Tenancy review for 32 The Hallgarth in Elvet, Durham rented via JW Wood Estate Agents

Agency rating: 1

JW Wood were ok during our tenancy but very regularly had engineers and agents to do checks which got annoying. At the end of our tenancy they were awful. They tried to deduct a significant amount from our deposit for things which they couldn't prove and some of their claims we had direct contradictory evidence against them and they refused to back down. We repeatedly asked for evidence from them and got almost nothing back apart from some blunt emails repeating what they'd already said and ignoring what we were saying. We have now raised a dispute with the tenancy deposit scheme so we will hopefully receive our money back. They seemingly thought they could get away with unreasonable deductions from our deposit because we were students and we later found out that they had tried similar things with a huge number of other student houses in Durham that year. Lots of people, like us, were told by JW Wood that they had stained their mattress when they clearly hadn't so that JW Wood could charge them for a new mattress. We took quite a few pictures when we entered the house but if you rent from JW Wood make sure you document everything.

Property rating: 6

5 reasonably sized bedrooms, and one very small one. 4 bathrooms including 3 showers which was good. Kitchen and living area were okay but quite cramped for 6 people. Lots of marks on the walls and the house and furniture generally weren't in great condition.

Area rating: 8

The local area was quiet apart from some neighbours with some loud dogs. Very close to the University science site and about 10-15 minutes from the town centre.