Hello Dan, thank you for your feedback. We really appreciate your review of M&M Properties.

Dear Karim, Thanks for your feedback on your checkout process with M&M Properties. We are disappointed that you feel the way you do and have addressed your comments below. The checkout process is carried out in line with the inventory schedule of condition you agreed to when moving into the property, albeit you didn’t sign and return this as requested but you did agree via email that you were happy with the condition of the property and the contents of the inventory schedule of condition. The areas in question from your checkout related to domestic cleaning, broken bath panel and cracked tile on the bathroom floor. The cleaning you agreed to be actioned as per the photographic evidence showing the property to be unclean in areas. The bath panel was listed on your move in as loose but free from cracks. Upon checkout it was evident that the bath panel was cracked, this has happened during your tenancy and is why we have to ask how it occurred. The bathroom tile cracked in question was located partially under the bath panel and could have been missed on check in by both yourself and M&M, as neither have highlighted this point. Once further investigation into this point was performed it was identified that the tile was already cracked and was eradicated from the discussion. Your landlord decided to take on the cost of the broken bath panel as it was loosely fitted on move in. This doesn’t mean that you were wrongly accused of cracking it as the inventory on move in states it wasn’t cracked, but it was cracked at the end of your tenancy. I had to ask the question of how this came to be and this is the standard procedure when areas of damage are identified. The landlord decided as a gesture of goodwill to cover this cost and have a new bath panel fitted. This negated your liability and this was agreed to not be charged against your deposit. Your checkout was completed fairly and in line with the processes we have always carried out. I am again sorry for the way in which you felt the emails came across, but this wasn’t the intention. You’ll see from the many five star reviews about myself and the company as a whole on this platform are a reflection of our service to our clients and tenants. Should you wish to discuss this please do email me or call me to discuss. Kind regards, Thomas McCormick Property Manager 01525 371997 thomas.mccormick@mandmproperties.co.uk

UPDATE: Dear Ollie, Thank you for your latest review update and it is regretful to see you feel disappointed. Having investigated the original maintenance issue you reported on the 20th December 2021, it was confirmed with you on that date that the owner would attend to this issue in the New Year, which you were happy with. This was not an urgent issue and all parties agreed this was a reasonable course of action. As of the 6th January 2022, a further three maintenance issues were reported by you. We are sorry these issues have taken longer to sort out than we would like. We don’t provide the maintenance for your property as your landlord does this himself. Sadly, he has been very unwell, and this has held things up. The items are not category one urgent but nevertheless, both he and us would want them dealt with faster. Thanks for your patience, we realise you would not have written your review had we kept you looped in on developments more frequently, sorry about that and I believe our team are in touch with you now to set some firm dates. In the meantime, if you need me, just shout at chrsitopher.hollins@mandmproperties.co.uk – Thanks Christopher Hollins – Lettings Manager. M&M Properties

Dear Eleanor, Thank you for your feedback and we are sorry you felt the need to review us with 2 stars. We note your tenancy ended 16 months ago but you have felt the need to raise this now. Hopefully we can clarify your concerns below... Contract Firstly, we would never force a tenant to sign a tenancy agreement before reading. If the tenancy agreement wasn't ready to be sent to you for whatever reason a draft copy of the exact same covenants would have been sent for you to read if requested. The original/final draft is ofcourse wet signed by each party displaying their full agreement. This has been our process for over 35 years. Your tenancy agreement (and any draft that preceded it) stated the below standard clause (1.13) which clearly states that you (as a tenant) are not fixed to any particular supplier. We can provide a copy of your signed tenancy agreement if you wish to examine your agreement to this arrangement. As a matter of fact on this point, it is neither acceptable practice or legal for landlords or agents to insist you use any particular supplier. As An ARLA (Propertymark ) licensed agent such clauses would never be in our agreements. " 1.13 - At the start of the lease gas and electricity will be provided, or will be in the process of being provided by OVO Gas Ltd and OVO Electricity Ltd ("OVO Energy"). However, this will not prevent the Tenant from changing to a different energy provider if desired. " You mention Connells in your review. We are not Connells and have no relationship with them. Gas connection. File notes of 2020 display that we were in contact with your co-tenant in writing and the end of our exchange with your co-tenant ended, and we quote, “I'd like to take this time to thank you for helping us and working during this unprecedented period” An issue was raised to us about the elongated process experienced to locate a gas supplier. The landlord and M&M were very regretful of this situation. This was a result of quite unprecedented circumstances whereby your landlord had purchased a property from a seller who had acquired it from new. The property had never been let before and you were the first tenant/s. They (the previous owner) had never registered the property for gas supply and although they were receiving gas to their home, they were not receiving bills. Although it is not the responsibility of the agent to engage with suppliers on your behalf (as the contract says we offer a free utilities management service to assist in this regards), our staff diligently assisted to resolve this legacy issue. A point to note here is that the communication setting a deadline for your/your co-tenants demand for resolution arrived at our offices by electronic mail on 25/04/20. As you might remember the country was in its first Coronavirus lockdown at the time with very few smaller companies set up for homeworking. We responded to resolve the issue on 01/05/20. The UK government did not identify the lettings industry as a key worker sector but at M&M we still retained full services (aside from face to face) throughout the 7 week industry closure and further lockdowns. We believe that reflects really dedicated services. It’s a shame you mention Angela in your review as we believe the above displays, she was responsive in extremely difficult circumstances. A time where only emergences were being dealt with, she identified that your issue had dragged on and took the bull by the horns. Angela has since moved from the maintenance department of M&M but the overriding feedback we had for her was positive. Thank you for your kind words relating to our maintenance team as they work extremely hard to ensure all issues are dealt with in the correct time frames. They really do have some difficult jobs at times. We hope this response gives some detail to your review of our cherished local business. If we can assist further, please do contact us at lettings@mandmproperties.co.uk or 01525 371997.

Dear Mr Sullivan, We note your review of our company, and we regret you felt the need to review our local business is such a way. A business that has been in Leighton Buzzard since 1986 and one of the very few remaining independent small companies. Unfortunately, given the severely high demand for properties in this area and generally across the UK property market, landlords are extremely cautious on which applications are progressed and those that are not. Sadly ,we find ourselves in an era where landlords are leaving the sector, and the result is less properties to let. The majority of Landlords are now covered by rent guarantee and legal protection insurance which does require the tenant to pass through the referencing process, ensuring that a landlords insurance remains valid and they are protected. We as a company also uphold the most stringent referencing criteria and due to the lack of supply this high standard has increased as supply decreases. We understand the frustration you are experiencing with trying to find a rental property and sympathise with this, unfortunately you won’t be the only prospective tenant in a situation where an IVA (Involuntary financial agreement) is restricting them. With an outstanding IVA, it is a failure of the referencing process which does mean that unfortunately very few of our clients would be able to accept an application from yourself as it leaves them unprotected with their insurance. A guarantor does not necessarily mean you will pass the reference checks either, as factors surrounding your IVA like how much it’s for, when it began and how long it has left to run will have an effect. I was pleased to see that you mention our colleague was very sympathetic which is great to hear, as we do not like turning away applicants, but we must be as clear and transparent as possible with the processes involved with letting a property. The last thing we would want to do is offer false hope or waste anyone’s time. I would also point out that many rental agents and property managers, in this era of low supply and high demand, are processing tenant enquiries by email only. We still believe in the human touch but of course this sometimes means we receive reviews like yours, that’s a shame. I do feel your email is more aimed at general referencing policies, the UK market and PRS as whole as opposed to just your recent interaction as it sounds as though you are having the same issue elsewhere. Hopefully, you will have success imminently. As I have mentioned, we regret not being able to help you for the reasons above but wish you well with your search for a rental property. M&M Properties