Just had a call from Estate agents. They are refunding £1100 but retaining £265 for admin costs and survey. Ill take that for now but still speaking wth Trading Standards tomorrow. I may start quoting my costs of moving address twice and paying for removals, taking the day off work and their incompetence!!!Thanks for your help, much appreciated

And the landlord is not willing to negotiate directly. To be honest, my daughter cannot afford the rent and bills on this property as she was given duff information and would not have been able to afford this property had she been given the correct information from the start.It was only due to the incorrect information being given by the LA that she went to view the property.Regards and thanks for the replies. I'll update when I know more.

Thanks for the speedy reply,I understand its the daughter that needs to claim money back and I have an appointment with trading standards tomorrow.Sounds like definate misrepresentation of the property but just hoping that they return the money soon as my daughter is currently sleeping on our sofa!!RegardsMartin

Hi all, Looking for a little help. My daughter recently found a suitable property to rent so signed up with the estate agents and decided t rent the flat, which was sold to her as £450 including water and electric (I was present when she was told this) they took a deposit of £200 plus the signing on fee and she was told that there would be an initial £100 charge towards electric and water which she would get back when she informed them of who the gas supplier would be and confirmed she had informed the council regarding her council tax. Her moving date got moved forwards by 2 weeks and then 2 hours before collecting the keys she was told that her flat was still not ready but she could move into another flat for 2 weeks whilst she waited. my daughter then went to sign the direct debit agreement but could not sign for the actual flat as the one she wanted was not ready. At this time she signed for the £550 on the understanding that the £100 would be refunded by the estate agents as above. on moving into the flat she has now found out that the rent is £550 per month including water and gas (not electric as previously stated) as the £100 extra was per month to go "Towards the gas and water bill" I found this excessive as it is only a 1 bedroom flat and this was not what we were initially told. I have spoken to the landlord and informed him of the mistake by the letting agency and he has agreed to refund any monies being held by the estate agents. (he has actually told the estate agents this with me present when I wen to complain) The estate agents are now withholding the money which the landlord has stated could be returned and are being awkward by saying this must be authorised by the managing director who works at the branch but has not answered his personal mobile phone for 3 days. the advert with the estate agents is showing £450 per month but another agency is showing the same property for £550 per month. Where do I stand regarding getting my money back, including my signing on fee and deposits (£1360 in total) and the 2 months rent, as my daughter only signed up with the agency because of this certain apartment. Had she known the proper price of the flat she would not have been able to look at it due to the costs. We have incurred removal costs and taken days off work due to the lies we have been told and I am out of pocket due to the misinformation given to us. the Landlord of the property has been great and understands our situation and is blaming the estate agents totally for this error. Many thanks mbloomers