I had a mixed experience with Streets Ahead as a first time buyer, who completed on my flat in June (offer accepted in December). First, the positives: - Viewing was arranged quickly and they offered to take me to another flat on the same street the same night that hadn't yet come online. - They weren't difficult about me not have a mortgage in principle, when I made my offer I just had to have a quick call with their mortgages person to confirm my finances. - When my parents in their mid 70s and I were left in the freezing cold for 40 minutes after Hannah didn't turn up for my second viewing, Phillip stepped up and raced over to show us round despite being on annual leave - this was really appreciated, although it was frustrating that Hannah never apologised or even acknowledged leaving us in the lurch especially as she knew my parents were travelling down from Wales. - Got a recommendation + a discount on a drain survey via Hannah - Towards the end, when things seems to be getting stuck between the two solicitors and it felt impossible to pin down an exchange date, Scott was very helpful at chasing things further up the chain. - I am very, very happy with my flat, most importantly. Negatives/room for improvement: - Some very pushy emails from Hannah and Scott asking what was holding up exchange my end when there was a long list on queries we were still waiting on - I appreciate estate agents don't always know where solicitors are at but taking a less intimidating tone would have been appreciated. - As a first time buyer, once my offer was accepted I felt I was under a lot of pressure to do everything immediately eg I was asked to find a mortgage broker and a solicitor in 48 hours or lose the house which was very stressful especially as this happened during a stressful week at work. I assumed this was standard practice - but found out it was not after speaking to friends who'd recently bought places. - Having not told me she was leaving, Hannah, the main person on my case, sent me the most ridiculous email on her last day asking if we could exchange today because it was her last day (so never mind the outstanding issues with the house then... lol). - The flat was advertised (twice!) with a parking space but the header lease stipulated no parking - and trying to clarify this and negotiate a deed of variation on this significantly slowed down my purchase. I also had to take out indemnity insurance for 'the driveway' a previous owner had created. - A really simple improvement Streets Ahead could make is making sure their agents go out with answers to all the basic questions buyers might ask about a property. When I was shown round, Phillip couldn't tell me how long the header lease was exactly or when the boiler had last been serviced. When I asked on the second viewing if there were any planned building works on the street that might affect me, I was told there was nothing. Yet, the next door neighbour had actually submitted a planning permission application for a basement conversion several months earlier - if I had realised this before putting an offer in, I might not have made an offer. Due to delays at the council, I didn't find out about the outcome of the planning application until March and this delayed my house purchase significantly as I was apprehensive about proceeding until I know the application would be rejected and my surveyor had assessed potential impact.