Montana & Dakota Buildings

12-Month Tenancy at Dakota Overall: Mixed experience — good location, modern apartment, let down by some bad experiences After living a full year (initially fixed term, changed to a rolling contract with 2-month notice period thanks to the Renters’ Rights Act), I can finally write about my lived experience. I hope it would be a useful view of what one can expect living in here, for anyone considering renting, since I haven’t received any special treatment nor having been particularly mistreated. I lived at the Dakota Building. The experience would be very similar across the 3 buildings under Clay management, especially Montana, which is the building next to Dakota. ## The Good - Location and commute: The building is in a nicer part of Wembley, and despite being in Zone 4, the commute into central London was fast and easy thanks to multiple tube lines nearby. - Amenities on paper: The building advertises shared facilities including a gym and resident lounges, which felt like a nice perk when I first moved in. The staff on the resident management team are generally responsive and polite, although like many other places in the UK, you do need to occasionally give things some chasing before it getting done. ## The Not-So-Good - Insecure shared facilities: In practice, the resident lounges were often infiltrated by trespassers who free rode the building's amenities, and on occasions, facilities had been trashed / damaged as a result, especially during time outside of summer when there’re no events hence less police presence. I suspect it’s partly due to the lounges being situated on the ground floor, so trespassers see opportunities to just tailgate into the building and subsequently found a way into the lounges. Once they got through the main door, they would easily find a way into the lounges, they’d even harass residents to open the lounge door for them pretending to be residents forgetting their fobs, it’s happened to me before. This undermined what should have been a nice perk of the place. The resident management team did as a response add security guard presence to minimise the intrusion occurrence. - Laissez-faire free-draining balcony : this building has free draining balconies (the same for Montana), so how the tenant above you use the balcony can really impact you. I lived at flat 65, and it had felt like living under a drainage system since the flat above often dropped water, mud, and even rubbish onto my balcony. The tenant handbook explicitly states residents shouldn't overload their balconies with plants or hang wet washing there. I followed this rule. However, the tenant in the flat above me did not — their balcony was loaded with plants, and they use the balcony freely to pour unwanted liquid down. When I raised this with the mgmt team, I was told to sort it out myself, rather than the team enforcing their own published rules. But if you read on, you’d find out they would actually stick to their words when it involves their money. - Deposit dispute at move-out: At the end of the tenancy, as is reasonable, we were requested to return the flat to a clean state, the mgmt team stated in their check-out email that tenants can clean the flat themselves or hire professional help (they recommended a firm). At the time, we just bought a place where we would move to, so we thought to limit our financial outlay and do the cleaning ourselves (we always received good reviews on AirBnb for leaving places we lived in the way we found them, so we thought we would be up to the task). After spending hours and pulled an all-nighter cleaning the flat ourselves with self-purchased quality cleaning products, the management team actually still charged us a full professional cleaning bill at £210 from our deposit. Eventually we couldn’t reach an agreement via bilateral negotiation and had to trigger the TDS dispute mechanism before the mgmt team proposed to settle at a halfway split, still an unexpected loss, and the incident added unnecessary friction and stress at the end of an otherwise straightforward tenancy.

It is lovely to have a visit to Clay Wembley with a tour given by Samia. Overall, I feel very welcomed during the tour. Though I didn’t make my reservation eventually, the alto, Dakota, and Montana buildings all look great to me, so recommended!

The quality of the flats and amenities is high spec, we loved how it felt like a quiet oasis amidst all the youthful buzz. Samia has been an amazing host. She’s been endlessly energetic & patient in introducing & orienting us. Thanks to the team, we’re settling in well

We found the perfect flat thanks to Samia, who helped us choose the right one according to all our requirements. She was extremely supportive throughout the entire process and handled most of the arrangements, making everything completely hassle free for us. The Clay team and maintenance team have also been excellent very professional, responsive, and helpful whenever needed. The whole process was quick, smooth, and stress free. We’re really happy staying here and truly appreciate the great service and support provided by the entire team. Highly recommended.

Some places give you an apartment. Clay gives you peace of mind. I’ve stayed in a few places before, but Clay Life Apartments genuinely stands apart — not because of just the beautiful spaces (which they absolutely are), but because of how they make you feel living there. From the very beginning, everything just *worked*. No chasing, no friction, no uncertainty. And that’s incredibly rare. But what truly makes Clay special is the people. Laszlo, Samia, and Miguel — these are not just names on a management team, they are the reason Clay feels like home. There were moments where I reached out expecting a standard response, and instead got immediate help, thoughtful follow-ups, and a level of care that felt personal, not procedural. It never felt like I was “raising a ticket” — it felt like someone genuinely had my back. And that’s the difference. In a city like London, where renting can often feel transactional and exhausting, Clay quietly changes the narrative. They’ve built something where professionalism meets empathy — and that combination is powerful. The management team is responsive, transparent, and consistently reliable — but more importantly, they are *human*. They listen, they care, and they act. For me, Clay isn't just a place to stay — it was a place where I could focus on life without worrying about the little things in the background. That kind of experience is rare, and honestly, invaluable. If you’re considering Clay, don’t overthink it. Just move in — you’ll understand what I mean.

Amazing team! Samia, Laszlo and Scott as well! Samia showed me around, she was very kind, friendly, helpful and patient with me. She has showed me 5 different apartments. She just understood from the first time what I was looking for and lead me to the best choice. Very grateful for the whole team, and even more for Samia’s guidance and help. She has the perfect blend of professionalism and friendliness to make people feel comfortable.

Couldn’t have found our perfect new home without the help of Samia! She was extremely patient with us and helped find the perfect fit that fitted all of our needs. A seamless process!

It seems to be a common theme in these reviews lately that Clay will sting you for your deposit. First off, let me start by saying the team at Concierge were awesome throughout our entire year-long tenancy, and they’ll look after you and your parcels. Coming up to move out day, we booked the Clay recommended cleaners J&I. A month after move out, we hadn’t heard back about a deposit refund, so enlisted the assistance of the TDS. Finally, we heard from management, who were going to deduct £300 from our deposit to cover repainting the walls. Why, we wondered? Surely if there were any scuffs or marks, they would be covered under general wear & tear in the tenancy agreement, and anything that could be cleaned would have been by J&I. One of the scuffs management mentioned was even on the wall when we moved in, and appeared to be more of an oil stain. Management also requested payment for a Community Utilities bill but thankfully I had the receipt to prove payment (FYI, a terrible utility company). In the end, we ended up bending over and losing £300, a significant amount these days, because frankly we needed the money. It’s worth noting in our 12 years of renting across 2 countries, and 6 properties, we’ve never lost any bond or deposit before. If you’re thinking of moving in here, cover yourself as much as possible. Take photos on move in and before you vacate the property. When we moved in, the oily stain was on the wall and there was a long scratch in a door, cracked hob, and hooks the previous tenant had left on the wall. We had photos of these, but it didn’t seem to do any good at the end of the day.

I’m really happy with my 3-bedroom flat in Alto — it’s absolutely amazing! Located on the 15th floor, it comes with a large terrace that offers great views. My bedroom is fully equipped with all the essential furniture, and the kitchen is spacious and fitted with quality white goods. The agency has been excellent throughout my experience. Laszlo was very responsive and went above and beyond — he even showed me the property after his working hours and made sure our contract was finalized on time. Scott, the manager, has been fantastic as well — he ensures everything runs smoothly and proactively checks for any potential issues. And a big thanks to Miguel, the maintenance all-rounder, who fixed any problems quickly and efficiently. Overall, a great flat managed by a professional and caring team. Highly recommended!

I want to highlight Miguel’s work as part of Clay’s maintenance team. He is an outstanding professional with a strong customer oriented spirit. He is very polite, craftsman and knows how to deal with customers in a very calmed and skilled manner. I would definitely recommend his service and push to promote him to lead the maintenance team due to his more than excellent attitudes and aptitudes for the job.