To give this review some context although I booked the accommodation it was for our son who was transitioning into his own home in London but needed somewhere to stay for 3 weeks.
Initially contact with the landlord was very positive and we went ahead and booked. At the time this was a new listing and there were no reviews available.
As it transpired this property is his own home, although this is now listed in the T&C’s it wasn’t at the time and we became aware of this after our son had moved in. Although we did not see this as a negative it may well have caused the landlord to see the property through a slightly different lens rather than as an independent rental which is what it was advertised as.
Communication around check in was positive with lots of helpful information. The landlord also kindly messaged us to let us know our son had checked in okay.
The landlord mentioned a few key points including keys. He later said rubbish should be removed daily.
Initially communication was good on both sides with our son checking he could have food delivered before ordering and out of courtesy letting the landlord know when he would not be at the property overnight.
The room had some issues, a chair appeared to be broken and it would get incredibly warm. As a result our son left the windows open a lot of the time.
The first weekend the landlord said he needed to change the bedding but as our son was away and he did not have a key to the room he would give him the clean bedding when he returned. However he then must have located a key as he went into the room and the bedding was changed. Our son was concerned that he had entered the room without permission and whilst he wasn’t comfortable with this he did not say anything to the landlord.
The following weekend our son again confirmed he would be away, the landlord entered the room and changed the bedding without seeking permission. After he had changed the bedding he sent our a son a picture and mentioned that there were empty soda cans under the bed and reminded him he needed to get rid of his rubbish every day. No permission was sought to enter this private space.
Our son apologised for the empty cans but recommended that in future the landlord provided adequate notice or a schedule of when rooms will be entered as per Airbnb rules he shouldn’t enter without permission.
The landlord said he only enters once a week but due to commitments he can’t say when he will enter and he states this is in his T&C’s. His T&C’s have been updated significantly since we booked but they do not state that he can enter without gaining permission, just that he will change the bedding. I would expect this change of bedding to have been agreed by both parties before entry to prevent any invasion of privacy.
Much to our surprise the landlords response seems a little excessive and not as collaborative as we would expect. He suggests that if our son isn’t happy he should leave and he will refund him.
At this point we are concerned about the situation overall especially when we learn our son is wandering London after work for two hours as he does not want to go back to the room as he feels very uncomfortable. As parents of a young adult we felt we have no choice but to step in and find him alternative accommodation and accept the refund offered.
This was quite late at night and before we could inform the landlord we had to find alternative accommodation and our son had to arrange for help to remove his belongings.
It was late when our son got back and the landlord was out. He packed up his things and with his friend’s help was moving them into the hallway. The landlord appeared and asked why he had not informed him he was leaving and he said that his parents would be in touch tomorrow.
The following day I contacted the landlord, explaining he had moved out the previous evening and we would like the refund offered. He said he had only been offering to refund the cleaning fee of £10. This did not make sense or fit with the correspondence we had seen from the landlord.
He also implied that he had not seen our son when he left and that he had left the front door unlocked. What had actually occurred is that the suitcases were being moved into the hallway and the landlord had seen them as they were being moved. My son would have re-entered to tell him but since he was seen in the hallway, not outside the building as alleged there was no need to.
Although the landlord had initially refused to refund us we reviewed the cancellation policy and applied for the refund of the remaining days which we have received.
What started off as a booking for an independent living space with good communication on both sides unfortunately turned into a negative experience. Whilst we recognise that our son made a mistake leaving some empty cans in his room this in itself is not the issue. Additional allegations after leaving are not substantiated and had these been true we would have expected these to be highlighted immediately not retrospectively.
In summary the keys points are
•	Booking an independent room did not deliver privacy expected
•	Lack of collaboration to come to right answers
•	Unsubstantiated and Inconsistent allegations delivered post stay
•	Overall experience was worrying