artistic-spaces.co.uk

Long term tenant experience, rising costs, declining standards, and poor management

I was a tenant at Warwick Works, run by Artistic Spaces, for around five years.When I first moved in, the building was already run down, but it was usable and affordable, and it worked as a studio space. Over the years, rent increased and the service charge went up, while the condition of the building steadily got worse.Basic maintenance was consistently neglected. The toilets and bathrooms were poorly maintained for long periods, and the shared kitchen was regularly filthy and in a very poor state. These were ongoing issues, not one off problems.Eventually, Artistic Spaces chose to repaint the building and install a glass entrance door, seemingly to make the space look more attractive to new tenants. This made the building more visible from the street and was followed by multiple break ins. During this time, the company did nothing meaningful to address security and instead blamed tenants for the outcomes.Communication was consistently poor. Emails often went unanswered, and it was extremely difficult to get hold of anyone when there were problems. After I had clearly informed them that I was leaving, both by email and in a phone call, I was sent a new contract the following week that would have locked me into a further three year term. This showed a clear lack of awareness of individual tenants and suggested that administration is outsourced and poorly coordinated, with little understanding of what is actually happening in the buildings.When I eventually moved out, my departure was not acknowledged until the final week. A checkout call was completed and I was told everything was fine. Despite this, my deposit was held for around three months. Even after that period, it was not returned until I spent several more weeks chasing their accounts team, with the delay blamed on internal bureaucracy.Throughout my time there, it felt like the focus was on opening new sites and increasing revenue rather than maintaining existing buildings or supporting tenants. At Warwick Works there were serious issues, including waste from toilets leaking into other studios, repeated break ins, and ongoing neglect of shared facilities.Since moving to a different workspace, it has become very clear how poorly Artistic Spaces treated their tenants in comparison. Based on my experience, I would not recommend them to anyone looking for a well managed or well maintained studio space

Date of experience: Dec 14, 2025