Martin & Co Winchester Avis 

We paid a £242 holding deposit on 22 July and received confirmation from Martin & Co on 23 July. From that point onwards, we have been trying our best to complete the tenancy process. We even offered to pay 6 months’ rent in advance, but the landlord declined. We then went through the additional effort of finding a suitable guarantor who was eligible and willing to support our application financially.
Despite doing everything requested from our side, we have had almost no communication since 5 August. We have repeatedly called and emailed the agency, and each time we were told that someone would get back to us. Unfortunately, nobody did.
Our planned move-in date was 15 August, and I am due to start my new job from 1 September. Despite the move-in date passing, the agent did not contact us to discuss what was happening or even provide an updated date. We were simply left waiting and chasing for answers.
What is particularly upsetting is that when we finally asked for our £242 holding deposit back, we were refused. We have not withdrawn or cancelled our application, and we have been ready to provide everything required from our side. So it is extremely difficult to understand why our deposit is being withheld.
This entire experience has been incredibly stressful. For more than four weeks, we have had the uncertainty of not knowing where we are going to live, while also having to prepare for a new job and arrange our move.
£242 might not be a huge amount to a letting agency or landlord, but it is important money to us, especially at a time when we are starting a new chapter of our lives.
We have kept screenshots and records of our calls, emails and communications and have attached multiple screenshots as evidence.
This was our first experience dealing with a letting agency while house hunting, and unfortunately it has been the worst experience we could have imagined. I have never felt the need to write a review like this before, but the lack of communication and the way this situation has been handled has left us with no other option.
I would definitely not recommend Martin & Co based on our experience. We simply expect basic communication, professionalism and a fair resolution — and unfortunately, we have not received that.

Extremely disappointing experience with Martin & Co. Throughout our tenancy, communication was very poor and serious maintenance issues were repeatedly ignored despite us chasing numerous times.
We also had people enter the property for viewings without proper notice on multiple occasions, which made us feel extremely uncomfortable in our own home. After repeatedly asking for help with the mould throughout the tenancy, we were then shocked to have money taken from our deposit for it.
Overall, we felt completely unsupported as tenants and would not recommend based on our experience.

If you are a professional, student, or relocating from overseas, I would strongly advise exercising caution before renting through this agency.

Throughout my tenancy process, communication was extremely poor and the overall experience was unnecessarily stressful. The letting process was slow, confusing, and involved multiple parties, which made even straightforward issues difficult to resolve. Responses to emails often took a considerable amount of time, and I frequently felt that I had to chase updates myself.

The tenancy process took significantly longer than expected, and despite waiting for weeks, there was still uncertainty about whether the property would be ready by the agreed move-in date. This created a great deal of stress and inconvenience when trying to plan accommodation and moving arrangements.

When maintenance or tenancy-related concerns were raised, resolution times were slow, and I felt that only the minimum level of support was provided. Customer service appeared reactive rather than proactive, leaving tenants to do much of the follow-up themselves.

I was also frustrated by the requirement to use a third-party referencing and guarantor service. In my experience, the options offered were expensive and did not appear to provide good value compared with alternatives available elsewhere.

Overall, the experience felt focused on collecting fees and completing administrative processes rather than supporting tenants. Renting should not be this stressful or time-consuming. Based on my experience, I would not choose to rent through this agency again and would recommend that prospective tenants carefully research other options before proceeding.

Very friendly team.
Great experience, lots of helpful advice, thoroughly recommended.

Thank you guys!

Georgie and Amy have been great! Thank you for all the support.

Poor - signed an AST for a bedroom in a student let - room was fine but none of expected pre checks carried out by agent. On arrival Communal areas - kitchen and bathroom disgusting - dirty, over flowing bins, smell of vomit and cannabis. Contacted Agent who did not respond to any of calls or emails for nearly 10 days ! PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU DO FULL PROPERTY CHECK BEFORE SIGNING AN AST - THIS COMPANY HIDES BEHIND ASTs and takes advantage of students

Molly is great! shes always been there to answer questions we may have, shes very approachable and kind, we wouldn't want anyone else !!

East or west Molly is the best.

Molly was a great help during the viewing process, and was flexible with arranging appointments with the landlord. She kept me informed through the process and being able to communicate in WhatsApp simplified the process. Thumbs up!

Molly was very helpful, even tho we ended up cancelling the viewing due to finding another property she was very professional, knowledgeable and loved that we could talk over WhatsApp!

Georgie has been super helpful in helping me move in to a house share with my friend. As this is my first time renting I’m not the most confident with the process but it has been super quick and easy! She has been super friendly and would recommend to anyone!

Georgie was particularly helpful in helping my friends and I find our 3rd year house. She was very good at keeping constant communication with us and happily answered all our queries as quick as she could.

Georgie was very helpful and patient during some people dropping out and helped me find somewhere to live that was exactly what I was looking for.

Martin and co student lets.
Again more noise after 11pm from your Tennant's. They don't give a hoot . They have partners over and make more noise.The doors have closers that bang bang bang all night. They run up and down stairs all night. Every year they change the Tennants and it starts all over again. Last summer the security at Winchester uni found Finlay hatton passed out drunk and he couldn't remember where he lived. Waking me up again. The years prior over tenanted unlicensed HMO had too many people in there. Gong to use a legal route. The law of tort. Now unable to enjoy my proper that I own. This property is a nightmare to live next too. If I sell I have to list this on My T6 form taking 20/30k off the value. I live next door to a business where I have no route to complain. I've done it. I've had chats with dawn gretton, davin demone Holland's at Winchester city council and nothing ever comes of it. It's about time they stipulate no more school of art/ Winchester uni students. It's a residential area not a student village, that's what erasumas and west downs are for.See less

I leased a room from them at first everything was okay but I moved out on the 5th of August and they still have not got my deposit back. I’ve called, wrote emails and nothing! I had it professionally cleaning I only stayed about 8 months so I didn’t do anything to the room because it was only a temp stay due to work. It’s disgusting behaviour and I would NOT recommend them at all!

The five star reviews that I have seen refer to helpful service at the beginning of a tenancy. Just wait until the end of the tenancy and then you will have a very different opinion. They sanction landlords taking money from deposits to pay for cleaning a property that the landlord should be paying for in preparation for new tenants. It doesn’t matter what the state of the property is. The deposit is actually revenue for the landlord. £50 to repaint a door because of a couple of blue tack marks! Outrageous and unethical. I will not even go into the problems we had during the tenancy with one resident causing huge issues in the house with noise, harassment and smoking drugs in the room. Find another estate agent.

I would not recommend Martin and Co for students. At my last tenancy they took the vast majority of my deposit leaving me with no money for things that were unfair. My last tenancy that ended this July. I tried to dispute money that was being taken off my deposit, to only be ignored and the money taken off and my deposit returned. I then find it from another housemate wasn’t charged. Additionally as a third year student I was left without wifi for almost a month with no compensation and never told that there would be people coming into the house. We were all shocked to know that there was a random man in our house try be replied with from martin snd co “as you only rent your room and not the house we don’t have to tell you”. However, the contract I signed says very different and only tell us about viewings in 24 hours notice for their own convenience. If you have problems they don’t deal with it but as soon as they have an issue they don’t care about you.

I had a bad experience with them. We rented for nearly 3 years in a property they managed. There’s a month left on the tenancy agreement. We informed them for more than a month before we left the property and they told us that we might NOT pay for the rent that is due as long as we leave the property early and there’s a chance a new tenant will cover it. We left the property as clean as we could. However, they still charge us £350 cleaning fees and they have asked us to pay for a month’s rent even though the property was off the market 2 weeks after we left the property. I did reach out to them but they were insisting that I should pay. They could have told us earlier that we will pay the rent in the end. We could have stayed in the property for a month. It felt like I have put my thousand pounds in the BIN!!! I know there was a tenancy agreement but considering the years we stayed on that property and kept it well maintained, they could have considered it at least and be compassionate as it is hard to earn money and just paying the rent for nothing!!!Also, should have informed us earlier about the new tenancy commencing late so we could have resided still on that property. Also, the lady on the accounting was rude when I spoke to her on the phone! I was just trying to explain but she keeps on insisting we need to pay pay pay pay!!!What a shame!

Emily was super helpful and really understood what I was looking for very quickly. She made sure to keep me up to date and her communication was excellent. I love the WhatsApp communication- makes life so much easier!

Overall positive experience, Georgie was extremely helpful and proactive at finding us a new property when our first choice was taken!