Welsh Streets, L8

Lovely houses, so unique. We live in a 4 bed new build, plenty of room and a bright nice house, warms well in winter and cool enough in the summer. Provides all we need from a house. Its nice to have an onsite person to go to aswell, Sue always makes you feel looked after

You can find similar properties in Toxteth for cheaper! The buildings do feel fresh and modern inside, and the streets don't have potholes and the deep state of disrepair that can unfortunately be found in other areas of the greater Liverpool area. However, this is just a basic bar to clear, that things are not falling apart. Otherwise, they are basic row houses, small and tidy. This is definitely not luxury living, although they are trying to price the rent as if it is. Some aspects of the design choices seem problematic, such as the back garden doors, whose colour causes them to warp in any level of heat, so that they are impossible to close, even after being adjusted by maintenance. Some of the windows have been installed at an angle, which has allowed damp to get into the walls. The back garden area is nice, including a small private allotment as well as a pathway that is accessible to all the houses. People often let their dogs run off lead here, which can be a nuisance.

What can I say, well we found the house on right move and loved it, it was priced a little higher than we were looking for but looked to be in a great area and I was already from L8. Move in was good, however upon using the ensuite bathroom, water was pouring out from the ceiling light in the bedroom below as the shower tray was not sealed properly! Our garden floods in the rain as there isn’t sufficient drainage, we have a rat problem which seems to be getting worse. Then you start to notice the shoddy workmanship on the rest of the house, cheap fittings, loose door handles, cracks in the staircase, cheap appliances, dodgy windows and the paint! Who puts matt finish paint in a house, the bathroom and the kitchen paint comes off if you need to wipe the wall!! Then comes the rental pricing, first yearly increase was a flat £100, okay we thought, we can manage this as it is probably a one off higher amount. The second year comes, same increase of £100. You start to wonder then if this will be sustainable longterm as you had hoped and were promised by PlaceFirst as yearly increases like this are not sustainable. Then our most recent is £125, so taking our rent from £1150 pcm to £1475 in the space of 3 years. At this rate we will have no choice to move, especially with the current climate were EVERYTHING is going up. That means our rent is an extra £325pcm since moving in, so we have to find an extra £4000 per year for rent, when wages are stagnant. PlaceFirst will draw you in with their marketing “Rent as long as you love” and “Building communities” and “Built for renters as an alternative to buying” In reality, it is more like stay as long as you can afford, they destroy any sense of community as tenants are constantly moving out and they are not built for renters unless they mean to exploit those same people. We have seen longterm tenants move out after £200 and £300 pcm rent increases, which normal everyday families cannot and should not be expected to afford. And if you try to negotiate your rent increase, you are met with a “This is none negotiable, move out if you don’t want to pay” - A far cry from what they initially promise. The houses were former social housing, PlaceFirst were given the contract to restore them to help restore the area of L8 with affordable housing, fast forward now and the rent prices are out of control! They are jacking up the prices as much as they can with no oversite or care for the community and say it is “market rate” – which they are creating with their monopoly of houses in the area, pushing up other private landlords in the area which also drives up social housing prices too. These are in-compassionate criminals. We the tenants have had no choice but to come together along with ACORN Tenants union to fight these and preserve our homes and our community that PlaceFirst have essentially stolen from the local people and absolutely cashing in on the housing crisis, which THEY ARE NOT part of the solution but part of the problem. EVERY resident here is unhappy and worried what the next rent hike will be and where they will get that money from, its heartbreaking to see from a faceless, corporate machine that bullies and intimidates it residents with threats of eviction if you don’t sign their fixed term contracts on their higher rates. I love living here for the area and the people but if we could change the management of these houses that would be fantastic!

The homes look great from the outside, but many finishes feel cheaply done. Communal gardens are neglected and lack maintenance. Customer service is poor — calls ALWAYS go unanswered and emails are often ignored. There’s little transparency from management, and residents are left feeling unheard. The area has so much potential, but the management experience doesn’t reflect the quality that was promised.

The above coupled with horror stories upon check out leave little to be desired. Deposits not return (many having to resort to contacting the CEO to even get an answer). Massively charging people for general wear and tear at the end of their tenancy.