Tenancy review for 4 Boase Avenue in St Andrews, St Andrews rented via Rollos

Agency rating: 1

The worst tenancy experience in my 4 years thus far in St Andrews. To summarise, for unknown reasons the property was leased to us half-furnished and unclean, and due to lack of communication and inaction from the Rollos letting agency, the situation went on far longer than it needed to.

We moved in on the 1st of July 2019, a couple of months before most students arrive in the autumn, as I was undertaking a summer internship with the university. Rollos were well-notified of our arrival and intention to dwell there over the summer, as we had stipulated in our tenancy agreement for the lease to start from July 1st to give me a place to live in St Andrews.

Alarm bells rang when I went to the Rollos office to collect my copy of the keys and was told that they did not know if there were beds on the property yet, as these were being delivered. They asked me to go and check on their behalf and report back to them.

When my flatmate and I arrived, we were greeted by a man hanging around the house by the name of Stuart, who claimed to be the painter and wanted access to touch-up some of the skirting boards. Neither my flatmate nor I had heard any word of this from Rollos and told him we wanted to call Rollos office to confirm who he was. Stuart was very insistent that we did not need to call Rollos to prove who he was, but after Rollos didn’t pick up a couple of calls, we told him if he was who he claimed he was we’d be in contact via Rollos again, and sent him on his way.

Upon entering the house, we found that the property was not clean - there were large bits of paint and wallpaper, and nails, covering carpets on all levels of the house. The bath was full of a brown grime, hair, and had several rusty screws dotted around in it.

Whilst beds and mattresses were present, there was no dining table or chairs, as shown on the inventory and our tour of the house, nor wardrobe or desk chairs. Additionally, various minor household items from the inventory were missing, such as a dustpan-and-brush, a brush/broom, an iron, and an ironing board.

Furious, I reported this back to Rollos, who then told me that the cleaner called them to say he’d been turned away by us and couldn’t finish cleaning the property. This cleaner happened to be Stuart, who at no point in our 15-minute exchange outside the house mentioned that he was the cleaner, to me or my flatmate. We were assured by various members of the Rollos office that he’d come within the week, and that the furniture was out for delivery and we could expect it shortly.

Neither came within the week – I went back to the Rollos office exactly a week after moving in (and after a week of living in the uncleaned house), to ask for a situation report, and spoke with Craig Niven, who was very polite and appeared helpful. He said no one had told him anything about the situation in the house, and seemed appalled, and got members of the office to call Stuart and arrange a clean immediately. He also said that he’d speak to the landlord about the furniture and get back to me ASAP.

Stuart re-appeared for a clean two or so days after, and after hoovering (and refusing to clean the kitchen surfaces, as we’d been living there for a week and thus it was our mess), promptly left. I contacted Craig via email about a week after our meeting and asked for the sitrep on furniture but got no response.

After a week without reply I went to the Rollos office, intending to speak to Craig, but instead was directed to Ryan Ivory, seeing as Craig was apparently on holiday. Ryan was very helpful and professional, and first checked that the property was advertised as a furnished let, then spent about 15 mins on his computer checking for any furniture acquisitions for the property, or an official Rollos-wide notice of the situation. He found none and told me that he’d immediately set-to with getting us furniture and gave me a copy of the inventory so that he could get a full account of what was missing.

I should note that checking items off the inventory for a property is something typically done on move-in day, and I was certainly surprised when no-one at Rollos offered us one.

I contacted Ryan after a week and he told me very quickly via email that he’d reached out to the landlord, who they had to get the okay from for buying furniture on his behalf, but that the landlord hadn’t yet replied. After about 6 days Ryan emailed us to tell us that tables and chairs would be promptly delivered, with wardrobes soon to follow. Sure enough, an Ikea flatpack of table and chairs soon arrived, and we were told someone would be around soon to construct it. I assumed that this was to prevent us damaging the furniture or at least shifting the blame if it was damaged, so we waited around three weeks for the workmen Rollos had promised to come and build the set. None came, so after this three week period I bit the bullet and built the set myself, and asked Rollos where the wardrobes were.

They said that they’d arrive soon and that this time, people would be there to construct them. To their credit, this happened, but this was somewhere towards the end of August, close to 2 months since our move-in date.

I submitted my signed and checked inventory of the house back to Rollos (handing in at the main desk) about 5 days after Ryan gave me a blank copy. There has since been no update, as of May 2020. I have sent several emails to Ryan and Rollos asking what was happening but have had no reply. My flatmates and I gave up this cause sometime in November 2019 after we bought the missing items from Aldi, but it is unreasonable in a property with such items present on the inventory for us to have to do so.


As term at the university typically starts midway through September, most students move in towards the beginning of the month, and I suspect Rollos and the landlord both expected us to do this too, as all was in good place for the beginning of September. However, considering we were paying rent for the property from 1st of July, the situation we endured is a violation of the contract we signed with Rollos, agreeing that the property be given to us in good condition as if we were about to start our tenancy.

I think that this could have been dealt with swiftly had Rollos taken action and communicated with members of their team – firstly we clearly stated to and discussed with Rollos that we wanted to start the tenancy on the 1st of July so that I could live there from the summer. If Rollos takes a policy of not touching student lets until students enter, clearly they did not communicate amongst themselves, otherwise a member of staff could’ve taken a 10 min walk from the Rollos office to the property on the morning of July 1st, and checked that a) the place was clean and tidy, and b) the property was adequately furnished. And even when they did not do this, a little communication amongst themselves would’ve prevented furniture delivery taking so long.

Overall I cannot recommend you strongly enough to avoid Rollos, or at least if you must rent from them, relentlessly pursue your rights as tenants. It is clear from my experience that Rollos will not honour their side of a contract, and I am dismayed to see from reading other reviews that this is not an isolated incident. Do not rent from Rollos!

Property rating: 2

There are 3 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, a kitchen, living room, and a utilities room. There is a freezer, a fridge, a washing machine, and a dryer, but no dishwasher.

The house is in bad repair, with paint badly flaking off the front door. The exterior is ugly, with a gravel front garden and a paved concrete back.

The house keeps no heat, as the windows (which are loft windows, installed laterally) are installed poorly and there are numerous leaks in the sealant and window frame. Additionally there is a large hole in the wall adjoining to the neighbouring house, which the landlord hides with a defunct electric fireplace. This makes dining and sitting in the living room like a camping experience, and unless you are willing to rack up extortionate heating bills, I suggest you stock up on warm jumpers.

Furniture is somewhat comfy, except the chairs and table/desks, which have caused my housemates and I significant back pain since working from home during the COVID-19 crisis.

Area rating: 8

Nice and leafy local area, quiet neighbours, easy access to town and the university. Nice riverside location too, and easy access to the beach at East Sands.