I have been renting with Philip James for the past 2 years and have just finished my tenancy. Overall I'd say they are a good letting agent. I'll list my pros and cons below PROS: 1) I asked for new blinds and mattresses to be delivered/installed in my flat when I moved into the property. They agreed to this and all new blinds and mattresses were installed. They were not the most high spec furnishings, but better than what was there. As much as this is a good thing it did look bad on their behalf as they should have been replaced before I moved in (they were in such bad condition). 2) I was able to contact Philip James quite quickly after my washing machine stopped working they fixed it in little over a week. A bit of an inconvenience whilst broken, but they did fix it relatively quickly. 3) My deposit was returned very quickly after moving out of the property with no deductions whatsoever. I complied by their rules of leaving it clean and tidy with all furnishings in their original locations. Those complaining about deposit deductions must have done something wrong for it to be deducted in the first place. CONS: 1) When I first moved into the property it was a complete mess. The bathroom was filthy, the kitchen was a disgrace, the bedrooms messy, and all carpets dirty. It was extremely distressing and was made worse by the fact Philip James HAD inspected the apartment before I moved in, taking photographs of it being messy without cleaning it in any way. I complained immediately and they did send out cleaners to give it an overhaul but it should have been done a week before I moved in. 2) The renewal fees are quite expensive. I can't remember the exact figure, but it was something like £140 each time to renew your contract, discounted if you did it 6 weeks early. I thought this was quite extortionate and it was one of the deciding factors as to why I moved. My new lettings agents charged me a one off payment before moving into the property which then allows me to renew as many times as I want for no additional cost. Perhaps Philip James could take a similar approach? The fact rolling contracts were not allowed with Philip James was also quite an inconvenience. My new lettings agent allows rolling contracts which is much better. 3) We tried to contact the landlord in the hope they could replace some of the furnishings in the apartment. The sofa had a dent in one of the arms, and the carpet was badly looked after by previous tenants, with iron prints in the carpet and indents around the skirting board. We received no response. Perhaps the landlord didn't want to spend any more money on it but it did need replacing. 4) Furnished properties are not available on an unfurnished basis. We asked if we could furnish it ourselves mid way through our tenancy but this was not allowed. Once again my new lettings agent has allowed my new property to be either furnished or unfurnished which is much better for me. Overall, i had a pleasant experience with philip james and would recommend them. But lets just hope your apartment is cleaned before you move in! read more

What an awful agency. I will list some of the problems I had from renting a flat from them. Repair took ages and required lots of emails and phone calls and, most importantly, patient. They kept sending the same guy who didn't know how to repair something and insisting that it can't be repaired, while a few months later, another guy identified the problem and fixed it on his first visit. Inspection was rubbish - the guy who does the inspection before anyone moves in has no ideas what he should be looking at or for. There were moulded bread inside the toaster and moulds on some of the cushions. A broken lamps was hidden behind some bedding which was kept inside one of the cupboards, luckily I didn't cut myself when removing the bedding. The dishes in which the landlord provided were awfully dirty. Marks and dirt all over the plates and dishes. Did not know and was not informed about the fact that the flat runs by pay-as-you-go electricity. Had to top-up once in a while and very expensive. and apparently the management team didn't know either and asked me for a copy of my electricity bill. There was no mirror for us to use properly in the bathroom for the whole 9 months and even when we bought one with the landlord's money, they wouldn't send someone to mount it on the wall because it would cost them £50 to do so even we paid 9months' rent up front (£5500). excellent and shaving was fun !! They knew something was broken but they didn't care enough to replace it. (I bet they asked the landlord to pay but kept the money). One of the chair was damaged and should be replaced but they didn't and, again, they were lucky that I didn't break my back sitting on that broken chair. The flat I rented from them was so dirty that I had to spend a week cleaning the whole damn flat before actually moving in. This is only a part of the problems I experienced with them. In sum, they take my money and let me rot !! PS I would actaully give them no star. read more

Philip James, WORST agent ever! Don't go there! I moved into Abito Apartments in November 2nd 2011 the apartment was left in a disgusting state, snott on the walls, dust EVERYWHERE, kitchen sink loose, used condoms thrown on roof top, and stains all over mattress, cupboard doors coming loose, handles coming off, bathroom light was broken, burn rings on kitchen surfaces and finally womens hair in bathroom sink. It took me and my mum 3 days to clean the apartment, we decorated the apartment, thrown the mattress out and replaced with with brand new one and had blinds fitted at £300 as there was no window blinds. Lived at Abito 6 months then left, I awaited my deposit back then I got told they were deducting £101.25 off my deposit and told me this was for: Dust on the floor Pillow left on balcony rubbish left in bin cracked plate in microwave which I actually had replaced, communication error between branch and office Apartment needed painting!!!!!!! Dust and cobwebs in the pod? I tried to deal with this and my mum over the phone however was advised they won't deal with anything unless its in WRITING and takes 10 working days to get back to us!!!! TEN WORKING DAYS!!!! Finally we get a reply, my mum calls to ask further questions and was advised by Hugh, Your son is old enough to deal with his own issues with Apartment, we won't discuss anything with you in a rude abrupt manner, so I then call and I was calm and just wanted a few answers, however he abruptly said well you will have to put it in writing we don't deal with any complaints on the phone it will take 10 working days to get back to you. really another 10 working days! Seriously Philip James are awful please look elsewhere for lettings in Manchester these guys are awful! read more

Absolutely terrible from the get go! Had loads of issues with the house we rented! Took ages for them to come and sort it out. The people they use to do the work are shoddy, 1 turned up to fix our laminate flooring with nothing but a Stanley blade and a screwdriver!! Nobody is ever able to speak to you when you ring with queries, they then say they'll call you back only for it never to happen. The final straw is getting a letter saying it was time to renew our tenancy which would cost is a further £204 whether we stay for another 6 or 12 months. Just to rub it in they would give us a 50% discount if we renewed at least 6 weeks prior to the end of the tenancy. How they justify these types of charges for sending out contracts! Apparently they charge the landlord too. We also asked about leaving the house early, again the fees were incredible!! To terminate the tenancy early you have to pay £456 for them to read readvertise the property and you have to carry on paying the rent on the property until someone else moves in or the tenancy is finished!! read more

Absolutely terrible, the worst estate agents i've ever had the misfortune to deal with and that's saying a lot considering how long I lived in the centre of Manchester! Electrical appliances were exploding and we were blamed, it took months of mithering to get any problems resolved, and the worst thing was when they tried to steal our £1200 deposit by claiming they had to have the apartment repainted (called the painter and he had painted one wall) and cleaned (the cleaners had no record of having cleaned the apartment). When informing the agent that I would be taking legal action I was told i'm not bothered mate, i'm in court all the time over this stuff Luckily I put a case to the TDS and all of my deposit was returned because it was extremely obvious that their claims were false. Please avoid. read more

Philip James are beyond awful. They lead a very one-sided relationship with their clients. My review is based on a rental tenancy experienced for 6 months, any more would have been torture. To renew the tenancy a renewal fee was required. I unknowingly moved in to a flat that had not been cleaned and had substantial mould which took 4 months to get them to repair. Keys and photos were supplied on the moving day so I wasn't aware until I had moved my belongings to the property. During the tenancy they were unresponsive and slow with communication and notification on visits and then had the cheek to charge my deposit for £75 + admin fee for cleaning, and I quote 'long hairs from the apartment' I'm a bald man! Staff in agency were arrogant and unhelpful and were never professional. Avoid!! read more

I once went in by mistake. A friend had left his keys with another letting agency for me to collect for him. Before I realised my mistake I explained the situation and asked if they had the keys, the guy in the letting office was quite possibly the rudest man I have ever encountered in my life. He didn't even check to see if they had that property on file, or suggest I might be in the wrong place. Rather he verbally destroyed me, he was relentless, made me feel like an absolute idiot and he even went as far as saying no one would ever arrange for their spare keys to be picked up by someone else on their behalf I will never, ever use this establishment for letting or sales. My brother rents from them and he's had nothing but trouble also. read more

DO NOT USE - WE listed a flat for rent with the company, they informed us that we were having viewings and giving feedback on why the property was not being rented. WE called our current tenant to confirm how many viewings had been conducted as thought it was strange to have so many viewings and no interest. Our tenant informed us that there had been no viewings. We called the agent ad he said yes we have had 5 viewings and then when we said it was strange as our tenant said there had been none he realized that he'd been caught out and apologized. Unfortunatly people and companies like this give letting agents a bad name read more

A friend recommended Philip James to me so I decided to try them out. They were professional yet friendly throughout. My property was let in less than a week and they found me great tenants. The few small problems we encountered were dealt with by their property management team quickly and effectively which is exactly what I need as I live in Ireland so am not near my Manchester properties. The tenants have since decided to stay another 12 months and I have entrusted Philip James with another 5 of my properties since. As far as i'm concerned everyone involved is happy and I would always recommend Philip James. read more

I rented a property from Philip James for 3 years. I was happy in the property, but was treated with dis-respect. They left the door open post inspection a couple of times, and I didn't receive an apology. Sent a threatening letter about condition of doors and then they realised the doors were old and they thought they had replaced them. The contract they ask you to sign is very unfair- you are expected to pay for guttering and external repairs even if you are living in a flat. The final straw was taking a month to return my deposit. I did not take this further as I was glad to be rid of them! read more

I decided to rent my property out with Philip James after struggling to sell it. I spoke to a very helpful lady called Sally who talked through all my options and the steps I would have to take if I chose to use them to find me tenants. It was very helpful and I never felt under pressure to go with them. Within 3 days my property was on the market and I received frequent feedback from each viewing and a further 8days on they had found me my tenants. I have had no problems with my tenants throughout their tenancy and I could not fault the service I received from Philip James. read more

The worst Estate agents in the world. Horror story from them, avoid at all costs, they have no interest in the tennant apart from scamming him. Repair work goes unattended, people who are responsible are always off sick, they are rude we dont have time to deal with this. Nightmare, disgusting behaviour, everything that is wrong with the industry is highlighted by this group of $%£$% .. If there was a Zero rating that is what i would give read more

Very grateful for the people down at Philip James, they made every effort possible to find a property for me to rent. They were happy to show me properties at times which suited me and were very helpful during the application process. This is is the first property i have rented myself and was a good experience because of Philip James. Thanks very much guys!!! read more

I am a Landlord with 27 Properties and I have worked with Philip James for Five years and I am delighted with their service in Managing my properties and letting the properties when they come empty. They have never missed paying me each month and I'm delighted with the statements both emailed and posted. Director Property Company read more

I rented a property with Philip James Partnership. I looked around nearly every agent in the city centre and I have to say the service I got while looking for a property and the service from the property management department after I moved in was great. I will be recommending this agent in the furture. read more

Sophie at Philip James Kennedy has been so helpful with the sale of our home and hunt for a new home. Our property has received an accepted offer within 2 weeks, we didn't think the process would be so quick but we are over the moon! read more

I used the philip james partnership to rent my first flat. I found them really helpful and friendly which was great as I wasn't too sure what I needed to have/do. I'd defo rent from then again and recommend them to any mates. read more

Just Let my property through Philip James in Withington. The property was only on the market for a couple of days and it let. Excellent service from start to finish and I will definately be using again! read more

We just wanted to thank all the team in the Didsbury branch for all their help over the last couple of months, most particularly Sophie who went above and beyond with keeping us updated. - Jess & Andy R read more