Student Housing Lancaster

Use extreme caution when dealing with, don't believe website as they'll tell you something different despite having screenshots. Not willing to discuss anything, decide they are always right and everyone else in the wrong even when they weren't in a meeting.
Apr 14th, 2023

Nov 23rd, 2022

Without a doubt the worst company I have ever rented with. In fact, the worst company I have ever dealt with full stop. As other reviews have said, they don't seem to check their properties. In fairness they are only an agent but this is still poor form from them. I know people renting with SHL and they have mostly told me the house was dirty or not in a good state of repair. If there is an issue and you disagree with them they will immediately hang up. They say that people shout at them, but in reality the staff raise their voice. This forces you to speak loudly in order to be heard and then they cry harassment. They are impossible to deal with. The only way you will get anywhere is by escalating things. Embodiment of everything that's wrong with renting as a student
Apr 8th, 2023

I had the worst experience with SHL and continue to do so. From the beginning, they sent us a contract with incorrect rent prices, then a few hours before my flight to Lancaster when I was supposed to move into the rented property, they told us that the landlord has backed out. They did find another property for us (which we had no saying in if we are fine with it or not), but never sent us a new contract which later caused problems for my housemate because she needed that contract for her new job (she contacted them for weeks regarding the matter but they didn't respond). There were two of us in a four-bedroom house and we were aware that they find another tenant to move in, but we did not expect for a stranger to suddenly ring at our door in the middle of the night saying that she now lives with us, but SHL gave her a faulty key so she cannot get in (you can imagine how creepy that sounds even if she didn't lie). When confronting SHL, they just told us that they forgot to let us know. Our contract ended and I have been emailing and calling them for two months now trying to get my deposit back with no response. They did answer the phone twice, but told me to just end them an email to which, surprise, they never responded. A few weeks ago I got an email from Mydeposits requesting me to pay 260 which were asked by the landlord. I have talked to the landlord and he said that he never requested any money. (On Mydeposits another name instead of our landlord's appears, which I do not understand why). On one of the 2 times SHL responded, after hanging up the phone on me when I asked about the deposit because they suddenly "couldn't hear me". They eventually addressed the 260 issue, saying that we have exceeded our heating allowance. (We would only turn on heating for a couple of hours when we woke up, and a couple of hours when going to bed and even that wasn't enough because it was really cold in the house). They of course told me to just send them an email when I tried to discuss it further with them and again, no response after that. I am still trying to reach them with no success and I still haven't received my deposit money back.
Nov 1st, 2022

My experience with SHL was very mixed through 2021-2022. Upon moving in, the house remained dirty from the previous tenants and contained many broken or damaged appliances or fixtures (which SHL were aware of as they were logged in the inventory). Maintance for small damage ran through SHL cannot be faulted, as they fixed most things as asked. Issues arose for contractors or larger damage that needed landlords approval. This took many many weeks to solve any problem or complete disregard for any professional opinion if it was not a cheap solution. (E.g questionable wiring of an oven and 4 attempts to fix a broken 1980s boiler, which left us with no heating in the middle of december). Customer service was a mixed bag with sometime feeling very helpful and welcoming and others rather hostile and defensive. I feel the landlord SHL represented had no regard for any hazard or danger we presented. All in all I would not reccomend SHL to other lancaster students, although if the house signed for was of a decent standard to begin with, this review would be very different.
Oct 23rd, 2022