Uncle Reviews 

I have been living in Uncle Elephant and Castle for the past 5years. The recent change in management practices had a huge impact on my experience, as the overall service is now deteriorating. The management is now hiring temporary agency stuff at the building reception who don't even greet people and do not know how to support residents on day to day issues. It's only Paul and Farid who have been working here since I moved in and they have been excellent in all aspects; so helpful, knowledgeable and customer focused.
Uncle Elephant and Castle please keep your good people and your standards high.

I’ve lived in the Uncle Elephant & Castle building since it was built (the shared ownership part), and we share access to some of the common areas and the use of the concierge services.

The common areas are always clean and well maintained, with the exception of disappointingly frequent lift outages, but with some exceptions they tend to get fixed reasonably promptly. That said, the positive impact of brilliant permanent front desk staff is outweighed by the behaviour of senior Uncle/Realstar management.

Negatives: senior management are opaque with service charge, often hiking prices wildly beyond inflation with no explanation and no apology. There also seems to be a worrying trend towards hiring a carousel of temporary or agency staff for key customer-facing roles, and while they always try their best, they simply don’t have the knowledge or professionalism of the longer term permanent staff who make the building feel like a welcoming and well-run place (see below).

Positives: the permanent front-desk staff (primarily Paul, Farid and more recently Eugene) are true professionals, always friendly and welcoming, no problem is too much for them to help with and they know the building inside and out, they are a real credit to Uncle and they make the experience of living here feel like a home. Without them, this would be a much lower rating.

I have been living in the Elephant and Castle building for over 5.5 yrs now. As multiple people have said there have been plenty of disappointing times (broken lifts, hot water outages, and more).

More recently, it feels like UNCLE are turning the building into a student hall for wealthy overseas students - very much a short term approach on getting those 12 months in advance...

For us who have lived in the building since the start, it was very disappointing to see tenured staff go after the lockdown, replaced mostly by agency staff who just dont develop a personal touch. Feels like the management completely missing the points that make the building a long term home, than a short stay. Hope that at least Farid and Paul will stay here for the long term!

During my one-year stay in Manchester, I had the pleasure of living in an very good residence that I wholeheartedly recommend. The highlight of my experience was undoubtedly the staff; their helpfulness and warmth made me feel like part of a family. Andrew, the manager, was incredibly supportive and accommodating, despite his one flaw of favoring England’s football team over France’s!

The location of the building is fantastic, providing easy access to everything one might need. The apartments themselves are clean, well-maintained, and comfortable. The amenities, such as the gym, coworking space, and yoga area, are top-notch – always clean and excellently equipped.

Leaving this residence is a bittersweet moment for me. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for more than just a place to stay but a place to belong.

My living room lights have been flashing. They came on time and was very patient throughout to solve the issue. Spent an hour trying different menthods and eventually get it sorted! Thumbs up to them. 5 star service!

John was amazing at helping sort any maintenance issues out very quickly any time we needed his help! Not only is the building gorgeous but the the whole team is also super friendly and helpful! From John, to Nicole who showed us our flat and made the move in super smooth, to Mantas who's always there to help in a very friendly and positive manner and Kelly who's always looking after our safety and helping us have the best experience possible!
Shoutout to the superstars! :)

Living here has been a unique experience! I lived at UNCLE Manchester for a year and when I returned the keys to the flat recently, my heart stopped. I have met wonderful people here. Andrew is really the best, he is always available, always ready to help and always greets you with a big smile on his face. He and the UNCLE guys are really special people, ready to solve and fix any technical problem you might have in the flat, essential for someone like me who can barely change a lightbulb ;)
The flat is stunning, super central, and within walking distance from both Universities, the Northern Quarter, Manchester Oxford Road Station, and Picadilly Station.
I would recommend UNCLE Manchester to anyone and will always carry the lovely people I met during my stay in my heart.
Thanks a lot, UNCLE Manchester!

Me and my wife stayed at Uncle Wembley for 6 months. We booked the apartment online from a video given by JLL. The apartment was professionally cleaned and looked the same as in the video. The apartments are new and very good, the best I ever lived. Everything in the Uncle premises are new, shiny and clean. There is extreme safety in the premises and you need a key to go everywhere.

The staff were brilliant. Mantas, Nicole and the two managers Jamie and Kelly. Special thanks to Kelly for her help in the last day of tenancy. We organized the cleaning ourselves and my wife forget her wedding ring and her engagement diamond ring. We were already in our way to traveling to Scotland when she realized it and it was 11pm. We quickly wrote to Kelly, who immediately replied and in the next morning, she had the rings safe before 9am.

I am having a good time for living here a year, property manager and all the staff are kind and willing to solve every problem occurs. Really nice living experience.

I have lived here for the last 3 years and have very much enjoyed my time here. All the staff have been so kind and helpful especially Jamie who helped me a lot in my time at UNCLE Wembley

Excellent experience with Uncle Colindale and team! Initially rented a one-bed with them and absolutely loved everything. Currently moving to a two-bed in the same building and the team went above and beyond to facilitate a smooth transition. Big shout out to Gaven for his exceptional service!

Moved to UNCLE Colindale few months ago - it’s a new building and fairly nice but also priced as more expensive than the surrounding area. This would not be a problem, except that the company fails miserably to deliver what it promised:

1. The real estate agent promised us it won’t be a problem to replace one of the beds in the furnished apartment at our own cost, which Uncle refused to allow saying that we don’t have to rent if that’s a dealbreaker for us.
2. The gym was not finished during first few months of the rental. We were allowed to access another gym but there was a 15-day or so period when that wasn’t possible before the new gym opened. The response from uncle was literally “walking is healthy - just go for a walk”. What a joke.
3. There’s currently an issue with water supply. The water cut off at 11PM, after multiple people called them they managed to fix it around 2AM. Now it’s 1PM and the water stopped again. Nobody knows what caused the issue and they are again scrambling to find contractors. There’s an emergency number but the fact that you need to go through 3 separate companies (uncle, realstar emergency, and contractors) makes things long anyway. But the same issue happening within 24h is completely unacceptable anyway.
4. There are numerous other annoying repetitive issues such as elevators not working, packages being lost, booking common areas being almost impossible, and fire alarms going off that have never been properly addressed by management.
5. Supposedly there’s a resident manager living onsite but in every situation so far they failed to act and do anything - it was always the community of our neighbors organizing ourselves. The reception staff is not very helpful either - they are not a concierge so they cannot help in typical things you’d expect them to even though they do their best to be nice and welcoming.

Generally the experience is very underwhelming - you should just expect uncle to be like a normal landlord if you want to avoid disappointment.

Everything is great until you have issues with neighbours. Kids jumping around, running in the flat at 6 am, playing with his ball all day long.

They did nothing to help and left the neighbours ruin our entire living experience.

I don't recommend

During our year at Uncle Elephant & Castle, we found several aspects both commendable and wanting. Undoubtedly, the brightest aspect of our stay was the exceptional concierge service. Farid and Paul, in particular, were not just efficient, but truly added a personal touch with their warm interactions and dedication to helping residents.

On the flip side, the building had its challenges. Maintenance was occasionally on the slower side, and having one of the three elevators out of service for a significant period was inconvenient. The facilities, while functional, didn't scream luxury. A noticeable number of students residing in the building imparted a "dorm" feel to the place. Moreover, the creaking noises during windy nights did test my patience.

To sum it up, my stay was overall positive but highlighted the need for an upgrade in terms of amenities and environment.

I should mention that the end of my tenancy was marred by the issuing of a Section 21 notice, ensuring I vacated the premises at its conclusion. While I've been informed that this is standard practice, I firmly believe it's a bad one. It undoubtedly left a bitter taste after an otherwise decent experience.

Stayed here for 5 years, and it was made an excellent experience thanks to concierge staff such as Paul and Farid. They are ever helpful and reliable, they make it a great place.

Great central location, great facilities, friendly communication and lovely managing Team! Sad to leave but 100% recommend!
Thanks a lot to Ruth, Duncan,Paul and the rest of the team for helping me throughout my stay with so much kindness.

I've just moved in and I am loving the experience, staff is super friendly, the location is great and my flat is really nice and clean.

Super satisfied with the place so far.

Renting as it shouldn't be. Uncle Southall is a new building which is perhaps why it appeals to a lot of people. The initial love at first sight quickly wears off. Southall isn't 'vibrant'. It is a dump.

The noise levels were unacceptable. There is an events venue next door so do expect fireworks exploding outside your window on the 16th floor at midnight. Loud music until the early hours of the morning is also part the renting package so don't even think about getting a good night's sleep. Diwali week is definitely the cherry on top.

There is absolutely no parking whatsoever around the property. Whilst moving out, I overheard the building manager lie to a prospective tenant advising Ealing council parking permit can be obtained. This is absolutely not the case.

There is no supermarket or any other major brand such as Pret nearby. You will have to travel or have everything delivered. If you fancy a walk in your area, there is a lovely cemetery nearby.

Following a 12 month tenancy, the company wanted to increase the rent by 20% citing rising costs. Don't think so. Uncle Southall relies on foreign students and other non-British nationals unfamiliar with the London property market to fill the flats and they all sadly pay the inflated prices.

When moving out, Uncle wanted to charge unreasonable fees such as £200 'cleaning fee' and £900 for a broken chair leg. Of course this was taken to DPS and I won. I urge everyone who isn't happy about the moving out fees to raise a dispute with DPS as you will win.

I lived at UNCLE Manchester for two years and loved my time there! Andrew and the rest of the team were extremely kind and helpful. Any maintenance issues were resolved promptly with great communication (there were minimal issues anyway). As a female living alone at the time, I felt very safe in the flat. The flat itself was lovely and very clean. Would definitely recommend living there!

My husband and I rented for 2 years at Uncle Elephant and Castle (during covid) and we cannot thank Paul and Farid enough for their support and genuine care. The experience was so much better because of them!