Chestertons Reviews 

I signed a contract with Chestertons for a short let which included the inclusion of council tax. This is all documented in the contract. They have not enforced this contractual obligation and i have had enforcement agents at my door. So I have had to pay £690 of council tax that I never should have paid.

Our experience with Chestertons has been appalling.
After being badly let down over an apartment rental for my daughter, we then had to fight to recover our £398 holding deposit.
Despite Chestertons agreeing to refund the money, providing my bank details on 18 September, and receiving repeated assurances that payment would be made, the money still hasn't arrived.
I have now had to issue a formal letter before action and escalate the matter to senior management simply to recover money they have already agreed to return.
I run a property company myself, and I find this standard of customer service extraordinary. We would never dream of treating our customers in this way.
It makes me wonder how many people simply give up pursuing relatively small amounts rather than go through this aggravation.
A national estate agency should be setting an example, not forcing customers to threaten legal proceedings to obtain an agreed refund.
Absolutely disgraceful. I would not recommend Chestertons.

Chestertons have been managing my property in SE8 for a couple of years and I am extremely happy with their management service. My property manager Ann Dickson is amazing. She is professional, very efficient and also a great problem solver and Chestertons are lucky to have her working for them. I also have peace of mind that my property is in such safe hands

I have worked with Chesterton's Covent Garden for over 15 years. Their Lettings Team, as led by Tim Fifield and Emily Scarborough are always excellent. And their new addition to the team, Josh Willoughby is of the same professional and personal standard. Indeed, in the short time he has been at Covent Garden he has surprised me with the tenacity and speed with which he has secured high standard lettings for my properties. In short, a great addition to a brilliant team.

Persistent service failures two months into tenancy

I have been renting a property through Chestertons for more than two months and have had to contact their office repeatedly about matters that should have been resolved at handover or shortly afterwards:

- Pests: an ongoing rat and mouse infestation that remains unresolved.
- Previous occupants' belongings: household items were left in the property at handover.
- Cleaning: a deep clean was promised, but the property was not properly cleaned before I moved in.
- Security: I am still awaiting the access details for the security cameras and the outdoor key safe.
- Maintenance: several items within the landlord's maintenance obligations remain outstanding.

In each case, responses have been slow or absent. It should not require repeated follow-up to have basic matters addressed.

Were I a landlord, I would not engage Chestertons. Delays in dealing with issues such as pest infestation not only inconvenience tenants but also put the landlord's property at risk.

Ryan Briggs is an absolute star. Very diligent, super responsive, always available - we are super happy with his top notch service.

Risida is the main reason that I am writing this review and giving the highest rating. She is the first agent in my life with the full dedication to truly help tenants. Compared to other agents, she really worked hard to make all the issues at the place that I rented go away quickly. Thank you, Risida!

I was very happy with the service I received from Chestertons in relation to the sale of one property.
The sales team were very helpful and attentive; from the negotiation of the sale price in a difficult market to the completion of the conveyance.

Do not do business with them. They let a tradesman into my home without telling me. They gave him a key and he just opened the door. I thought I heard something upstairs. I walked up there and there was a man standing in my kitchen!!!!!!!!!!!!! Do you know how terrifying that is?
They have messed up on many occasions.

A *BIG* shout out to Georgia Dodsworth at Chestertons Battersea/Wandsworth for very patiently helping me with my what some would consider very bespoke requests regarding my SW18 letting. Very happy tenants and very happy (10 years) landlord. THANK YOU Georgia.

Superb experience with Chestertons. I needed a short term let for my son in London who was moving there from overseas. I replied to an ad for a property and Yuliya emailed me back straight away. I gave her the budget and when I needed the property for. She sourced me what was available and sent more detailed information by WhatsApp. Ultimately she had the whole thing sorted for me in 3 days and I could not have been happier with her service and professionalism. Yuliya is incredibly efficient and an absolute pleasure to deal with. I could not recommend her or Chestertons highly enough. She is a credit to the company.

Tim Gray was amiable, puntual and very efficient. Would recommend Chestertons.

I bought a flat in Pimlico, negotiating a price very quickly with their help. The team were very professional, provided good advice, were responsive on the telephone and email, and allowed access on a number of occasions for measuring up, builders etc. They were always on time for appointments and most importantly were personable without any of the bs you sometimes get.

I recently rented a property through Chestertons. The letting agents were nice enough, but the moment we were handed the keys, the property management arm of Chestertons has been an absolute nightmare. The property was filthy when we moved in, so they promised to send a cleaner. The cleaner arrived, but told me that they'd only been instructed to clean one portion of a skirting board and steam clean the carpets. When I pointed out the grimy, sticky, filthy walls in every room, I was told they 'didn't clean walls.' Turns out, that was the least of our problems. There are no keys to the windows in the apartment and they're locked shut. The alarm system, which we were given no instruction for, beeps in the middle of the night and flashes a bright blue strobe light every time my partner or I move in the night. The previous tenant left furniture and wall mirrors in an unfurnished house, and there are a bunch of other minor maintenance issues we've flagged. The answer we keep getting is that they're "looking into it" and "hope to have an update soon".
I hope to get a good night's sleep soon, but given the alarm system scenario, that seems unlikely. What's more likely is that I'll move out ASAP (thanks, new tenant's rights!) and never deal with Chestertons again.
AVOID AND BEWARE, TENANTS!

From day 1 on the first visit with Chestertons we have had a great experience. Selling houses is always stressful and our sale involved a very difficult situation. Chestertons went above and beyond. Great team, great communication, they endeavor to find solutions at all times and we have had possibly the best experience selling property with this team. I would say they have gone above and beyond. We found a great buyer almost immediately for a house that needed a lot of work, but the process has been seamless. We cant recommend highly enough. Thanks Team Chestertons.

I use Chestertons as my lettings agents and my property manager, Christie Nugyen, is personable and friendly while the team also ensure all my landlord obligations are up to date and deal with the tenants' financial commitments so it makes everyone feel at ease.

I had an awful experience as a landlord with Chestertons Marylebone branch over the last year and experienced poor levels of professional conduct and purposeful misleading of both myself and the tenants.

I had been keen to rent my flat for a competitive rate and not to do building work and had said this from the outset to Chestertons. I wanted a tenant who was happy with the flat it its current condition, which was good but not newly decorated. Chestertons were initially highly responsive and very proactive, securing tenants very quickly. It was important to me that the property was viewed in person and when I asked that they had, Lettings Manager Maya gave me the impression they had saying that although she hasn’t shown it herself she knew one of the tenants was living in London so able to view.

When the tenants later moved in I was shocked that they were so unhappy with the property and complained about things that were clearly visible - photographing every paint imperfection in the flat. When looking back at the marketing photos, I saw Chestertons had edited these with AI (defects removed, walls airbrushed, vents removed) to give the tenants an impression of a perfect newly refurbished “new-build type” property, even though the flat was a historic 1900s building that hadn’t been newly decorated.

After Chestertons were previously highly responsive, it was difficult to get ahold of Maya with my calls to her and the messages left with the receptionist ignored. After being insistent, I eventually managed to speak to her and expressed that I felt altering the images and not admitting that the tenants had not seen the property was not good practice (especially when I directly asked this). I said I felt it had created an unrealistic impression of the flat and had resulted in a situation where neither tenants nor landlord were happy, meanwhile Chestertons had received their full year's commission up front. Her response to me was that no person rents based on photos alone, so AI editing didn’t matter and how they view is their choice. She said Chestertons specifically implements a "sight unseen clause" to protect themselves from this situation. When I asked if, in the event that the tenants did not want to continue to rent the flat, it was possible to end the contract early and refund their rent, she said to me that in this case the tenants would be liable to pay Chesterons' commission and all landlord outgoings and fees as an "early surrender" (i.e. making it unrealistically possible to reverse the contract).

Over time I managed to build a good relationship with my tenants, answering the many requests they had due to their mismatched expectations. They were reasonable people but had simply been sold an unrealistic impression of the property by Chestertons. I found Chestertons absolutely no help throughout. They made it very clear that they had been paid for their work and the tenants many demands were now my problem.

My experience is that they only care to get as much money as possible with little concern for tenant or landlord. I was very disappointed by the lack of honesty and I would urge both tenants and landlords to beware.

Christie and the team at Chestertons were extremely professional and helpful throughout our experience.

From the moment we rented the property, and throughout the time we lived there, they were always very quick to respond and happy to help whenever we needed anything. Christie in particular was incredibly supportive, approachable and efficient.

We are very happy to have had the opportunity to work with Chestertons and would definitely recommend their services. A truly professional and reliable team!

I dispute Chestertons' entitlement to retain my £669.23 holding deposit and have now formally escalated the matter.

I found the referencing process inconsistent, unnecessarily stressful and at times confusing. The process initially commenced through Canopy and subsequently involved LetRef, with extensive and changing requests for information and documentation.

I was also sent tenancy documentation containing names/information apparently relating to another letting process, which I was asked to amend and return. The agent subsequently acknowledged in writing that he had edited a document previously sent to other clients and had “made a real mess of it.” This raised serious concerns for me about the professionalism of the process and the handling of information.

Despite these difficulties, I continued cooperating fully. I provided extensive documentation and references, completed the Canopy verification process and progressed to the point where my check-in was confirmed for 12pm on the agreed move-in date.

On the morning the application was stopped, after discussing the outstanding issues with me, the agent told me:
“Ok I think we're good. My manager is sending to the landlord.”

Approximately half an hour later, I was suddenly informed that I had failed referencing and that Chestertons could no longer proceed with my application.

I immediately requested the return of my holding deposit. I was then told:

“Since you failed references - we will be retaining the deposit.”

This is particularly concerning because I had received written confirmation from Canopy that its team had checked my Address Verification submission and that “everything looks good”, while my RentPassport continued to show as Complete, with the relevant sections displayed as verified.

I have asked Chestertons to identify the exact documents upon which it relies, what specific information it alleges was false or misleading, and the statutory basis under the Tenant Fees Act 2019 upon which it believes it is entitled to retain my holding deposit.

I have not yet received a substantive explanation addressing those questions.

I have also spoken directly with the prospective landlord's Residential Manager. I was informed that the landlord had been told that my referencing was unsatisfactory but, according to what I was told, had not been given the reason for that outcome. During that conversation I was also given information about the landlord's referencing requirements which, I was told, the agencies they work with were aware of. This added further questions for me about how the referencing process had been handled and communicated from the start.

Another concern is that when Chestertons originally requested the £669.23, I was simply told via WhatsApp that the payment was required “to secure the property.” After paying, I was told “Congratulations!” and that referencing would commence shortly.

I was not provided at that point with an explanation of the circumstances in which the holding deposit could be retained, nor was I informed before paying that a reference specifically from my current landlord would ultimately be regarded as essential.

The matter has now been reported through the appropriate consumer/enforcement channels, including Trading Standards, and I have been provided with a reference. I am also pursuing the formal remedies available to recover my holding deposit if Chestertons continues to refuse its return.

After experiencing this myself, I was concerned to find many other public reviews describing deposit disputes involving Chestertons.

I would have expected a much clearer, more transparent and more professional process from such a long-established letting agency.

I would also expect Chestertons, as a long-established letting agency, to fully comply with the applicable tenancy legislation and to ensure that any decision to retain a holding deposit is supported by a clear, transparent and properly substantiated legal basis.

Based on the legal advice I have received and my discussions with the relevant consumer and enforcement bodies, I have serious concerns that Chestertons has failed to comply with those obligations in its handling of my holding deposit.

I remain willing to update this review to reflect the eventual outcome of the dispute.

Chestertons have been most professional and efficient in all our dealings in renting and managing our property.

The staff have been excellent, especially Orchid Ho, Nakita Barklem-Shultz and Shana Campbell