One of our members has asked us to let all members know that if they use Holmes & Company Gosport Limited, also known as Abode of Gosport Limited, they should be careful to ensure that deposits are correctly lodged and rents collected and passed on. She states that Holmes & Company Gosport limited have been evicted from their premises and that they collected rent in cash from her tenant but did not pass it over. She also has evidence that the deposit was not protected. The proprietor of Holmes & Co Gosport Ltd is not contactable. She hand delivered a letter to his residential address noting that hers was not the first, there were several on the floor and there was no response when she knocked. The police are already investigating the case and would like to hear of any other landlords who have had problems with Holmes and Co of Gosport. This is the second adverse report we have had regarding this agent.

We are told that this company is not connected to Holmes and Company of Fareham. We are assured that the two companies are entirely separate entities and are owned by different individuals. Holmes and Company of Fareham is not in any way responsible or liable for any of the actions, obligations or debts of Holmes and Company Gosport Limited. We are also told that the proprietor of Holmes and Company of Gosport has serious health issues and hopes to sort out his business affairs in the next few weeks but previous promises have not been met and failing to protect a deposit is a legal offence and can lead to serious problems for the Landlord, who is ultimately responsible.

Any member who has had problems with this agent should contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and we will pass anything relevant to the police.

As we always advise, if you use an agent - do make sure that deposits are correctly lodged in one of the approved schemes, don't take the agents word for it as you are liable to repay it if something happens such as this and also, make sure that your chosen agent belongs to one of the approved redress schemes. We are not impressed with the new Property Redress Scheme who were notified that this agent was not handing over 'monies due' back in March and could have taken some action but they told another member that they could do nothing at that time and to make contact in 8 weeks if the problem was still not resolved. We will report this failure to the Department of Communities and Local Government.

And a final reminder, if you have not seen it, do see Alwin's excellent piece on whether to use a letting agent or go it alone  or better, Tony's article on how to choose a letting agent.