What's the best way to find reliable tradesmen - Newbie home owner in London

[Desiringonlychild]

Seriously this is a question I can't seem to get my head around. I own a flat (2 bed) and in some ways, it's a blessing that most of the regular maintenance/window cleaning/gardening/repairs is done for me.

My oven is broken and so is a electric socket. Since the start of lockdown. Thankfully I don't use the oven much and have a microwave but I need to get it fixed.But I am having real difficulty getting an electrician. I posted in my local Facebook group and they either said they didn't want to come or they asked really weird questions (which meant I don't really trust them). My MIL recommend mybuilders.com but honestly the people she gets from them seem to charge a lot for very substandard work.

Would appreciate any advice thanks.

I'd steer clear of MyBuilder.com as I had a bad experience with them, and apparently, a lot of the feedback on these sites are fake.

Recommendations from friends, local facebook page are standard. Do your area have a dedicated chat forum/website? I only ask because my area does as does neighbouring areas (east dulwich, forest hill) and I've found those to be quite useful.

Following because I am the same OP!

I even got quite a good recommendation from somebody on here for an Electrician, and i've had my whole flat rewired by him. He's based in East London though, and I do find that there is a reluctance from tradespeople to travel too far.

@Smallgoon yes but I didn't have much luck with the recommendations there? Are there any other ways.

[quote Desiringonlychild]@Smallgoon yes but I didn't have much luck with the recommendations there? Are there any other ways.[/quote]
That's Adam.. excellent. He lives in Stratford. Try your local face book group...we get everyone off there if needed but am lucky as have a polish lodger who is carpenter, tiler and plasterer !..where do you live ??... avoid those other sites as can have fake reviews...

Best way is to ask your neighbours or even the management company if that's separate from the residents themselves.
Out of websites, I think www.tradespeople is good.

Also look out for electrician's vans in the area - I found a window cleaner that way.

Best in my extensive and varied (!) experience is to ask your neighbours or local friends. Once you find one reliable tradesperson, you might ask them if they know the other trades you need

Note: anyone good won’t be available immediately for a big job (but yours seem to be the small jobs people fit in around other jobs). Which part of London are you in?

Fixing a socket is cheap - just had one done for around £40, was a half hour job. Your oven - could be lots if things: see if you can google the fault to understand what amount if work it is

I have used Task Rabbit and Silver Saints in the past - Silver Saints is probably more what you need at the moment.

Thanks everyone!

@NCforthisMarch east Finchley

Agree ask for recommendations on local fb pages or local friends. Do a bit of snooping though and check it's not people recommending their partners or mates! If you have very friendly neighbours they might even let you come round and see the work that they had done.

AJL on fortis green are good but expensive and only deal with expensive makes such as Bosch and Miele.
Tradeforce are often used by local letting agents for a range of repairs.

I've found Which Trusted Traders are a good source of reputable tradesmen: trustedtraders.which.co.uk

Also if you have a local electrics / parts shop, ask them. I found a very good appliance man through them.

Go on to your local council website, look under trading standards and it will take you to the Trading Standards TRUSTED TRADER website. YOu can search by postcode and supplier type.

Trading Standards contact the suppliers on there EVERY MONTH for an up-to-date insurance policy and any professional affiliations. It is not a guarantee but all the people on there should be reliable as Trading Standards delist people fairly regularly.

100% recommend buywithconfidence.gov.uk contractors/trades are trading standards vetted and approved plus supported by councils.

Also if you have a local electrics / parts shop, ask them. I found a very good appliance man through them.

This is a good shout actually. I visited my local reclamation yard and they and they recommended a local flooring guy to me. They also recommended a couple of carpenters. The yard itself comes highly recommended by the locals, so I knew I could trust them.

Have you tried joining Nextdoor? It's a website for all things in your neighbourhood. Local people put recommendations of tradespeople they've used and all sorts of other things (selling/buying stuff etc.). It's very good.