John Shepherd Estate Agents is a leading property management and real estate agency operating in the Midlands. The company specializes in sales, lettings, and property management services, catering to a diverse clientele that includes landlords, tenants, home buyers, and sellers. With extensive local expertise spanning over three decades, John Shepherd provides comprehensive support to individuals looking to buy, sell, or rent properties in the region. The company offers a range of services, including expert property valuations, dedicated landlord support, and tailored solutions for tenants seeking their ideal homes. John Shepherd is committed to delivering quality property management and facilitating seamless transactions, making it a trusted choice for those navigating the Midlands real estate market. Customers can access a wide selection of properties for sale and rent, alongside financial services to assist in their property-related decisions.
John Shepherd Estate Agents receives a mix of praise and criticism from its clients. Many reviewers commend the professionalism and responsiveness of staff members like John Blythe, Lauren Foster, and Melissa Cannon, highlighting their helpfulness in navigating tenancy issues and maintenance requests.
Customers appreciate the friendly service and efficient handling of processes, such as moving out and deposit returns. However, a significant number of negative reviews express dissatisfaction with the management of properties, citing poor communication and unresolved maintenance issues. Some clients report frustrating experiences, particularly after the agency took over properties, leading to a decline in service quality.
Summary generated with AI from recent reviews
Each source counts by its number of reviews. Only reviews written by people are scored.
| Source | Rating | Reviews | Weight | 6-mo | Fake risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Trustpilot Imported Trustpilot reviews | 4.3 | 698 | 100% | +0.5 | ● Low |
Monthly average rating from reviews written by people · latest review Jul 2025.
| Month | Average | Reviews |
|---|---|---|
| Aug 24 | 3.3 | 12 |
| Sep 24 | 3.3 | 10 |
| Oct 24 | 3.6 | 15 |
| Nov 24 | 3.9 | 11 |
| Dec 24 | 2.0 | 4 |
| Jan 25 | 3.1 | 9 |
| Feb 25 | 3.6 | 10 |
| Mar 25 | 3.2 | 13 |
| Apr 25 | 3.6 | 17 |
| May 25 | 3.7 | 9 |
| Jun 25 | 4.4 | 10 |
| Jul 25 | 3.6 | 5 |
Share of positive (4–5★) and negative (1–2★) reviews mentioning each topic · based on the 500 most recent reviews.
“I had a viewing with Millie”
“Centrick used to manage my property, and I never had any issues with them for 7 years”
Same method for every company: overall rating, legitimacy checks, the average rating of reviews mentioning each area and the 6-month trend · Home & Garden.
| Company | Overall | Legit | Service | Value | Website & app | Trend | Reviews |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 4.3 out of 5 (good) | 100 out of 100 | 4.3 out of 5 (good) | 2.0 out of 5 (poor) | 3.2 out of 5 (fair) | +8% | 698 |
| 4.8 out of 5 (good) | 100 out of 100 | 4.3 out of 5 (good) | 2.0 out of 5 (poor) | — | — | 1,809 | |
| 4.7 out of 5 (good) | 100 out of 100 | 4.8 out of 5 (good) | 3.9 out of 5 (good) | 4.3 out of 5 (good) | — | 1,004 | |
| 3.7 out of 5 (good) | 100 out of 100 | 1.2 out of 5 (poor) | — | 3.3 out of 5 (fair) | — | 1,000 | |
| 4.6 out of 5 (good) | 100 out of 100 | 4.6 out of 5 (good) | 4.4 out of 5 (good) | 4.6 out of 5 (good) | — | 1,000 |
Bottom line: John Shepherd Estate Agents is #4 of 5 on overall rating in this group. On value, Ingrams Water & Air scores higher (4.4 vs 2.0).
500 reviews of John Shepherd Estate Agents. Filter by what matters to you.
This company is a scam. They fail to respond to basic requests, they make threats on which they deliver, and offer atrocious basic services. Frankly I'm suprised they're still in business and can only imagine that the positive reviews are posted by their staff members.
I am extremely disappointed with the unprofessional service provided by John Shepherd, particularly by Kai-Ewan Rodney MARLA and his team. As a tenant, I rely on my property agent to handle issues promptly, but my experience has been nothing short of a nightmare. For over 1.5 months, I have been waiting for my washing machine to be repaired, and despite my numerous efforts to get this resolved, nothing has been done. I’ve sent multiple messages through the Fixflow portal, followed up with emails, and made countless phone calls. Each time, I either receive no response or vague reassurances that lead nowhere. Even when I know Kai-Ewan Rodney is in the office, I’m told he is “unavailable,” which feels like a blatant disregard for tenant concerns. What’s worse is the complete lack of accountability and transparency. I’ve been left in the dark with no clear timeline, and this issue has severely disrupted my daily life. Their neglect shows a complete lack of respect for their tenants and demonstrates how little they care once they’ve secured your business. This level of incompetence and indifference is unacceptable. I will be sharing my experience widely and leaving reviews on platforms like Trustpilot to warn others about the poor service and lack of professionalism at John Shepherd. If you’re considering using their services, think twice—dealing with them has been nothing but frustration and disappointment.
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Sadly I can’t give this company zero stars! My son and his friends, who are students in Nottingham rented an apartment through Tassi Lettings which are now John Shepherd. They were shown around an HMO which was due for refurbishment and were told the owner would be doing all kinds of great things to the place before they moved in in August. Needless to say, much of the works they expected weren’t done. Even one the kitchens still remains closed off because there is leak the landlord won’t pay to be repaired. I have raised so many issues regarding fire safety and cannot get a straight answer. The most distressing incident was when the property was burgled and my son came across one of the intruders. They all got in via a kitchen door which they were unable to lock because the letting agents claimed they had the master key and took it off them. Apart from the obvious risk to their lives, my son incurred significant financial losses which I had hoped the agents would be happy to reimburse. A month later I’m still waiting for an answer. This has been the case from day one, their student lettings team treat these young people like cash cows and nothing else. They tell them whatever they want to hear to get a signature on a contract with zero concern for their safety. Please avoid like the plague, there are many professional letting agents out there who will respond to concerns. Once this company has your money they honestly don’t care about the safety of well-being of their tenants. It really is only a matter of time before something goes very badly wrong in one of their properties.
Absolutely terrible agents. If you are a landlord please avoid these people or you will be faced with issues relating to mismanagement. I have been waiting for tenancy documentation from the Sutton Coldfield practice for 7 weeks and still not received such documentation. I cannot file a section 21 notice without this information. You will not be able to get through and you will not be provided with sound advice. They are simply taking on lots of properties without being able to manage them effectively.
It is a terrible experience when using the services of John Serpherd because they are habitually not to honor the agreement between them and the Landlord, and suddenly asked the Landlord pay a bill more than £600 without the prior consent or approval or informing the Landlord for the work that is not of emergency. I would definitely lobby complaint to The Property Ombudsman. It is a company that you can not trust.
Upon viewing the property my husband was told the carpets would be professionally cleaned however when moving in, carpets amongst other parts of the house were stained. When we moved in the ensuite shower wouldn't get hot, the water pressure was rubbish, and at times taps and shower wouldn't work or the cold water would stop working and the piping hot water would burn me /my children. I informed them of this at the end of July, its November, still not fixed. I'd just had a new baby as well. They told me 2 months into my tenancy that the previous tenants told them the heating wasn't working. Still not fixed. The boiler comes on for 10 mins a day. The property was in no state to be let out. Only cared about getting rent payments, not our safety or well being. Times when I'm trying to get my kids ready for school and I'm having too fill up buckets daily just to wash the family because the taps wouldn't work, couldn't flush the toilet cause the water wasn't working. 2 people came out to say the ensuite needs a new shower and the water system need updating, yet nothing was done. Do not rent with them. They let landlords get away with rubbish and do not care about tenants rights. Rang their offices, no responses, emailed, no responses, my mother drove to their office and spoke to them, nothing was done. Absolute rubbish!
Be warned and stay well away. For context, they were advertising apartments in a block and we were told not to be concerned about the flat number itself when signing the paperwork as they're "all exactly the same" and are going quicky so the number you are given may differ depending on the time the contract is drawn. Here is a drafted email which sums up my experience: Hi [John Shepherd Property Manager] Previously, I had been lied to about the property through the false-advertising as well as verbally (with the property being advertised/listed online as having 2 bathrooms, being told I am paying for two bathrooms, being shown 2 bathrooms during the viewing, but being given a number 7, a flat I was never shown with 1 bathroom on move-in day) but for which I have not pursued legally due to the contract stating flat 7 at the time of signing and for the sake of minimising stress. I did already bring this up on move-in day, first via phone-call and then via email to one of your colleagues. The advertising, as well as the organisation told me I would have on-site parking. You are now accepting that this too was another example of false advertising and mis-selling as my particular landlord for the property you chose to give me in the end does not have a parking space associated. This again shows a lack of transparency and that all the flats are not the same misleading me again. I have attempted to be extremely reasonable despite the opaque responses and misinformation involved, and find myself being pushed into taking further action. I know you may not personally have been involved some of what I have mentioned above, however you are managing the property and representing your organisation. Please also let me know in writing if there is nothing further you are willing to do as an organisation to resolve the matters stated above without the involvement of external parties. Kindest regards, [Name hidden]
Without a doubt the most incompetent and self important people in the rental space. Do not touch them with a barge pole, and especially avoid Sue Birch like the plague, she was quite frankly unprofessional.
Do not rent a property from them! The worst lettings agents in the country! Nor should you trust them to look after your property.
A very bad experience. I rented my apartment from the Birmingham office in January 20, 2023. I moved in and discovered the boiler and heating was not working. It took two weeks to get it fixed after reporting on the office channel and contacting the office several times. I had to stay in a hotel after paying for an apartment to protect my minors from catching a cold and cold related illnesses. A compensation was promised in the form of discount from my landlord but till date, I have not received a dime. All through my stay at the property, the heating in the house never worked properly, the rooms were infested with mould, even after using mould spray opening the windows regularly, mould was and is still a recurring issue in the apartment. I reported to my property manager, someone came and inspected the property. I was told it would be treated from its source and that was the last I heard about the mould. I got fed up with all of the issues with the apartment, I gave the company two months notice as stated in our letting agreements, followed the checkout procedures stated by my property managers Kai Roodney and Caitlin Lemon, did the cleaning with the company approved cleaning company and a report was sent. An email response and pictures was sent to me by my property manager Caitlin Lemon stating that the property was ok and was waiting for a partial contribution from the landlord. From August since I moved out till date, I have been waiting for a response after that email, I am yet to receive another email. I have called the office several times, emailed the property managers involved. I also copied Drew Sawdkins who was the letting manager that finalised our letting contract and was also the person who received my keys at check out. As we speak, I am yet to get an email response after sending several, my property manager and supervisor are yet to respond to any of my calls after promising to respond as they are always in a meeting or too busy to respond. I have had to wait for 10, 15, 20, 30 minutes and more to speak with them. The call logs can be checked if my calls have been returned. No email has been sent saying where we are and when my deposit will be refunded. I guess it’s because I am of ethnic minority that I am being treated this way. My advice to any intending tenant to rent a property from John Shepherd is a big NO, ABORT. Take your time and money elsewhere as they are not worth the trouble.
I don’t leave reviews very often but John Shepherd West Bridgford deserve one. I am absolutely disgusted with this unregulated letting market, trying to remove deposit money for 2 small plastic cracks in a fridge freezer and saying they will need to replace both from our deposit money. Furthermore saying they will need to have it re-cleaned despite us paying £180 for two cleaners to spend 3 hours cleaning it professionally. Prior to this when we lived in the flat we had a low water pressure problem which took them over 4 months to fix, they came up with excuse after excuse before finally offering to fix it a few weeks before we moved out (only because we had to get the council involved to sort it). We then moved into another property with them where the oven had not been cleaned (see pictures attached) yet was told it was just cleaning residue. Also the dishwasher that did not work, we were originally told to try to fix it ourselves? Thirdly in our contract it makes reference to a washing machine, yet no washing machine was present and we had to spend hundreds to buy our own. I cannot believe what these agencies try to get away with, I highly doubt they would even replace the fridge and freezer for such a small crack and new tenants who will soon move in, they just want money money money! Disgusting.
Tassi Lettings are now under John Shepherd so just to add to here also: I am a student living in a flat with Tassi Student Lettings currently. It has been beyond hell. When I moved in: - Tabacco scattered across the floor - Bin full of maggots - Dirt on the skirting boards - Mould in the bathroom - Electric parking that did not work - No heating (and it has been 2 months) - No instructions on how to turn the fire alarm off (it was on from 9pm - 10am) - Electricity randomly switching off - Light detached and hanging from the ceiling - Scratched furniture - Broken toilet seat - More I cant even think off You can not get hold of them at all! If you have an issue you have to ring 100 times to even get through to someone. DO NOT LET FROM THEM! They are useless, absolutely useless. I moved in in August it is now October and problems are still coming up and the old ones are not getting fixed.
I had a very disappointing experience renting a property in Nottingham through John Shepherd, and I feel it's important to share my experience. From the beginning, I encountered multiple issues that reflect poorly on their professionalism. Firstly, communication was poor from the outset. When we moved in, we were given only one key for the apartment, and shockingly, the person handling our tenancy had the audacity to ask me to make additional copies myself. Isn’t it their responsibility to ensure everything is properly handled? I reluctantly agreed and had a copy made, even sending them the original invoice from Timpson, only to be told the price I paid was too high—what a joke! They also claim to have a system in place for reporting property issues. We reported a leak from the kitchen sink, and unsurprisingly, we received no response and no repair. If you're considering letting your property with them, beware—they clearly neglect tenant concerns. Lastly, we had an agreement for the end of our contract, which we communicated well in advance. After some back and forth, we received the final bill for the days we owed, which we paid without any issues. However, when they returned our deposit, we were shocked to find £85.15 deducted for what they claimed was "outstanding rent" for two extra days. This was done quietly, without any authorization or explanation. Essentially, they took that money from us based on their mistake and total miscommunication across the business. All in all, while they may try to present themselves as a serious estate agent, the reality is one of incompetence and poor service—for both tenants and landlords. Beware if you choose to deal with them.
Appalling service from this lettings agency - our original agency transferred hands so I was expecting a step up in our service but absolutely nothing happened. They are withholding our deposit without real reason and I would prefer to just be done with this agency altogether.
I contacted this company about a flat for sale in Burton on Trent. No answer, so contacted again, left a message, odd response saying they were Aquire? No answer. I looked at the advert, odd that its a Derby number for a Burton Estate Agent. So I looked up the Burton number, they said they dont deal with sales, I will be contacted. They didnt. So rang again and I was put through to sales after hearing they were Aquire again? So spoke to sales and asked about the flat. The email response had a Birmingham number? So I checked to see if they were registered as an Estate Agent in Burton on Trent, they were not, I checked on here, no reviews under the drop down to which branch to review. I was suspicious, I had seen so many numbers, so few answers. I checked out the company, looks like a company (Aquire) just sold to a larger company John Shepherd) although only having one property for sale? I was now very suspicious. So checked some more, looks like they are a letting agency and sales are handled by other branches if they have any. Derby had 4. The company is part of the Lombard group the trading name for Chianti holdings, then some connection to Chianti Bidco and one director who had been associated with directorships of 109 previous companies in 18 years. On checks with company house all appeared legal although they are not registered as Estate Agents in Burton on Trent, so I checked with National Trading standards asking about their legitmency Here is part of their reply I have checked the details you provided for your agent using the online property agent checker Search the Property Agent Checker - National Trading Standards and this does not find any current redress membership for Acquire Sales & Lettings. Acquire would however appear to be a trading name for John Shepherd Lettings Limited who, in turn, appear to be owned by Lomond Property Lettings Limited, registered in London. Lomond are members of The Property Ombudsman Scheme. Given the complexity of the corporate structure, I will refer the matter to The Property Ombudsman and ask for their views on the membership position. So in order to check this company out I had to go through that. Even then there is no direct answer and they appear to be a letting agency. I had meanwhile offered on the flat they had. I was then asked to pay for my ID check? While I understand that an Estate Agent has a legal obligation to check IDs it was the first time I had been asked to pay and I really was very suspicious. I refused to pay although had supplied my ID information. They meanwhile said the property had another offer which despite me having received an acceptance of offer letter was taken. Normal phrase is gazumped. I just dont trust companies like this. I felt suspicious and nervous throughout.
I use John Shepherd to let a flat in Nottingham. Some times they are ok, but just seem to make simple mistakes like moving tenants in without getting all meter readings. they also try to double charge for move in/out. They often ignore emails. Communication is just non-existant. Had a tenancy fall through and they did not even tell me. also had them move tenants in without confirming with me. I also don't think their vetting process is acceptable - I had a tenant not pay rent for 6 months. what can they do about it? nothing. TLDR; I would strongly recommend looking for a different letting agent. I will certainly be moving my business at the end of this tenancy. EDIT: Changing to 1 star as they simply don't respond to emails.
My boyfriend phoned 3 times to enquire about a property, twice the phone was picked up and then we had the phone put down on us before had chance to speak, on the 3rd attempt, a girl called Emily answered, and abruptly said “Property has gone, any changes and will let you know” Before the word know was finished, Emily put the phone down without him even getting a word in
John Shepherd Estate Agents is a leading property management and real estate agency operating in the Midlands. The company specializes in sales, lettings, and property management services, catering to a diverse clientele that includes landlords, tenants, home buyers, and sellers. With extensive local expertise spanning over three decades, John Shepherd provides comprehensive support to individuals looking to buy, sell, or rent properties in the region. The company offers a range of services, including expert property valuations, dedicated landlord support, and tailored solutions for tenants seeking their ideal homes. John Shepherd is committed to delivering quality property management and facilitating seamless transactions, making it a trusted choice for those navigating the Midlands real estate market. Customers can access a wide selection of properties for sale and rent, alongside financial services to assist in their property-related decisions.
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