Portico Property - Clapham Avis 21

Avoid at all costs.

I dealt with Portico a year ago and always intended on writing a review but never did.

Their communication is poor. They won’t put anything in writing - classic - but there’s a reason why they won’t.

They refused to submit my offer to landlord unless I took out renter’s insurance with a company they are partnered with and clearly earn a commission. I told them I didn’t want to and was told that would greatly harm my application. When I asked if I could go with another insurance provider who had a much cheaper quote, I was ghosted.

This is predatory behaviour. It is against the law to force tenants to purchase insurance from you. They are being sneaky by avoiding putting this in writing and avoiding flat out denying applications for not doing this by ghosting.

Poor communication on the whole. To date, after completion, there are still unanswered questions we put to portico.
Portico's management of the purchase caused major delays costing £thousands extra in stamp duty.
Vicky in the Clapham office was particularly patronising, rude and dismissive.
Gareth was our move in manager who was never up to date with the sale and as purchasers we were often providing him with information. He then entirely disappeared.
Liudmila was the only slight saving grace in the process trying her hardest but was given a tough task given the team around her failed on multiple occasions.

I understand the job is tough but from start to finish we got the impression from Portico they just didn't care and we were just one of a number, which is particularly frustrating when parting with such vast sums of money and going through one of life's most stressful times.

Where is the 0 star?

From the letting agreement process where they lied to me about what the landlord agreed to do to improve the flat, some how this person has been promoted to head of lettings since my tenancy began, to useless property managers who never provide basic information, branch management staff who don’t care how badly you’re being treated, to an awful awful leaving experience where I had to email endlessly for 3 months to get my deposit back, they even blocked the TDS investigation, it felt like I was speaking to a computer with how generic the emails were and borderline patronising, but even chat gpt is more polite, able to understand basic information and useful than their property managers.

Renting with my new place has been a dream which reassured me it wasn’t me, portico is just an operational and personnel nightmare to work with. Please avoid if you can.

Portico have managed the letting of our Clapham flat for the last decade or so. Our daughter has just moved in so we no longer need Portico.
Throughout that time we have been impressed by their efficiency and responsiveness. If we ever let it again we will go straight back to them.
Jane and Andrew

By far the most unprofessional letting agency I have ever dealt with. Would like to start off by thanking Flora and if I could write a 5 star review for her I would, far too qualified to be working amongst such incompetent individuals. However the reason behind my review is to warn people who are currently working with Fahad, this boy is by far the most unprofessional estate agent I have ever dealt with, bad attitude and we are now having to take legal action as we found out he had entered our property after us providing 4 emails and 8 phone calls advising he is not to carry out viewings on that day however, he could the following day. Despite us declining access and asking for confirmation he will not be attending the property multiple times he still went ahead to show our home to complete strangers (may I add we are 2 young girls and we had left personal belongings we would not want being seen on that day). In addition to his breach of the tenancy rights act, trespassing and foul attitude he also lied on multiple occasions advising us only 2 viewing were carried out, we later spoke to his employee to find out 13 viewing went ahead! (please note when he notified us of the viewing he only advised of 1 viewing). We are currently seeking legal advise as one of us is in treatment and on medication for severe anxiety through the NHS and his actions has caused distress and paranoia about being in our own home which we are paying a large amount of money for. If I could give him 0 stars I would. I’m a previous sales negotiator and letting manager so I know one of the first things you learn when you get into the game is always comply with the tenancy act as there can be serious legal consequences, this boy should not have a job which holds such responsibility as he is clearly incapable of the standard the job holds you to.

Please whatever you do - do NOT let from, or interact with Portico! I moved out of my property on the 31st January 2024, and I have still yet to receive my tenancy deposit back (9th May 2024). After countless emails to Andrew, Alice and Jesus, nobody has responded to me for over three months. Whenever trying to call the number listed on the website, they are never available and goes straight to leaving a voicemail. I have had to raise a formal complaint to the TDS in the hope of getting my deposit back (to the tune of thousands of pounds). That said, they found ample time to market and sell the property I was renting, so clearly there to make a quick buck out of tenants! Absolutely shambolic and a clear disregard for any contractual agreements or professional conduct. Do not be scammed by these people and avoid at all costs!

Can't recommend Portico and Fahad highly enough. Fahad was a brilliant lettings agent and made the process easy and did it very quickly. Went above and beyond to get it done. Overall, incredible service from Portico and Fahad.

Zudi was great at patching up the old wall in the bathroom

The sale’s team has done brilliant jobs to get through the transaction. I can’t thank enough for their assistance throughout the purchase processes.

Casey installed a couple of alarms for us. Very happy with the work that was carried out.

Casey was so helpful and was so polite. He did a great job. Highly recommended.

Amazing experience today. Casey the handyman refreshed our bathroom and did a beautiful job. Would highly recommend

Runy and Erick made our new life in London happen. They were always very good at returning calls and helpful with communication between us and the vendors. Happy to recommend. Many Thanks

TENANTS - IF YOUR DEPOSIT IS IMPORTANT TO YOU DO NOT USE

Portico were completely negligent in the handling of our deposit return and we had to wait months to get it back. Bear this in mind if you value your deposit!

After moving out of the property we were renting, they never bothered to pay us our deposit back or even contact us about how it was progressing. We had to process a claim through the tenancy deposit scheme (TDS). This took months. After kickstarting the process with TDS they had the nerve to try and take some of our deposit for extra professional cleaning (we had to pay £250 for a clean before we left) and unexplained damages (no evidence provided to explain what the damages were).

I hope this review helps some renters out there. It’s a disgrace how agencies like this one get away with these behaviours and are allowed to continue to operate.

Absolutely awful, completely unprofessional. I don’t have the words to describe my experience with Portico. To give a little insight I am still awaiting my deposit after 2 months of leaving the property!!

I needed advice regarding deductions to be made from a tenant deposit for damage. Natalie Banton helped me with this and provided exactly the right expertise. Natalie provided practical and clear guidance and also gave me an indication of how TDS would view any deductions, which really helped me come to a decision regarding how much I should deduct for damage.

We just bought our very first property with Portico in Clapham and we can’t recommend highly enough. The whole team was helpful, responsive and patient throughout. Everyone is so friendly and easy to talk to, not to mention highly professional. Many thanks to everyone who was involved - Bella, Holly and Kate!

Isabella Thompson and Molly from Portico are two of the best agents from my experiences in London. Both of them are working well for helping their customers. Definitely recommended and looking forward for future cooperation.

Very responsive and helpful throughout the whole process! Definitely recommended!

Very professional and trustworthy team both in sales and after offer accepted.