by Xavi Esteve
on September 27, 2011
(3 minute read)
Unida Place (now Simplicity Flatshares) is the worst agency I’ve ever had the chance to deal with in London. They target students, young professionals and foreigners because they are usually naive and don’t know about UK laws or what exactly their rights are regarding a tenancy. I’ve been dealing with Unida Place for the last 7 months and I could write a list of more than a hundred issues me and my former flatmates have had with them. In fact, from the 8 other people I know they’ve dealt with this agency, 7 of them have finished their contract before time and ran away from them… and the only one left was me, not for pleasure though…
Starting by their abusing fees on deposit, late payments and services, Unida Place agency is one of the most expensive ones in the UK charging premium rates to housing students and professionals for a low quality service and customer experience.
Don’t be fooled, they act in a friendly way and try to be ‘cool’ with you while trying to sell you but once you have signed the contract you are chained to it and they will play around with you at their will, they will charge you for hidden fees and take weeks to reply to your emails or calls.
Unida Place review
Two months before my contract was to end they wanted to increase my rent by up to £200 per month which was completely out of order and I told I was leaving. So they started arranging visits to my room while I was away without notifying me at all. The UK law clearly states that current tenants should be notified at least 48 hours before any viewings of the flat. Once I told they should ask my permission before coming, they would consistently abuse sending texts and I had to agree to each of the visits since one of the contract terms stated that you must keep paying the rent if they cannot find anyone else to replace you when you leave. They had to arrange more than 10 visits to the flat since everyone visiting it expected something much better for the price they where asking. Londoners and other smart flatmates would run away from them until Unida Place could find a confused foreigner who just arrived to the country or a needed young person seeking for something urgently who quickly signed their terrible contract without knowing that the agency was literally taking the piss out of them.
During my stay with them I have seen my former flatmates get abused, some of them where just staying in London for a few months before going back to their countries and they couldn’t take legal action and some couldn’t even be bothered by lack of time or money. One of my flatmates started living in the flat in January and they charged him the water setup done in December valued in hundreds of pounds. They also tried to add old debts from former flatmates in our Utility Bills and whenever we asked to see a copy of the receipts they would charge £8 extra for sending them through.
Leaving the agency was a nightmare too
If you find yourself being abused by Unida Place you can contact the London Council and they will help and protect you from them as well as provide free legal advice.
There are many alternatives to Unida Place from which you can find better rooms at way less expensive prices and with much better service. Start browsing SpareRoom.co.uk but be careful because Unida Place advertises their properties there.
107 comments
Bronson says:
Unida place is the worst agency in London! They charged me 150 pounds for ‘checking the inventory’: bringing a guy to make sure I hadn’t stolen anything… of what? Everything was old and cheap! I was paying £1,000 per month, I didn’t have the need to steal anything. Anyway, they charged me £150 to get a guy check a list in 10 minutes.
But that’s not all, they then charged me £80 to clean a 2 inch stain in the carpet plus £50 for a small mark in the wall and £50 more to get a professional cleaner to clean the flat (although I already cleaned it before leaving).
That’s £330 they deducted from my deposit just for leaving and they didn’t returned me the deposit for the additional pair of keys I asked for (we were two and they just gave us one)… Unida Place sucks!
P. R. says:
I was looking on the Internet if I was the only one being treated as shit and thank God I found this article. I must agree with Xavi on this. I haven’t had the same exact issues as him with them but have lived other constant nasty experiences with Unida Place, I could even write a book about their stupid policies, their nonsense and their zero service. I am currently tied up like a prisoner to their abusive contract and in contact with the City Council to report abusive behaviour from this Agency. As soon as I can I am out. Fuck Unida Place!
Goetz says:
Hi Xavi,
As we lived together for about two months, I can confirm most of your issues. I also told them, that they are not allowed to come without notice and that they cannot enter my room without my consent – at some point they began to send notifications, but then it was kind of abusive as you mentioned. One time after I texted this guy, let’s call him S., that he is not allowed to enter my room without my consent and I won’t give it because he didn’t even ask me for it, he replied “Thanks, see you tonight :)” – breaking the law with a smile. Great way of dealing with your customers…
I even was at the City of Westminster and complained about them and asked for advice. The guy there knew Unida Place from previous complaints, and confirmed that their contract is confusing. For example Unida Place says it’s a license, in fact it is more like a short term let than a license. It’s also not clear, if they actually hold all licenses etc. they need to let the properties in they way they do. I just had not the time recently to discuss with the council what the result of their letters to Unida Place was.
When I handed back my keys, I refused to hand them over to S. – this was perhaps not very clever, because he was the only one in the office at that time, but I simply could not trust him after he entered my room several times without my consent. The CEO of Unida Place later called me “arse” repeatedly, referring to the viewing situation. So I am an arse, simply because I tell them what’s in the contract that both of us signed.
They are either breaking rules, or acting on the edge, be it with viewings, fees or rent increases. How this agency treats its customer is not acceptable. And I would strongly recommend anyone having problems with them as well, to file complaints at the council to make the administration aware of Unida Place’s way of doing business.
Cheers,
Goetz
P says:
Watch out with bloodsucking Unida Place, the second day living there the bathroom light stopped working, the ceiling was 3 meters high so we called them to fix it.
That same month we had were charged £8 extra which stated ‘Other’, when we asked the agent what was that for and that we shouldn’t be paying for the light to be fixed she said it was because of Service charges. Seriously? I had to call her 8 times during 3 days until someone answered my call!!! Is that Service??
DDD says:
The second month we where living in our flat we got a bill for £422 (plus the rent which wasn’t cheap at all either). It was crazy since it was three times the last month’s one and we were only three professionals living there which rarely stayed home. We started investigating and we discovered they were trying to charge us with invoices from last year
A Bradford says:
Unbelievable. Never been treated so rude by an agency. Sean Condon, one of their salesmen, is that guy you don’t want to sit next to on the bus. Serious personailty disorder. I enquired about a room from their site, turns out it was already taken. Big deal. Well, yes.. big deal. What kind of an IDIOT enquires about a room thats already taken? (the website is never updated, apparently) How STUPID can you be? I’m serious – this guys reaction was f*ing insane. The place is a joke. I can’t believe I’ve just been spoken to like that by someone, let alone an agency!
Gia says:
When we got in the flat everything seemed acceptable so we signed in the contract with Unida Place. Amongst hundreds of disappointments with this dodgy agency, we realised all the kitchen utensils had been stocked by one of the flatmates as there was nothing there when he came in (he was from a foreign country so he thought this was normal). When this flatmate left he took all his stuff and left the kitchen empty. We urgently called Unida Place but they were not getting the phone, we sent them emails and found no reply for about 5 days. After the 2nd day without being able to cook or eat anything in the flat we had to buy everything by ourselves. When they finally replied to us they didn’t agree to pay us for the plates and pans we had bought although we bought the cheapest ones we could find from Ikea and Argos.
This is just one of the list, Unida Place is the worst agency I’ve ever had the experience to deal with, they seem friendly at first and everyone is happy but once you sign the damn long hilarious contract and pay the hefty deposit you are screwed!
John says:
Another one bites the dust. I am paying through my nose for all the hidden charges that were never mentioned to me while they were going through the contract with me. I was trolling the internet for solutions to get out of this lease with Unidaplace. This company has zero work ethics. It’s all about the money. I am sorry we all had to go through this, but hopefully any future tenants will be more well-informed and not fall prey to this sophisticated scam.
Xavi Author says:
Hi John, Sorry to hear that. I can’t believe they are still scamming with such impunity. Please help spread the word of this article by sharing it on Twitter, Facebook or Google+.
Katherine S. says:
They promised a cleaner would come every week to clean the communal areas and I’ve been living in the house for 4 months and no one has come yet. When I call them for any problem no one answers… I want to get out of there but the contract is insanely long and evil!!!
lisa says:
i have had the misfortune of dealing with Judith and Daniel and the both are as bad as each other HEAR IS A WARNING DO NOT RENT FROM THEM UNLESS YOU WANT TO BE TAKEN FOR A RIDE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Former Employee says:
I’ve actually worked for UnidaPlace when it just started up in July 2010. The owner is a compelte piece of shit who near-failed university and never held a proper job, but nevertheless thinks he is the smartest 24 year old and that the world revolves around him.
I ended up leaving after a month, without getting paid. The owners name is Daniel Burton.
Thib says:
Thanks for letting room hunters know about these practices!!
Former Employee says:
I direct this comment personally to Xavi, who created the review. Is there a possibility we are able to discuss your issues with Unida Place as it has come a long way since being established. Perhaps, if you meet with the CEO, Managing Director or a member of the Client Relations team to see for yourself how Unida Place has progressed since these comments have been posted?
Recently signed up says:
Recently signed on to a contract for 4 months. Now very concerned after reading all this. They have already been slow at performing really simple tasks and make up shit excuses too, pretty unimpressed already but glad that I haven’t signed up for a longer initial contract. I agree with A Bradford
Elena says:
Yep, I rented a flat from them last summer and it wasn’t a great experience – the room was shabby and pretty dodgy and it looked nothing like on the picture in the ad. And it was a common practice to suddenly hear a knock on the door and see someone from the agency take another poor soul for a look of their “stunning room with a unique window design” (less that 1×1 meter piece of glass). I asked the agency guy to maybe inform me of such visits so that I could hide all the personal things – he said “of course” through gritted teeth, added “you can call me, if there are any problems” and basically threw his business card into my face, which wasn’t too nice. The guy was CEO Daniel Burton Himself. Wanker (forgive my French, I am a foreigner :) )
Soon to be ex-tenant says:
Yeah these guys are awful.
Have to echo Elena (by pure coincidence we shared the same flat although we both ended up at this site independently, funny that)- they would arrange viewings at ridiculously short notice. It wasn’t as bad for me as for her, as I would at least receive a text, although usually only 1-2 hours in advance at best.
Oh, and when they do find someone to fill the room they don’t bother telling the other tenant if or when someone is moving in. This happened with me 3 times- first when I moved in, then when the 2 flatmates I’ve had moved in.
Early in my stay I got home from work to find one of their employees poking round in my kitchen (completely unannounced) trying to find the water and gas meters so should could take reading for the monthly utility bills.
A few months ago we had a cockroach infestation (you’re lucky you missed out on that, Elena). They said they’d meet with the landlord to arrange a treatment. I saw no evidence of anything having been done, and they didn’t bother to respond to my emails asking about it.
Even just this Friday (1st June), I get an email asking me to make my decision on whether I want to renew- for a full year only- and to let them know by Monday 3rd. So they give me just one weekend to mull it over. Luckily it’s a no-brainer.
Still, it all points to the total lack of respect they have for their tenants. Its no wonder they target foreigners, first-timers and those who need a place quick- you would never want to maintain a relationship with them any longer than you absolutely have to.
Alex says:
Was supposed to go sign the contract at lunch time. Thank you so much guys!!!!
Alex says:
May I ask what agency you would recommend? I will be staying in London for 6 months, starting now.
Norman says:
Hi Alex, search for flats where you treat directly with the landlord, it’s easier and cheaper since there is no middle man taking a cut. Spareroom is a good website but watch out because agencies advertise in there, always ask before wasting your time! Good luck
Tadas says:
Same problems here, house infested with cockroaches in 3 – 7 Chalton Street rooms. They say its not their problem, but the persons who owns the house.
Also rent increased after 1 month with them.
The owner is rude and incompetent.
I can provide proof by email
STAY AWAY.
Tadas says:
I will be posting pictures soon!
Arvind says:
Im about to sign the contract soon and have already paid my holding deposit :/
And isint increasing the rent against the law during the duration of the contract?
Former employee says:
You are all right about the agency only caring about money.
The funny part is that the sales team who work for commission are the only ones that actually care about the tenants. All the customer service and client relations team do is bitch about how tenants complain, “they are only paying for a room, what do they expect?”
I also have reason to beleive that nobodies deposit is registered with the government schemes and I also believe they are using everyone’s deposits to invest on new properties. Which is against the law. If you are a current tenant then you should ask for proof it has been registered with in 10 days. Although you should have already recieved an email from the scheme. They could be in serious trouble of they haven’t.
We had a lot of people calling up for there deposits to be returned and when we tried to transfer there calls, even the sales team could never get hold of them. We were trained to advise everyone to send emails and every tenant said the agency never replied. One incident in particular was when a tenant called up for the 100th time after sending numerous emails with no reply and had been waiting almost 2 months for his deposit. When transferring the call the client relations team said they didn’t want to speak with him and for us to make up an excuse.
I was appalled with the attitude of the company. Daniel Burton is incredibly rude and is only interested in his bank balance. When confronted in meetings about the poor customer care we would be told it was none of our business and to just keep renting rooms. They treat there staff the same as there tenants.
Word of advice if you simply move out. They won’t bother chase you down and will not bother seek legal action as it cost them more than it is worth, so don’t pay your rent for the last 6 weeks as you won’t be getting your deposit back.
Tadas says:
TO ARVIND:
They will ask you to sign a new contract after a while which will include the cleaner charge. My advice would be that you should simply say that you don’t need one and NEVER SIGN THE NEW CONTRACT
Former Employee says:
Former Employee – you are right the agency only cares about money and it is primarily the sales team who show greater concern for the tenants than the management or client relations team. They just complain and avoid tenant’s calls since I often used to take calls from tenants regarding their deposits or the fact that there were maintenance issues (no hot water) which of course is an important issue when you need to get to work in the morning! When they called, they would say that no one has responded to their numerous emails over a week and when I tried to transfer the call, I was told not to and provide an email address so tenants could write in stating the issue which no one replied to in the first instance!
I would say to anyone not to sign a contract or if you do and are not satisfied to just leave as you are least likely to get your deposit back and may as well just stop paying rent to cover your losses as they will not make a huge effort to follow up on it!
Cags says:
7 weeks after moving out, still not received £890 deposit, after reading these comments from former employees I’m going to seek legal advice – grim times!
Fogia says:
As Cags, they’ve kept my £780 deposit. I’ve left UK, I would probably never see my money again.
STAY AWAY!
Chris says:
People should know the same awful people behind Unidaplace, Dan Burton and Judith Muller, are running another lettings agency called Alexander George in exacly the same manner. Treating people terribly with arrogant and contempt and acting all about the money. Its frustraiting that there is no regulation of bad businesspeople like this to protect members of the public like you and me. Only public forums to warn others
Employee says:
I worked for these people and they don’t treat staff any better they are awful and strange. Don’t get involved in any way with these people
Stay away Daniel and Judith are two weirdos
Employee says:
They are very very shady
AS says:
Hello everyone, I was an ex-tenant at unida place,,after leaving my room I did not receive my deposit for about 2 months,almost alternate days,they hardly picked up and gave some lame excuse and say they would talk to the finance department,even if it went on voicemail i recorded a message and mailed them a lot,they got very irritated and one of the was very rude but I did not care,,I called them any ways as it was my money that was stuck.i called them and told i’m going to be taking advice from citizen advice bureau,I replied as if he hardly cared,,I still kept calling them morning,afternoon, evening and finally got my whole deposit back. I would never deal with this agency again and would recommend everyone else to stay away.
I would tell anyone who’s money is stuck,,keep calling and mailing them,, do not give up complain against them if you do not get any response and get your money back
Angela says:
I have just spent the last 2 weeks of my life fighting to have my £740 deposit returned to me. This is a total of 6 weeks after I moved out of my room. The contract said 28 days, so I patiently waited, then began calling several times a day. Reading everyone else’s comments, this was not long compared to others. I was hung up on by Dan Burton, a terrible business man and owner of a company which preys on young and (what they consider to be) naive people. Anyways, the number I called 07545555142. When asked if it was Dan from Unida Place, I was quickly hung up on. Judith, ‘mananger’ of Finance, also never once returned a single call or email, leaving her staff to take the blunt of my angry and numerous phone calls. So, I finally got my deposit back on the first of the month, leaving me to believe this company has no cash on deposit. I started asking questions and doing my own research. Elek had mentioed to me that they use My Deposits to insure the deposits they hold, but was unable to give me my certificate number that is required to start a dispute online. This deposit company states that the landlord must return the deposit within 10 days of the agreed amount. Unida Place did not send me my ‘checkout statement’ which I did not know anything about. Ask for this as soon as you move out, and do not stop calling until you get it. Do not wait the 28 days for this. Once you have this, they should have the money to you within 10 days, or the 28 days you initally agreed to. They also tried to rip me off for £50 for the cleaning of my room. I argued that it was impossible for them to clean my room since I had to hand the keys over to the new tennant since they were closed for their 3 week holiday break. I was also told that I would have to wait additional time for my deposit because Nesrin was in Egypt, who apparently does the payments. This is a disgusting company, and cannot believe how the employees continue to work there, doing the dirty work for Dan and Judith.
x51 says:
I left a flat managed by Unida Place 2 months ago. It was awful experience encoutering their bad services.
And now, I have not been able to receive any information about the returning of my deposit about them even if I sent lots of email asking it. It is really stressful that I need to suffer from the fucking agency even after being away from the UK.
How could I get my deposit back from the flaud…
G says:
It took me 7 weeks for me and 2 other flat mates to get our deposits back, Unidaplace ignored emails and refused to return calls. In the end I turned up unnounced and demanded to speak with somebody who had a clue (easier said than done as theyre al thick as pig sh!t) I finally got my deposit back – only because I turned up on their door step demanding it. My other flat mates continue to wait. Worse company I’ve ever dealt with.
Kate says:
Thanks for posting this. I might be moving to London soon and it’s good to know who I need to avoid.
A service provider of Dan Burton says:
I have dealt with Daniel Burton and Judith, What the forum say about Daniel is just the tip… He has admitted he is shellfish and only cares about himself, he never sticks to what is agreed and is simply too greedy. He sell courses to people now for hundreds of pounds… showing them how to run there operations like him. Apparently he has over 200 rooms in London and an annual turnover of £2M.
Maybe we should all comment on his facebook site, where he attracts people for his course…. I understand that he makes £10K a weekend from these course.
George says:
I wish I had seen this blog a few months ago before starting my contract with them. I initially signed a 9 month contract. By the end of the 4th month my flatmates told me that they had given them 30 days to vacate. Of course, I never even received this courtesy. Apparently the landlord didn’t want to lease the property any longer, and they simply broke the contract. They were able to find a new place for me, which was ok, but I’ve been waiting to get my deposit back for about 2 months now, and they keep giving me some lame excuses (when they reply which takes weeks). They’re simply terrible. I showed up to the office and demanded to speak to someone, but no one is ever available. Of course they haven’t returned it yet, or provided me with the information about the deposit protection scheme they used…I am trying to seek advice, and hope to resolve this soon. Can anyone provide me with a contact that they had used in the past? Much appreciated.
B real says:
These people are the most useless assholes the world has ever seen. Dan Burton is a cowardly fuck who does not return calls or deal with angry tenants if he can get away with it. I had to literal go and shout at people to get my deposit back. I also question weather Judith actually exists…. PLease stop these people from being able to run a business…. for the love of God….
Denise says:
Hi folks,
just been moved out in July and still waiting for my deposit refund. As many of you I have trouble to get it back but wont stop until i have it…i do the same strategy: calling, emailing and threatening….maybe flying there but first using my lawyer.
It is a poor agency and i wished to have read these comments before moving in, in January. They have never heard about customer relations, they are treating you like people from the street who are occupying their houses without paying rent.
My landlord thinks they are even in money trouble as they terminated the contract of the house where i lived and many people are waiting for deposits.
Still hoping to see my money again and then i will do everything to spread the word to stay away from this agency!!!!!!!!!!
Dan says:
A heads up for everyone it looks like these people have done a runner their offices are empty and no one can get responses out of them. My lady friend is in a house share with 5 others and they all got told to leave on the 31st of this month… So worried about the deposits we went to the office and basically its locked up and been stripped. We met a young lady from another house also looking for unidaplace and she was in a very similar situation.
Basically avoid them at all costs presuming they even try to trade any more.
Dan says:
A heads up for everyone it looks like these people have done a runner their offices are empty and no one can get responses out of them. My lady friend is in a house share with 5 others and they all got told to leave on the 31st of this month… So worried about the deposits we went to the office and basically its locked up and been stripped. We met a young lady from another house also looking for unidaplace and she was in a very similar situation.
Basically avoid them at all costs presuming they even try to trade any more.
Denise says:
Dan is right. My landlord told me that she is waiting for get money too. Still no responses. I have now activated national tenant help who will try to get the deposit back. Maybe it would be useful to make a union together with people in the same situation as I am pretty sure that Unida place did not secure our deposits in the deposit scheme as stated in the contract. I already tried to find mine but no luck.
Anybody in for the union?
Cristina says:
I left my room in September 2012 and I’m still waiting for my deposit – 1053£!! They wrote to me in November saying that they would pay, then nothing. A while ago I left a message through their website and someone replied saying that they would find out why the deposit hadn’t been paid and then nothing again. I tried to go there in person but both offices (no. 68 and no.91 of Charlotte St) are locked up and no one answers. I’m afraid I’ll never see my money again, but I am determined to fight! So I’m totally up for the union.
Dan says:
You should be able to take them to small claims court (minimal cost to you if you loose). On the basis they did not provide details of the deposit protection scheme to you withing 30 days of getting the deposit, in previous cases based on this action agents and land lords have had to pay up to 3 times the value of the deposit back to the tenant.
However if you try and take them to court just for not securing the deposit in a scheme they are likely to only have to pay back the original value (messed up sense of logic from the courts if you ask me).
Has anyone had any contact from them in the last week or two, via phone/email/in person?
Christian says:
I am facing the same issue and I am ready to do anything we can against those people. I left my room on the 31st of may 2013 and after calling sending mails doing whatever I can from France, I did not manage to get my GBP 1,161 of deposit.
Jennifer Hartmann, Dan Burton are just horrible businessman.
I contacted mydeposit and they told me that the deposit is not protected by them. They do not protect people deposit due to their unclear license.
I am definitely in for an union or any other legal action. They have to pay me back
User 211 says:
Here’s his Facebook page, complete with smug face and fast car!
facebook.com/daniel.burton2?id=501914711&_rdr
He’s active on it – friend just added and posting on property web groups as if nothing had happened.
User 211 says:
and just to make sure wristwatches pick this up: Unidaplace Unida Dan Burton danielgrburton at gmail dot com
Also, suggest you keep an eye on the “London Gazette” where the legal notice will appear if he tries to wind up the company. Our job is to make that as painful for him as possible by registering as creditors with the Administrator. I do hope he reads this and has second thoughts.
And has anyone done the maths. He claimed to rent out 200 properties. Let’s call that 30 because he’s a lying scumbag. Say 3 tenants each @ 1k each = £100k he’s buggared off with, or more likely got tied up in his own investments and therefore can’t repay you. The Administrator will love that when he tries to wind up the company – it’s called misfeance.
Former Tenant says:
Went by the offices the other day – looks like they are still operating, just need to go during the day (which is a bit of a trek for me personally) – Unida Place operate out of Alexander George as their ‘look how professional and nice our office is’ office for new tenants but all the actual office stuff is above the Cafe Italia across the road – the Cafe owner is very nice and informed me they still work there, so may be worth popping in for a surprise visit.
Gayatri Iyer says:
Hi everyone, me and my 3 other friends are facing the same issue regarding deposit. I am working towards starting legal proceedings to take them to court. If we all get together then this will be a lot more easier and cheaper. So need as much support from all the “Unida Place Haters” as possible.
Please let me know if you are willing to join me. Kindly email me on [email protected] with your mobile number and I will get in touch with you to take this forward.
We are 3 of us at the moment. If we can even get to 10 people (minimum) it will be 10 of us altogether and the more chances of winning. It will cost us close to 80 pounds per person. But we will end up getting 3 times the money UP owes us if we win, which I am confident we will.
Please join me before Sep 10th 2013.
Thank you,
Gayatri
User 211 says:
In case anyone is having trouble tracking him down, an address for Dan Burton is
[removed]
I found that address here :
companydirectorcheck.com/daniel-george-robert-burton-2
although the companies listed are old. It’s obviously him because his Facebook says Goxhill and Socks On was one of his first companies.
Here he is listed again against Unidaplace and Alexander George :
companydirectorcheck.com/daniel-george-robert-burton
And if you go to 192.com and search for Burton in Goxhill, lo and behold there he is. V Burton and S Burton also reside there (presumably his mother and brother respectively. S Burton is one of his FB friends).
Uno says:
Thought that all should know that the aforementioned Daniel Burton tretment is not restricted to tennants:Landlords beware! I am a lanlord who had DB as a tenant. He sublet my property as UNIDAPLACE and vacated the property owing the full last month rent.
mark says:
Im a landlord and he still owes me a full months rent. On top of this, the flat was rented to him personally and he Illegally sublet it as UNIDAPLACE to 7 people. These people are criminals…dont go there…
Cristina says:
I went to the offices in the afternoon and then again in the morning but no one is there :-(
KM says:
Has anyone heard about getting deposits back? Or had any type or response lately? As far as I can tell they have cleared out of both the Unida Place and Alexander George office.
AL says:
I rented a room off them as well and left the property in May but I still have had no luck with getting my deposit back. I served them a court order on 2nd September but they never replied.
I’ve done almost everything I can to track them down for it but I’ve still got nowhere. I went to the office yesterday at Charlotte Street and they have all moved out. They sub let their offices to other people now and even they don’t know where they’ve gone. Unida Place didn’t even return deposits back for the people leasing the offices on the floors above and below their own office.
We went through the Unida Place mail and saw that there are a few court orders that were never even opened. They were dated on 9th September and onwards so if you know anyone that had their order served on or after this date, please let them know that they won’t be valid because they seemed to have moved out before they got the letters. However, going through their bank statements, I saw money was still coming in and out of their accounts till September 11 so hopefully they’re still operating and haven’t filed for bankruptcy or liquidation. I suggest any action against them be done as soon as possible because once they go bust, they won’t be liable for debts being a limited company.
The next thing I did was to find the landlord of the flat I rented and it turns our Unida Place owe them rent as well. More importantly, Unida place leased the flats rather than acted as management so the landlords are unlikely to be liable for our deposits.
I can’t think of much more I can do now apart from going to a solicitor but that wouldn’t help anyway if no one can track them down.
Cristina says:
Cam someone please explain to me how to send a court order? I have unfortunately moved out of the UK and UP owes me over 1000£ deposit :-(
User 211 says:
…via the Small Claims Court: moneyclaim.gov.uk/web/mcol/welcome
However, I don’t think it will do any good. The Court Order would be against the Company not him personally and the Company will be wound up soon taking all the debts with it!
I honestly don’t think anyone will get their money back. But if you want to make the thieving scumbag suffer personally, contact the Police and the Insolvency Service (bis.gov.uk/insolvency/Companies/company-investigation/how-do-I-complain-about-a-company). He has acted fraudulently.
Medizz says:
Damn! The last email answered from them was 16th September and they asked me to call Daniel Burton for my deposit on this number 07545555142, and no one ever answers. Does anyone still in they one of their flats? It sounds like we have to try a kind of class action as a group to get something back from them. Or, we just lose our deposits…
Emma Lunn says:
Hi all.
I’m a journalist and am planning an article on Unida Place and Daniel Burton. I’d like to talk to both landlords and tenants who’ve been victims of his practices. I intend to find out exactly what’s gone on. Please can you email me on [email protected] with your experiences.
Thanks,
Emma
AL says:
Managed to get the court order for them to pay back my deposit but I’m still not hopeful. If they do not pay then their assets will be seized and sold. Their company is still listed as active on the companies register but it seems that they are insolvent. Therefore, if and when they do decide to dissolve the company, our deposits are most probably on the bottom of the list of creditors. When we went through their letters I saw that they had business loans so the banks would be the ones most likely to recover the money. Only thing we can do now to try get something back is to prove that dan burton and any other directors were trading negligently with deposits. This is the only way to make him liable but he would most probably know what was being done with tenancy deposits and when shit hit the fan, you would assume he would attempt to hide his personal assets.
I’m actually in my third year of law in London and talked to a bunch of my tutors. They all said it was highly unlikely we would see any of our money back with unida place being a limited company. Also advised not to spend any of our own money for solicitors because it would lead to nowhere.
Perhaps this situation with unida place can get more widespread coverage so they change how easy it is to register as a limited liability company and so this doesn’t happen again.
Cristina says:
Hi all,
just so that you know, I managed to retrieve my deposit by activating National Tenant Helpline. At first it seemed as if there was no hope but then Unida Place paid under the name of Unida Estates.So maybe not all is lost.
User 211 says:
Cristina, when did they pay up? Was it before they deserted the Charlotte St office around mid August?
Ex Employee says:
Not condoning a single thing he has done but [removed] is his old family address. Don’t go pestering his mother or brother as they have nothing to do with it. It’s completely disgusting that he has behaved in this way but they can do nothing to help you – and he doesn’t reside there. At best you’re opening up his family to hate mail. Take the address of his relatives down as it is not their fault he behaves like a twat.
amazed says:
anyone who wants his mum’s address just needs to click the link.
but – and i write this as an alarmed bystander, not one of daniel’s victims – why not contact his parent/sibling and a) ask where daniel is now, or b) let them know what you think of daniel’s scummy behaviour? sounds like his family should take responsibility for how he’s turned out – they’ve been encouraging him in his slimy profiteering ways for years if they were part of his first companies….
if this guy had stolen hundreds of pounds from me, i’d be visiting his mum in person and trying to retrieve it in whatever way i could.
Always Knew It says:
Heard he’s bought Whitegates letting agency in Scunthorpe!!!
BEWARE!
Emma Lunn says:
Just wanted to post the link to the Guardian article here:
http://www.theguardian.com/money/2013/oct/09/rent-to-rent-disappears-daniel-burton
“Always knew it” – where did you get the Whitegates info from please?
tenant1 says:
If he was to declare himself bankrupt or if he was to fold the company, what liabilities will he have?
will we ever see our money again?
would he be liable to pay it back?
is there a chance that he will go to prison? is it a criminal offence?
Always Knew it! says:
With my own eyes as I walk past their office everyday!
Fred says:
White gates, Scunthorpe apparantly in his mum and Judith’s name 01724 846125, also already been threatened by client’s twice and most of original staff have left!!!!
C says:
The comment above is correct, everyone!!
On the Whitegates Facebook page, on August 7th there is a post announcing that they have hired Daniel Burton at their Scunthorpe office: facebook.com/pages/Whitegates/448775855189503
Scroll down to August 7th, and its there I have taken a screenshot in case they try to delete the post later
This is the text:
“Watch this space! We are delighted to welcome a new Partner Associate to the Whitegates network. Daniel Burton has taken the reins at Scunthorpe branch. Daniel has a wealth of experience in both the sales and letting marketplace, already running a very successful agency business. Welcome aboard Dan, we look forward to working with you!”
So they think he has been “running a very successful agency business”, my god damned foot!! I am sending Whitegates a complaint drawing their attention to this ‘successful businessman’ they have hired is actualy a successful conman
Their website is here whitegates.co.uk/contact-us
James Reynolds says:
Daniel Burton is in Scunthorpe running the Whitegates franchise there, just in case any of you guys fancied payi g him a visit!
Charlie says:
Hello
I rented a room from Unida Place, they have folded, vanished,gone! With my deposit £1500. DO NOT RENT FROM THEM! The Guy who ran Unida Place is called DANIEL BURTON, google it, lots of articals online ( The sunday times, Guardian.) A drop out of uni, a c**t!
They did a bad service, you had to call a lot or Email, they just to the f***ing money.
The Contract was not correct, i was a Licencee on paper, but in the real world i was a short hold tenant, if you have one of those contracts go and seek legal advice, go to Citizen advice or a Private tenancies team. I went to see Citizen advice and they said go and speak to Private tenancie team, they helped me.
Good luck
C
I went to uni with Dan says:
By coincidence, after being shown a room by Sean working at UnidaPlace, I found out that his boss was Dan and called him up in search of a room.
Dan gave me good advice regarding dodgy practices at agencies such as Interlet and Flatland-London that charge an upfront fee of £100+ before arranging property viewings for you (they advertise several rooms on their website that are great value for money but are actually “no longer available”) so this comes as a slight surprise.
C says:
Hey everyone, Daniel Burton has posted on a Facebook group that he will pay everyone back the money he took.
IF YOU ARE A TENANT WHO IS OWED DEPOSIT MONEY, OR LANDLORD WHO IS OWED RENT MONEY ETC. – I SUGGEST YOU TRY TO CONTACT HIM TO STAKE YOUR CLAIM AND DO NOT LET YOURSELF BE IGNORED. Try Facebook maybe?
He is trying to get public opinion kudos on that Facebook group by making nice-sounding promises about the future, take him up on the promises and ask for your money. If in addition you get an EXPLANATION of what happened and an APOLOGY , even better.
The Facebook group is called “Below Market Value ( BMV ) Deals And Discussions”
Good luck C
mike says:
Dear always knew it, jealousy is a horrible thing ! X
C says:
Whitegates have removed their August 7TH Facebook post welcoming Dan Burton who was “running a very successful agency business”. Someone must have given them some info and now they rush to try and hide it!?? Nice corporate PR cover up, ha!
facebook.com/pages/Whitegates/448775855189503
thomas says:
ip-adress.com/whois/unidaplace.com
Gives information on the owner of the unidaplace.com domain including optional email address + mobile number
Xavi Author says:
Dan has taken down Unida Place’s website and added a statement, see here: unidaplace.com
For the record, here is a screenshot:
Anyone who’s owed money should contact him ASAP, by how it sounds it could take months or even years to get your money back so the sooner you get in his list the sooner you’ll get your money back.
If anyone gets paid please let us know here, this is not over yet.
charlotte franks says:
Hi there
I am a journalist, trying to get in touch with anyone who has been affected by this issue and by Unida Place. Please do get in touch on the email below as it would be great to find out a bit more about what happened and the circumstances surrounding those who have lost out.
Many thanks
Charlotte
[email protected]
Steven says:
The posts I have read on here are all too familiar with my own experience.
Randomly my solicitor was contacted by a member of Unida Place last week wanting to pay my deposit back. I cannot explain what has driven this change in behaviour however Xavi’s post above perhaps sheds some light. I received my deposit, in full, late last week.
I used National Tenant helpline to retrieve my deposit – I know they were already dealing with a number of cases involving Unida Place and have the relevant contacts to begin proceedings so if you are still fighting for your money it’s worth a punt.
User 211 says:
I can add a bit to this unexpected turn of events. Dan Burton also contacted me out of the blue last week about repaying my daughter’s deposit. He rang again this afternoon to confirm he’d just made the payment. Lo and behold my daughter then rang to confirm it had hit her account and is just clearing. I have to say that I am impressed by his candour and commitment to sort the mess out.
Rather than wait for him to contact you, my advice would be to Email him with the details of what he owes – amount, address. The Unidaplace email seems to be operational again. I wouldn’t bother telling him what you think about it all – he knows already !
C says:
Hm that ‘statement’ is a word-for-word copy of the post he made on the ‘Below Market Value’ Facebook page, hence the last line about bringing negativity on the landlord community.
I would like to know why he makes it sounds like he is working minimum wage in a job and HIDES the fact that he has bought another estate agency, ie.. the Whitegates franchise? He has screwed tenants/landlords in the past, and now he is running another agency which deals with tenants/landlords. Is that acceptable in the UK property market? Who is to say that he isn’t repaying Unida Place deposits with deposit money paid by Whitegates tenants? And we will see the same collapse in 3 years time with Whitegates Scunthorpe?
mark bagshaw says:
Hi I have just read in Lettings Agent Today about Unida Place and the owner having started a new company. I run a company (Tenant Deposit Consultants) which helps tenants get deposits back from landlords or letting agents. I am unsure as to the type of agreements Unida Place used to issue but would be happy to look over a few agreements to see if there is any way in which we can help. We would look over these free of charge. We can also help claim compensation where this is applicable if the deposit was not protected and prescribed information not provided within the required timescales. I have read an interesting article in Letting Agent today which appears to suggest that the owner of Unida Place has started another property business in the North of England.
clint kelly says:
I’m looking to get in contact with anyone who may have recently been in contact with Mr Daniel Burton or any of the staff from Unidaplace. I still have not received any contact regarding payment of £3200 owed to myself and my partner since their disappearing act in August just after we gave our keys back. If you could email me at [email protected] I’d really appreciate it. I’m looking to get in contact with as many people as possible to either take him to court or find some way of getting our money back before its squandered.
Rob Ludgate says:
Hello all,
I am a journalist with Channel Four News and am keen to talk with any of you about your experiences with Unidaplace. Ideally I am looking for someone to interview, but a background chat with any of you would be very helpful.
I am available at [email protected] or on 07920833102.
Thanks very much indeed,
Rob
Ex-tenant says:
So with Daniel Burton winding up his company and coming over all apologetic, will he do the right thing and pledge never to work in property again?
Clearly not, given that he is now working in Scunthorpe. He can say sorry a million times but it means nothing without real, genuine action to back it up (and repaying the deposits people are owed does not count). He may claim he’ll do things right from now on but call me suspicious – people like this always find a way of sliding back to their old tricks.
Public Schoolboy says:
Unfortunately, this guy used to be in my year at Hymers College in Hull, and he hasn’t changed much – ideas above his station when he doesn’t know his arse from his elbow. Always bragging on his Facebook about test-driving Audis, hosting seminars and his various business ventures. Was funny for a lot of us seeing him die on his arse live on Channel 4. Guessing we won’t be seeing him at the reunion.
Tesis U says:
I just signed an electronic contract and paid some money for a room with a new company that finished being the same people as UnidaPlace. They just created another company and I just realized that after doing some research on the web.
Finding a replacement for my room would be almost impossible as all people knows this guys (not me, I was new in town) and I really dont want to pass the issue to a new blinded person (as I was before) so I need kind of advise on this.
I don’t really care losing my deposit (it is still not secured on any schema), but I really would like to end my contract, leave the room and dont pay anymore to this people.
Do you think that would be possible if I give an advanced notice and let them to take my entire deposit? Will they take me into legal actions for doing that? At that point I will not owed them any money, I am just giving my deposit because I didnt stay at the end of the contract. Thanks
R Miller says:
I rented through this company previously, and like others can confirm they are a complete joke. I mainly dealt with Elek who comes across very badly both in person and on the phone.
Our flat was substandard to say the least and we paid an extremelly high rent for what was on offer. I now work for a large London Estate Agent, however at the time had very little experience of how things worked with regards to contracts etc. As I became more experienced, I realised exactly how restrictive their leases were, although it is unlikely that if anything ever went to court and they presented the ‘lease agreement’ it would stand up under scrutiny as nearly all of the clasues are unfair to tenants. As soon as I realised that I had made an error renting through these con-artists, I made sure I documented all of my emails and responses from them in case there was ever an issue in the future.
I also had issues with viewings not being correctly booked in and just getting general messages saying there will be vieiwngs at ‘some point this evening’. A further ridiculous scenario is when a random guy came to stay one night as ‘an emergency tenant’. This could have been any joker who could have been up to no good.
This company has now gone out of business mainly due to their complete incompetence, but also obscene rents they try to charge. They were unable to rent two of the rooms in our place for several months due to the silly prices they were trying to charge. Its a shame that companies like this tarnsih other similar but more reputable companies names are there are several good ones out there who rent to high end sharers and really look after the tenants and landlords.
To sum up I am glad that this company will not be scamming anyone else in the near future.
RM
Pierre says:
I’ve also been scammed by this agency, after a 8-month rent in London, 50 Britannia Street (November 2012- May 2013), they kept my deposit (£550).
Cheers,
Pierre
Xavi Author says:
Hi Pierre,
The owner of Unida Place (Daniel Burton) is returning all deposits back. Check it out: unidaplace.com/update-2/
User 211 says:
Well, well. Daniel Burton has today started the process with Companies House of winding up Unida Place Limited and Alexander George Estates Ltd. I do hope he is honest about the extent of the company’s debts.
Andrew says:
Has anyone been paid? He said he wold’ve paid by Christmas, but he hasn’t paid me or any other people I know he owes money.
It would be nice to hear that people is getting their money back and it is only a matter of time, though I don’t think that’s the case.
Cheers.
Xavi Author says:
Hi Tesis, What’s the new name of the company?
Tesis U says:
Hi Xavi, the new name is SimplicityFlatshares.
User211 says:
SimplicityFlatshares was established on 18 Sep 13. The sole director is one Sam Burton – the infamous Daniel’s brother !!
and Companies House is now showing Unida Place Ltd and Alexander George Estates Ltd as “Proposal to Strike Off” – presumably for failing to file accounts since 2011.
As before, anyone still owed money by Daniel Burton, Unidaplace / Unida Place or Alexander George should contact him direct ([email protected]) or Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/daniel.burton2).
Pierre says:
Quick update: I sent Dan several e-mails, he was supposed to repay everything/everyone by the end of 2013.
He said he was going to reimburse, that the procedures were ongoing… “I am currently waiting on funds from my solicitor…” “I have the money to pay you back, but it is not physically in my bank account yet…”
But 1 month later, I still don’t have my money.
Dan says:
Anyone had any money or updates since Jan?
Pierre says:
Still nothing, still waiting for my f***ing deposit, I’m completely losing hope !!
Uri says:
Identical treatment to landlords as well. Beside not paying the rent he also left a large outstanding bill with council tax arrears.
Xavi Author says:
Here’s an update from a reader about the latest on Daniel Burton:
I saw this new article about Daniel Burton your readers on your blog may be interested I tried to post a comment on your blog but couldn’t
http://www.propertyindustryeye.com/police-called-probe-latest-daniel-burton-affairs/
In short:
1) Daniel Burton has been kicked out by Whitegates, the franchise he bought a branch with
2) He bought another agency, David Parkinson Residential Lettings & Estate Agents in Cleethorpes, but the old owners have taken it back. They say he failed to pay them
3) There’s a titbit that Unidaplace was expelled from MyDeposits tenancy deposit scheme which explains a lot about the deposits going missing which so many people have written about on here.
4) Police now appear to be investigating what he has done.
It’s amazing what this man has got away with!
I see your blog has helped the Guardian journalist and the documentary programme maker get information so well done and thanks to you Xavi
Thanks to you for bringing this up!
Dan Burton says:
Stop spreading lies! you liar!
Richard says:
Just done some work for this Daniel idiot in Grimsby, not paid and hes changed his phone number grrrrr
Richard says:
Hi Xavi,got a lot of info about were he is, what hes doing, car hes driving etc if you want it, hes gone insolvent at Grimsby court last August, owes me money too
Mohammed Ali says:
Richard, can you please contact me as soon as possible at danielburtonowesmoney at gmail dot com – we will make sure justice is found.
R. says:
Daniel Burton opening trade accounts in Grimsby under the name Daniel George ? flashing a landlords card to do so, your a naughty boy Daniel, your not a landlord anymore and using a false name to do so, ps you haven’t got trade at tile giant anymore, ive stopped it