience.

I believe this is an issue that should be brought to the attention of home buyers, landlords and the wider public. Any concerns regarding the conduct of an estate agent should be referred to the appropriate independent redress scheme or regulator, who can investigate whether the required professional standards were met.

Thank you for your response.

I completely disagree with your version of events. Japanese knotweed is not a minor issue—it is a serious material matter that can significantly affect a property’s value, mortgageability, future saleability and the cost of ownership.

In my case, it had a direct financial impact, as I increased my revised offer by approximately £2,000 after becoming aware of the issue. I believe information of this importance should have been formally confirmed in writing, with my written acknowledgement that I understood the implications before proceeding with the purchase. That never happened.

You state that I acknowledged your alleged disclosure, but I do not accept that this resolves my complaint. The adequacy of the disclosure and whether your actions met the required professional standards are matters currently being considered by the Property Redress Scheme.

My purpose in leaving this review is to share my experience and to warn other buyers. I would strongly encourage anyone purchasing a property to obtain all material information in writing, ask specific questions about Japanese knotweed and other issues that could affect value, and never rely solely on verbal assurances.

I will now allow the independent Property Redress Scheme to determine the outcome of my complaint.

If you’re looking for an estate agent who’ll stick with you through thick, thin, and apparently all four seasons… this is the one!

Our house move took 13 months to complete but throughout the entire saga Lacey remained proactive, passionate, and incredibly helpful. She was always approachable, understanding, and genuinely cared about getting us over the finish line.

Now, was she a little annoying at times? Absolutely—but only because she never stopped chasing, checking, calling, and nudging everyone involved. Looking back, that persistence is probably the reason we finally got the keys!

Lacey, you coming to the house warming or what?

Geraldine was fantastic as my move manager. I was able to get in touch with her instantly if I needed anything, nothing was too much trouble and she assisted me as best she could with the process even when there were delays. Dylan who assisted with my sale was also fantastic and discussed offers and negotiations immediately, offering fantastic advice along the way and Tony was lovely when he came to value the house. I had my house valued with a number of agencies but Ryder and Dutton gave me the best estimate and were able to get the ball rolling quickly! The proof is in the pudding when you see the number of Sold signs through the borough.

All in all I would recommend to anyone thinking of getting their house valued or selling with Ryder and Dutton. The service was fantastic!

We bought our new home from Ryder and Dutton and our contact there was Lacey Williams. She was super informative throughout the whole process and made us feel at ease throughout the ups and downs of our purchase. We have finally got the keys and could not be happier with the service she provided!

Lacey and the team at Ryder and Dutton Oldham, were fantastic in helping keep things moving from initial enquiries back in February to completion now. At the very late stages, Lacey did a commendable job in coordinating exchange and completion between three difficult sets of solicitors. Thanks again for all your help.

I found Geraldine Marsden to be extremely helpful going over and above my expectations of an estate agent.
She was always available and very competent often proving more helpful than the underwhelming solicitors
recommended by R&D
Peter

We chose Ryder & Dutton for the sale of our old family home after initially trying with another agent. The experience with R&D was much more positive with excellent marketing. Despite challenges along the way, Lacey Williams and her team, including Laura C and Dylan H did an excellent job to keep our sale on track.
We were always kept up to date, questions and hurdles were dealt with professionally and even though it was a longer than average sale, Lacey's positivity, support and reassurance helped us to see it through to completion - thank you to a great team!
We would definitely recommend your service to others.

We have recently moved home and initially put our property up for a sale with another estate agent and it didn’t seem to get many viewings.
Within two weeks of putting our property up with Ryder and Dutton we had sold our property. Geraldine M, Jessica W and Jenny B all helped and supported us through our sale.

Geraldine Marsden handled my queries very well though communication via email was in my opinion not always the quickest way. Getting through on the phone to the office was always a nightmare. And often I was told that the person I wanted worked in a different office. If I was struggling to get through on the phone I am sure buyers were having the same trouble. A surveyor who was surveying for the buyers said his company had the same trouble.

The company was very helpful in helping us decide on how to proceed with the sale of our house as I have never been in this position before and had no idea what to do. Geraldine Marsden helped us through everything and made sure we had everything In place and made the experience of sale the house a good one.Dillon started the process for us and guided us through the start of putting the house up for sale. This is why we went with ryder and dutton.
All in all they did a excellent job and sold the house in no time with little hassle.

Ryder and dutton was really amazing. Highly recommended. Throughout my home buying process. They were incredible communicative, responsive,and always on hand to anser questions.their local market knowledge and experts negotiations skills helped me secure my dream home. Thank you Geraldine marsdone he was did really amazing work for us.

Dylan Hopwood & Geraldine Marsden were amazing throughout, as a first time buyer they took any concern away.

Recently sold and purchased our home through Ryder and Dutton.

Geraldine Marsden was our move manager, great service throughout, nothing was too much for Geraldine. Went above and beyond. We sometimes spoke with Jess when Geraldine was on leave, again what a pleasure nothing was too much trouble.

Very efficient and very fast . Reassurance all the way through. A smooth transaction from start to finish. Geraldine was particularly helpful and on it !

From start to finish Ryder & Dutton have been amazing for our sale and purchase.

We were advised by another local estate agent to list our home for a price that left us quite disappointed, so went to Ryder and Dutton who advised us otherwise and put it on the market actually a little higher than we anticipated - we got that full price.

Geraldine Marsden, our move manager, was so helpful and put us at ease through the whole process and really pushed for us to complete and move in ASAP.

All round brilliant service with nothing to much trouble.