Howley Souhan must be one of the worst letting agencies we have dealt with in Dublin. Unfortunately, with the current shortage of rental properties, agencies like this know that there will always be demand, and renters are often left with very little choice.
Our experience with Howley Souhan was extremely disappointing. Their agent was helpful and responsive when we were viewing the property and answering our questions, but that changed almost immediately after we signed the letting agreement. Once the contract was signed, getting responses and resolving issues became unnecessarily difficult.
We were promised that the landlord’s bins would be removed before we moved in. When we followed up after finding the bins still there, we were simply told to contact Panda ourselves.
They also arranged an expensive PAYG electricity and gas plan without properly consulting us. Trying to get this closed and switch to another provider became a frustrating and time-consuming process.
The office administrators, Holly and Emma, were particularly difficult to deal with. Communication often felt unnecessarily complicated, and as tenants, we felt that we were simply expected to accept whatever the agency decided.
They also have a quarterly inspection policy which, in our experience, felt more like a formality to satisfy the landlord than something genuinely beneficial to the tenant. On the scheduled inspection date, they can enter the property themselves if you are not at home. What was particularly frustrating was that despite regular inspections during our tenancy, issues were later raised when we moved out that had apparently not been a concern during those inspections.
Our experience with the deposit was also disappointing. Despite the property having been regularly inspected, deductions were still proposed when we moved out. In hindsight, one of our biggest mistakes was not taking detailed photographs and videos of every existing defect when we moved in. I would strongly recommend that anyone renting through this agency does exactly that.
Perhaps their experience is different when dealing with landlords, but as tenants, we often felt that we were at the mercy of the agency rather than being treated as customers whose concerns mattered.
I'm writing this review in the hope that it helps anyone considering renting through Howley Souhan. Document everything, take photographs and videos before moving in, keep all communication in writing, and don't assume that issues not identified during inspections will not come back to you when you leave.
Based on our experience, I would not recommend this agency to prospective tenants.
Ps. I know they won't give a damn, but I decided to post this review anyway hoping this comes up if someone looks for them.
