Moving To Cornwall? (Estate Agents in general)

Member Name: Farting Weasel

Product:	Estate Agents in general
Date:	17/02/05 (2758 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Plenty of rented accommodation to choose from, No personal dealings with landlords

Disadvantages: Difficult to deal with, Expensive, Snotty

Who?
Scammell Adamson and Kivells.
Bude, Cornwall

What Are They?
Estate Agents

What Do They Do?
Agents for rented properties in and around Bude, Cornwall, England.
Property sales.

Price?
£50 (approx) arrangement fee, one months rent in advance and the equivalent of one month rent as deposit. References are required.

What Are They Like?
So you want to move to Cornwall for a better life do you?

Well, I cannot say I blame you. We did. The way of life here is certainly better than where we moved from and has benefited us all. The kids are happier, better educated, fitter and my wife and I have never been happier. We did it the hard way though, as we had no major cash reserves or lottery winnings and it has been hard work.

Our main difficulty was finding suitable rented accommodation, and this write up concerns the finding and renting suitable property around the Bude area of Cornwall.

There are two ways of finding properties to rent. The first, and most popular, is to use the local estate agents. The second, and more time consuming, is to scour the local papers and ads boards in local shops for private rentals.

In Bude there are two agents who are the main source of rental property. Scammell Adamson and Kivells. Both are long established and usually have a long list of properties available. Each company has its’ own dedicated representative who you must go through to view properties.

The lady at Scammells, Monica, is quite severe and in my dealings with her I couldn’t help thinking that she had retired from concentration camp duties. She really is in the wrong job. Her attitude to prospective tenants is not good and if you approach with an enquiry she is almost interrogatory when taking details. Woe betide you if you don’t fit in with her ideal client profile. You will be dismissed and forgotten out of hand. If you really upset her, she just becomes obstructive. Kivells employ a very nice young lady, Sam, who is not a lot of use and again, if you are not considered the ideal tenant material, she will very nicely forget about you.
(Note: There is a third agent that deals with lettings, Bond Oxborough Phillips, but these are so snooty that they render themselves unpractical to all but the very rich. Therefore I will not waste time dwelling on them here).
All are, understandably, looking after their landlords interest, not yours. Both Kivells and Scammells' lists have been very long this year, certainly longer than I can remember.
Be prepared to be over-sold to. Get to know the coded jargon of estate agents because it will prove invaluable. The landlords are not too averse to telling a few untruths either. For example: one insisted that the cottage was next to a redundant farm which, when viewed, it was blatantly obvious that this was not true. The farm was in full use. That didn’t bother us, but the fact that she had lied to us did, so we didn’t bother, as we do not do business with people like that.

Rents are not cheap and £600 + /month will get a three bed roomed house. To give you an idea, a three-bed property that has been on the market for well over 7 months requires a rent of £750/calender month plus services. At the time of writing the property is still vacant. One place was advertised ( through Bond Oxborough Phillips) as £600/month but if more than three individuals were living in it, the rent went up to £750/month. This even applied to families with young, none earning, children.

Beware if you are looking for a long-term rental. Read the blurb carefully. As a rule, any property where the rental includes council tax and water rates invariably means it will be needed for summer lets from March /April until the following September/October. This applies even if the property is advertised as a “long let”. For example, one property was advertised by the agent as “a long let until July 2005”. To me, a “long let” is years, not months.

In our search for rented accommodation, we found the general quality of the properties on offer to be of poor standard. The majority were cottages that had been allowed to fester by the landlords, and previous tenants had done little to maintain them. Evidence of damp and rodents were not an uncommon find. One place had a bay window that leaked. Another property only had one exit and smelled like an old nursing home despite claims that it had recently been used as a holiday cottage. Yet another property had suspect plumbing and “do-it-yourself” electric wiring. None had safety features such as smoke alarms or fire extinguishers and no certificates of safety for the gas boilers or electrics were ever offered for viewing by any one.

The quality of rental properties is not the only thing you have to overcome, but the conditions of rental too. These are pretty stringent: no pets, no children, no benefits (even my wife’s’ Child benefit was queried as being unsuitable), no DSS, no smokers. These are invariably applied to all properties offered with very, very rare exceptions.

Conclusion
If you must rent here, then get rid of any pets, put the kids up for adoption and live like saints. I jest of coarse, but there were times when I genuinely despaired.

The rents are high and you must keep in mind that a rent of £750/month will pay for a good size mortgage.

Now, I’m not saying all properties are poor and I’m sure that there are plenty of good places waiting, at reasonable rent too. Be prepared to dig around for them though. Get to know folk and don’t be afraid to ask. If you are a regular churchgoer, the after service chats can prove most rewarding.

A word to the wise. If you need advise, give Shelter a call – 0800 800 4444 (free phone). They are very good and can supply you with any info regards your rights and what you are entitled to expect.

If you are planning to move to Cornwall in general, and around Bude in particular, I would recommend you do so, but buy a property if you can. However, prices are holding a desperate rear guard action and could drop dramatically. So wait. The buying side of housing here is flat, almost moribund so don’t be in a hurry if you can avoid it.

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