Comments on: Letting Agent’s Renewal Fees

By: mary

mary — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 13:52:47 +0000

HI, I am a Tennent in the same appartment just over 2 years, does the agency have the right to charge £150 to renew the contract, I thought it was landlords responsibility, last year we had to pay £180 now they want to increase the rent up £60, can someone let me know,
THanks

By: Paul Barrett

Paul Barrett — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 06:58:45 +0000

People please you DO NOT need to use letting agents on the high st anymore .
There are about 6 online letting agents that can charge just a tenant find service; essentially just passing the tenant enquiries onto you.
Fee £99.00 that’s it; no renewal fees no nothing
You get EXACTLY the same online presence as an agent would.
All the well known sites etc.
How many tenants do you know don’t first of all carry out a search online
As for renewal fees if you wish to use an agent you state to them that you wish just a tenant find service and nothing else; no renewal fees etc.
If they that is there standard business terms you state on that basis you will not be doing business with them and walk out.
They will soon stop and withdraw such a ridiculous condition.
With online access to all the major web site being so cheap now you do not need a letting agent.
It has saved me a fortune in LA fees.
If you are confident in managing things yourself do so and make sure you only use mydeposits.co.uk for deposit protection.
This is the only scheme where YOU retain the money assisting YOUR cashflow rather than the LA.
Having said that there will always be a need for LA as it is not always appropriate or convenient for a private landlord to manage things themselves.
But there is more than enough free info out there to assist landlords.
I have never paid for an AST agreement as we get it free on this and other web sites.
As for terms and conditions always obtain a set of t & c’s from the LA you are thinking of using and READ them BEFORE you do business with them.
You may then bring up terms that you do not agree with and it will be up to the LA as to whether they wish to retain those terms for any business they may have with you.
If they will not budge then simple answer is walk away.

By: Della

Della — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 11:46:10 +0000

I am interested that you do not actually mention the agents involved in many of the above situations. These are ‘realtime’ cases and I see no reason if these are the experiences of your contributors, why the agents names are not given.
Although we are retired now, we ran a business (nothing to do with property) for 30 years and I remember a situation where one of our wholesale clients gave us a cheque in payment for goods which bounced. After many phone calls, letters etc. we wrote to him that we had made a large copy of his bounced cheque and had put it up on the very large front window of our West End store.
He hotfooted it up from his country base and threatened to sue us. However I had checked with our solicitors and since this was (to quote) ‘our personal experience’ then no law was contravened by this. Our customer paid up. Surely the same applies where someone who is possibly inexperienced fails to read the samll print of these draconian conditions for renting and wishes to post on your forum, their unhappiness over these charges.
Why can they not say which agents they are having problems with?
Meanwhile, it is a totally sleazy business. After all, when we went to an agency to find someone for us to work in our business, we paid them a fee and that was that. If the person stayed with us, we did not continue to pay a fee year after year. I think that the agents ought to be made by law (as with financial services) to read out loud to any client; these terms in detail. That would concentrate the minds of the clients wanting to rent their flats. If enough people wrote into the Office of Fair Trading asking for this change; whilst they cannot reply individually, they would look into this matter. Remember the edict; BUYER BEWARE – could not be more true.

By: Eric

Eric — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 15:44:01 +0000

The answer is simple. Landlords should simply not do business with Agents who charge these ridiculous and totally unfair fees. With websites such as Gumtree and easily available DIY legal documents, it is quite easy to find tenants on your own and do all checks etc on your own.

You can also shop around – some, not many, but some agents charge a one off fee for finding tenants and setting up the agreement and that’s it.

By: Albert

Albert — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 09:38:08 +0000

As a tenant wishing to extend my current letting agreement for the first time, I have been informed by the landlord’s agent that I must pay a renewal fee of £88. Am I obliged to pay this? A little research on the internet shows that such an extension is easy to arrange, and requires the completion of a one-page document that I can draw up myself (in conjunction with the ladlord).

Because my landlord has signed an agreement with the agent, does this bind me to the payment of a renewal fee? If so, is it negotiable?

By: Not getting ripped off

Not getting ripped off — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 07:17:57 +0000

What a rip off estate agents are, I’m glad supermarkets will soon make available set fee agreements and also set fee for selling houses, estate agents get lots of money for doing very little, tesco online estate managing will soon take over

By: C Cull

C Cull — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 22:49:33 +0000

Hi – My original letting agent went into liquidation and another took over my agreement, which is now coming up for the first year’s renewal. I want to end my agreement with the new agency (didn’t choose them originally), is this possible?

By: Charles

Charles — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 13:22:14 +0000

Very simply – “you get what you negotiate”. read everything first and vet LA’s and by that I mean ‘interview’ then as you show them around the property first off.
Negotiate over prices and scratch out the second year renewal early on. My experience is that early on the second year renewal is not a big issue for them – it becomes one though a year on when they thought they had money to come in and you try and get out of it!
Early on they want the initial commission and that drives them. i run a ‘beauty parade’ over about 4 agents and take the best two. People I like and can deal happily with who are in good busy agencies coupled with a good deal. I ignore their flashy terms folders and firmly state I am only prepared to pay £x.00 for them to find me a tenant. Its about 6-7% of year rental INC vat.
When they ask if it includes vat, I know they will do a deal. I say yes, that’s the fee I pay, and I get it done. One even agreed payment in two six month instalments if tenants stay this long – simply because they said they may leave in 6 months out of the 12 AST so I got a payment break along with the tenancy break clause. Of course it helps majority that I have a lovely flat to rent so they all see easy quick money to be made, compared to say less nice places they must see that are hard work to rent out.

By: gabriella colombara

gabriella colombara — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 12:16:20 +0000

I refused to pay renewal feel with xxxxxx. Called them to know what they were thinking of doing since I asked them to return the deposits to the tenants. Told me that they had already taken to court 2 landlords who did the same. Offered to decrease from 10% to 7% to which I said no way. Why do I have to pay so much money for absolutely nothing. Do I have to make my tenants homeless to avoid paying fees? They also said that as I signed the contract I have no chance of winning. To be honest I didn’t read the contract and I was only told when I received the first invoice for renewal, then they told me it’s in my contract. But no time limit. Do I have to pay for the rest of my life? As far as increasing fees to find tenants at least it will be an informed decision

By: lynn

lynn — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 05:11:52 +0000

I am in the position of going into a 2nd year with same Tenant and Agent asking for 10% +vat for doing nothing, I am inclined to refuse to pay this as it is an unreasonable charge but am worried that they will try and keep my tenants deposit, how would he get it back from them if he stays on. It is held in the Tenancy Deposit Scheme.