John Shepherd Estate Agents - Birmingham Reviews 163

I had a viewing today with Alexander Shomari for a cute flat in Birmingham. Alex was friendly and told me everything about the property, which was great! Hopefully I hear back from the team soon. :)

Made contact with Lara Soars who responded immediately with correspondence requests. She also helped to complete a check in for new tenants seamlessly which was great.

We had a great experience with John Shepherd Estate Agents when securing our home. The whole process was smooth and well managed.

A special mention to Alex, who was incredibly helpful throughout our application. He was polite, honest, and very friendly, always taking the time to answer our questions clearly. His responses were always prompt, and he made the whole process much less stressful.

We really appreciate his support and hope he gets the recognition he deserves. Highly recommended!

I am currently on Day 50 of living in a property managed by John Shepherd (Birmingham) that is unfit for human habitation. Since 9th February, I have been dealing with a severe structural leak that remains active and unresolved today.

The agency’s handling of this emergency is a disgrace. I am currently forced to live with:

Active Electrical Hazards: Water is leaking through internal light sockets. I have witnessed sparks on the electrical board twice, yet the source of the water has not been stopped.

Visibility Issues & Safety: The contractor’s only action was to remove the light bulbs. This has left one side of my living area without light, making it difficult to see the constant flooding on the floor.

Physical Injury: Because of the poor visibility and the wet floor, I have already suffered a physical slip injury, a direct result of the agency's failure to provide a safe environment.

Outrageous Management Demands: Property Manager Melissa Cannon has told me it is my 'contractual duty' to keep cleaning up this structural floodwater. I am being treated as an unpaid maintenance worker for a building defect I did not cause.

For over two weeks, Melissa Cannon has hidden behind a scripted 'business formal' response, stating she is 'in talks' with the landlord regarding a rent rebate. It takes five minutes to call a landlord, but this agency has stalled for 14 days while I continue to pay full rent for a hazardous, partially uninhabitable home. They are clearly prioritizing the landlord's future interests over my current physical safety.

If you value your safety and expect an agent who actually picks up the phone, avoid John Shepherd at all costs.

I would strongly advise anyone to avoid John Shepherd Lettings. Our experience has been a nightmare of poor communication, negligence, and total disregard for tenant health and safety.
​We were told the property was undergoing renovations and were promised a second viewing that never happened. After paying our deposit and giving notice at our previous home, communication vanished. On our move-in date (19th December), nobody responded to our emails, and John Shepherd staff eventually blocked our calls.
​We were forced to show up at the initial agency's office with our luggage because we had nowhere to go. After a long confrontation, we were handed keys to a flat that was in a shocking state. Despite being told the property was "under renovation," no work had started.
​The Current Situation (3 Months In)The kitchen floor is severely buckled due to an ongoing building leak. Water is accumulating in the kitchen and bathroom.
​ There is widespread mould and a fly infestation. My partner has developed breathing issues, and the floor is a major trip hazard.
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The agency is based in Birmingham while the property is in Slough. They have shown zero ability to inspect the property or manage repairs effectively.
​Hostile Communication: Instead of providing solutions, staff (aleema aziz) have been dismissive or rude. They even questioned our "capabilities" when we asked them to perform their own inspection duties.
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We were left to figure out utility providers ourselves with no help from the agency, and they have refused to provide the landlord’s contact details so we can report how poorly their asset is being managed.
​We have spent months eating out because the kitchen is unusable, yet the agency refuses to discuss compensation. This is not just bad service; it is a health and safety crisis. Stay away from John Shepherd.

Regards,
Moin.

The team as a whole performed great throughout the viewing and sale process. Worthy of particular mention were Natasha and Joe.

Have had a great experience with Christina Tzemanaki from JohnShepherd, always responding quickly and solving our issues as soon as possible, often the same day and getting any fixes needed at our property sorted swiftly and with great communication

Amazing landlord, fair prices and very nice!!

Lara Soars was super helpful during the moving out process making it seamless, provided prompt update every step of the way. Greatly appreciated.

Made the entire process easy and stress free. Megan really helped us out during the process, making the application and move nice and simple. Would definitely recommend them as a trustworthy and helpful Estate Agent

I’d just like to say that my dealings with Lara Soars at John Shepherd in Birmingham have been first-class from the start. I could not ask for a more professional and courteous person to deal with for my apartment. Thank you Lara!

Many thanks to Aleemah, who helped me to resolve the issue of parking tickets and parking fob actively.

My experience with John Shepherd Lettings has been appalling. They completely oversold their ability to manage the property and dramatically overestimated the achievable rent. In reality the property ended up letting for around 50% less than what they originally quoted, after I was pressurised into accepting a last-minute tenancy at a grossly deflated rate.

Their management has been extremely poor. They do not reply to emails or complaints, and communication is essentially non-existent. Since deciding to remove them, the tenants informed me they had made multiple repair requests during the tenancy which were simply ignored, and eventually stopped contacting the agency because they knew they would not receive a response.

The property was left filthy and badly damaged at checkout, showing a clear lack of oversight. They have also added charges without my consent, including rental protection insurance which was added without approval and they have refused to refund, despite me emailing multiple members of staff.

Before appointing them I was managing the property myself while working full-time, and it was far less stressful than having John Shepherd involved. The whole experience has been financially damaging and incredibly frustrating.

If even one person reads this review and decides not to use them, I’ll feel like I’ve saved someone from the same experience.

Really responsive and helpful, have done everything we ask. I have to mention Lara as she is the one we deal with and is excellent.

I'd like to thank Christina from John Shepherd Birmingham for helping me sort out getting my washing machine replaced. The engineer who came to take out and replace the machine was friendly, quick and very efficient. This was sorted out within days of the original report and I couldn't be happier.

Alex shomari was super professional and came across as very warm.

Alex was very professional, knowledgable on the property viewed, and easy to communicate with!

Lara Soars-White from the Birmingham Team was very responsive when managing the property and handled my issues quickly!

Highly recommend, overall I have had no issues with John Shepards and the entire team is fab. 👏⭐️

The Company is ever present to answer to our numerous questions. If the staff are going home weekends especially on Fridays, they usually informs on time. We interacted with Megan and Elisha. These two were amazing, detailed, very detailed and polite enough for even a naive first renter. I would recommend other users. Thank you Elisha Robinson.

Since getting in touch with John Shepherd, our experience has been really good. The team are wonderful and always quick to get back to us. Alex Shomari, in particular, has been amazing! When showing us around the property, he was super friendly and answered any questions we had thoroughly. Throughout this whole process, Alex has been really easy to get in touch with and has been super helpful - our experience so far has been 10/10! :)