Barbara Ellis Property Leasing

I wish I had taken more time to read the negative reviews as it seems not much has changed in 8 years, hopefully my experience will serve as a cautionary tale for anyone doing business with Barbara Ellis Leasing. I rented a property on Holburn Street from May 2024 to October 2025 and my experience with Barbara Ellis Leasing has been nothing short of a nightmare. It was my first time renting privately after leaving student accommodation and, in hindsight, my patience was completely taken advantage of. Before I even moved in, I was given printed payment instructions with the incorrect bank details, the agreed key handover date and time was forgotten about due to an email getting "lost", and my deposit was lodged with a typo'd version of my email which meant I never received the required confirmation from the deposit scheme until rectifying this myself recently. On 28 August, a significant leak from the upstairs flat soaked and warped the entire living room wall. Even after photos and visiting in person, Barbara Ellis Leasing dismissed it as “water being spilled on the floor” and told me to investigate it myself by speaking to the neighbours and tracking down their landlord. No repairs were arranged. On 6 October, another major leak from upstairs flooded my bathroom and destroyed the flooring and cupboard. The agent showed no urgency and, to be honest, I do not believe anything would have happened without me making it clear I would be moving out otherwise. Thankfully the landlord stepped in, arranged all the repairs for both rooms and even offered half a month of rent for the inconvenience. Despite that, I was still left living in what was essentially a construction site for over a month, with multiple industrial dehumidifiers running constantly, no flooring and barely any access to my bathroom until the cupboard was finally rebuilt on 12 November and everything was painted over the following week. There were other issues as well. I reported mould during an inspection which was completely ignored and even suggested to be my fault. And when I invertedly locked myself out after taking the rubbish out, I discovered the agent had no spare keys and could not account for where they were, only suggesting a contractor “might” have them. They had to contact the landlord, who yet again resolved the situation quickly. After moving out on 17 October, I received no final inventory or even an acknowledgement until I chased halfway into the following week. I then had to send no less than EIGHT emails chasing my deposit going round in circles with Barbara. Even after the landlord confirmed on 24 October that the flat was left in good condition, none of my deposit was released until today; 15 November. I observed that new tenants had already moved in before my deposit was returned (even paying less rent per month than me), and there was no apology or explanation from the agent, only an automated message from the deposit scheme. I now eagerly await the scheme to deposit it into my bank account. It genuinely felt like they assumed a student would not question any of this. The sad thing is that Barbara herself is lovely in person, but the organisation, communication and basic professionalism are simply not there. The only positive throughout was the landlord, who was consistently helpful and proactive. I wish the new tenants luck, because they will need it. If you're a prospecting tenant or decent landlord I highly suggest looking elsewhere.

Been using Barbara for a number of years to lease my flats out, she has a been excellent, flats have always had tenants (for the most part good and reliable). Excellent communication if and when any maintenance needs done, offers a fair rate for her service . Seems to me to be a really stressful job but herself and April always deal with me with courtesy and a smile. 10/10 recommend

I rented a flat with Barbara for just over a year. I've also worked in property management before and have seen my fair share of good and bad. Barbara (and April) are breaths of fresh air. Any issues i had with the flat (not that there were many) were fixed very quickly, and I never had to chase to get anything done. The move in process was efficient, and I have genuinely never moved in to a flat that clean before in my life. Barbara and April were always quick to respond to calls or emails, and I never felt dismissed or like I wasn't important. I ended up moving cities rather quickly due to a job offer, and so had to pack fast and get things done in a hurry. Barbara couldn't have been more helpful. She is fair, she is ethical, she is trustworthy. Both Barbara and April made me feel safe knowing that I could trust them to look out for me, just as I was looking out for the flat whilst I lived there. I genuinely can't recommend them enough.

Lovely woman and couldnt do enough to help me. Offers 24 hour service which was very handy. Would definitely use her again.

From the offset Barbara was unorganised - arriving at flat viewings without the correct keys. Throughout tenancy she caused us several disturbances as she clearly had not taken the time to evaluate the condition of the property as we arrived to broken beds and a 40 year old boiler which broke for 2 weeks in the winter. She proceeded to squeeze us for every penny, manipulating our inexperience as first time renters.