S H Properties 252 Hendon Way, London NW4 3NL

"An outwardly friendly letting agency that can be helpful when needed. There were some issues with our flat when we moved in and it was clear that it had not been inspected or cleaned before our arrival but most of the issues were resolved quickly."

"Having conducted business with SH properties for several years; we find that the the company has always shown professionalism. SH Properties is a company we would recommend."

"I honestly had a good experience with S H properties. I first saw the property on spareroom but i was told it was being rented out through the agency. I contacted them and they arranged a viewing on the same day as i needed the property asap. Paperwork was smooth and communication was prompt. I wasn’t changed any hiden fees, everything was straight forward and i moved into the house 2 days after. The land lord is perfect and its been 4 months now."

"The people who work in the agency are very police and in term if you need help they do the best for you! To have a good flat they help us alot and I'm really happy, people there will resolve any problem you have really quick !! Very good team"

"A very frustrating and upsetting experience. SH Properties rejected my renting application because I asked about their referencing agencies, and about the need to use such external companies. I repeatedly asked what referencing agency they were using, but they did not want to say, and Mr Sunny told me that he believes the property I had a viewing appointment for was not for me. Afterwards, I was told that I need to call them, in order for them to explain to me verbally ( as apparently they weren' t capable of doing so in a short email) how come they need to use referencing agencies. By the looks of it, SH Properties can't be bothered to know their customer, and so they put everybody in the same pot, assuming by default that you are going to not pay your rent. Apparently," in today' s market", the landlord has to have the 5 weeks deposit, and a rent guarantee insurance policy from the same tenant, just in case the tenant might not be able to pay the rent, get evicted, and the costs of eviction could be paid by the rent guarantee insurance. Again, not my case, but that is how SH Properties chose to work, by default. ( Total insanity, considering someone that could cover all the rent for more than one year). Apart from this, SH Properties refused to say if the flat belonged to any of their employees. Land Registry can confirm any such details though. NB: Referencing Agencies are registered with the Financial Conduct Authority as insurance brokers. So, their main interest is to sell insurance - not exactly to make sure the tenant works where they said they work, as part of the referencing. I don' t think it is good practice to force or blackmail someone to register with a 3rd party / external company, such as a referencing agency. I find it very suspicious the referencing agency mainly considers salaried tenants - they don' t seem to consider self employed , and also they don' t consider tenants with other sources of income ( ie : savings). I also don' t exclude the fact that lettings agents might receive money comission for providing new insurance clients to the referencing agency, at tenant's expense - thus improvising themselves as insurance brokers, since they decline rent applications, unless the tenant agrees to sign off their details to a referencing agency with only an online office. Apart from this, the referencing agency might also sell, as needed, any of the tenant's personal details for statistics,research, etc, since they need to keep the personal details for 5-10 years for audit purposes. With this being said, I will avoid becomming SH Properties customer, since they don' t even follow the Property Ombudsman ' Lettings Agents Code of Practice ( for those interested, PDF available on website). PS: As lettings agent, to impose to a tennant to decide if in 12months they will continue to rent the same property is exagerated; yet, apparently this is another point used by SH Properties justify the use of referencing agencies, in order to get rent guarantee insurance, as the same tenant might not be renting the same property in 12months' time, when there is a fixed term 12 months contract."