Mike, We have spoken at some length on the issues that you have raised. I have explained that I do not agree with a number of the issues that you have highlighted and I do not believe that the review is balanced or fair. I have the following feedback in respect of the points that you make: - Our tenancy fees are explained at the point of application, are available for review online and are displayed prominently in our offices. These fees are significantly below the average across Plymouth and can be verified as such. At the start of the application process, a tenants' terms of business was submitted requesting a move-in date of 30 Jul 15. This requested date was also the date on which you moved into the property and your tenancy started. As such, no delays in tenancy were caused through the application and referencing process. - An issue with damp was highlighted to your property manager during the first winter season of your tenancy. As a consequence, a contractor visited the property and undertook work on the roof with the lead flashing. The landlord was advised that the chimney would also benefit from re-pointing and capping. The landlord was unwilling to pay for these works. Given this position, we provided dehumidifiers to extract any excess damp from the air. Since these dehumidifiers were fitted, there were no further complaints. Your decision to extend the tenancy on two separate occasions subsequently might suggest that the issue of damp was isolated in both duration and significance. - We hold tenant deposits within our government-approved custodial scheme on behalf of our landlords and take instructions from our landlord clients at the end of the tenancy as to whether any deductions should be applied. The recommendations that we make are always evidence-based. In the vast majority of cases landlords accept the advice that we offer. In some instances landlords wish to pursue a deposit regardless. This is very much an individual choice and we will take our landlords' direction accordingly. In this instance, your deposit went for independent arbitration, where it was found that there was insufficient evidence for the landlord to retain the deposit for cleaning. As such, it was directed that the monies should be returned to you in full. Whilst there is no perfect system for the management of deposit returns at the end of tenancy, we are proud to fully support the government-approved scheme of which we are a member. I accept that this deposit return process has been frustrating for you, but the outcome has been the one that you believe to be correct. We have no complaint with this as the case has been independently arbitrated based on the evidence provided. I hope that you accept that our role as managing agent is to ensure that our landlords’ wishes are followed in line with due legal process. You will also understand that we have no vested interest or financial motivation in making unfair or unsupported claims from security deposits. Kind Regards, Chris Whitaker Martin & Co - Executive Lets

Mike, We have spoken at some length on the issues that you have raised. I have explained that I do not agree with a number of the issues that you have highlighted and I do not believe that the review is balanced or fair. I have the following feedback in respect of the points that you make: - Our tenancy fees are explained at the point of application, are available for review online and are displayed prominently in our offices. These fees are significantly below the average across Plymouth and can be verified as such. At the start of the application process, a tenants' terms of business was submitted requesting a move-in date of 30 Jul 15. This requested date was also the date on which you moved into the property and your tenancy started. As such, no delays in tenancy were caused through the application and referencing process. - An issue with damp was highlighted to your property manager during the first winter season of your tenancy. As a consequence, a contractor visited the property and undertook work on the roof with the lead flashing. The landlord was advised that the chimney would also benefit from re-pointing and capping. The landlord was unwilling to pay for these works. Given this position, we provided dehumidifiers to extract any excess damp from the air. Since these dehumidifiers were fitted, there were no further complaints. Your decision to extend the tenancy on two separate occasions subsequently might suggest that the issue of damp was isolated in both duration and significance. - We hold tenant deposits within our government-approved custodial scheme on behalf of our landlords and take instructions from our landlord clients at the end of the tenancy as to whether any deductions should be applied. The recommendations that we make are always evidence-based. In the vast majority of cases landlords accept the advice that we offer. In some instances landlords wish to pursue a deposit regardless. This is very much an individual choice and we will take our landlords' direction accordingly. In this instance, your deposit went for independent arbitration, where it was found that there was insufficient evidence for the landlord to retain the deposit for cleaning. As such, it was directed that the monies should be returned to you in full. Whilst there is no perfect system for the management of deposit returns at the end of tenancy, we are proud to fully support the government-approved scheme of which we are a member. I accept that this deposit return process has been frustrating for you, but the outcome has been the one that you believe to be correct. We have no complaint with this as the case has been independently arbitrated based on the evidence provided. I hope that you accept that our role as managing agent is to ensure that our landlords’ wishes are followed in line with due legal process. You will also understand that we have no vested interest or financial motivation in making unfair or unsupported claims from security deposits. Kind Regards, Chris Whitaker Martin & Co - Executive Lets

Dear Emily, There’s a saying in common parlance that ‘if you mess around, you find out’…. In this instance, you’ve found out. You agreed a purchase on 14 Aug 25. Despite regular prompts from both us and from your solicitor, you took no action to progress the purchase for over two months. You simply didn’t engage, leaving the vendor hanging and extremely concerned. You couldn’t even be bothered to submit your ID! In light of the indifference shown by you Emily, it’s little wonder that the vendor asked us to re-market the property for sale last week which you were made aware of. We’ve found a new buyer who has already done more in the day since he agreed to purchase than you did in the past 2-months. I note that you’ve also seen fit to provide negative reviews for your solicitor and your mortgage advisor. I appreciate that you want to lash out, but perhaps with time you’ll take some ownership and have the self-awareness to reflect on where the failure actually lies. Regards, Chris Whitaker Managing Director

Dear Aeran, We don't understand this. You've never been a tenant of ours and we have no record of having ever communicated with you on our system. We are however aware that you are a friend of a former tenant of ours and that this individual failed to return keys at the end of his tenancy. As such, he was charged rent to cover the period he did not vacate in line with his contracted agreement. In addition, the check out report for this property has shown a significant number of dilapidations for which the landlord is seeking financial recompense. Your friend has not yet disputed any of the issues raised and recorded in our check out report or the claims made by the landlord. If your friend does wish to make a representation, he should speak to his Property Manager Abbie who will advise him of the process by which he can do this. If we're not able to reach a negotiated settlement with the landlord, he will need to submit evidence for independent arbitration to the Deposit Protection Service (DPS), who will ultimately make a decision on a suitable apportionment of the security deposit. This decision rightly falls outside of our remit. Rest assured, your friend's security deposit will not be released until an agreement has been reached. In terms of failing to respond to 'your question', we have always responded to the maintenance issues raised by your friend during his tenancy. On review of the maintenance log, all issues raised were resolved in a timely manner and we never had any complaint from your friend during his tenancy. It would appear that he has never expressed dissatisfaction with the support that he has been provided until the check out report documenting the condition in which he left the property was released to him. Thank you for taking the time to provide a view on behalf of your friend. Please do ask him to call us to discuss in greater detail so that we can support him and look to mediate on his behalf with the landlord. If this is not to his satisfaction we can advise on the next steps that he can take. In the meantime, I wish you the very best of success with your very engaging Tik Tok fitness channel. 5*. Regards, Chris Whitaker Managing Director

Dear Craig, Thanks for confirming that we are one of the better ones here in Plymouth! It's always great to hear how helpful and friendly our staff is. Many Thanks Abigail Lamerton Business Generation Manager

Hi Alex, Thank you for getting in touch. I'm really disappointed and sorry to hear this. We are incredibly busy, but that's no excuse for failing to respond to any enquiries that you've submitted. We have tried as a priority to call this morning to try to assist you. Unfortunately, we have no record of your name on our system and no open or closed enquiries registered to you. It's therefore impossible for us to respond directly. Let's get this sorted for you. Please give me a call this morning on 01752 255 255, ask for me and we can move forward in your support. Best, Chris Whitaker Managing Director

Dear Matt, I know that you have spoken at length about this with our Head of Property Management Mark Evered. We agree with you. On this occasion we didn't communicate in as effective or timely a manner as we should have done. We're really disappointed by this and have apologised as such. There are a couple of issues that we couldn't have changed - not least the decision by the landlord to amend his initial claim to include the costs for cleaning. We were also dependent upon the landlord agreeing to release funds to you and couldn't make this decision unilaterally. All in all, a very frustrating episode and one where we could and should have done better. I am glad that you received your deposit return in full but equally acknowledge the delay in this being approved by the landlord and our poor communication. We wish you the very best with your new tenancy. Kind regards, Chris Chris Whitaker Managing Director