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Sick of Lettings Agents

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JonnieHACK
JonnieHACK Posts: 101 Forumite
edited 21 January 2012 at 5:59PM in House buying, renting & selling
Post removed due to creepy profiling of user in question.
«13456

Comments

  • simonjstone_2
    simonjstone_2 Posts: 143 Forumite
    a company called home let which is a refrencing comany and rent guarntour costs £120 per apllicant. then the costs of getting all the paperwork form the apllicant
  • redcar_2
    redcar_2 Posts: 631 Forumite
    Its costs so much so LAs can squeeze more profit from you and obviously has no relationship to actual costs as you have rumbled - cynical.
  • pinkkaz
    pinkkaz Posts: 538 Forumite
    This really annoys me. An estate agent in Hackney wanted £100 per person when we moved into our last rented place (£50 "admin fee" and £50 credit reference checks). I simply refused to pay the admin fee - the agents were being paid by the landlord and this is just extra profit. I paid the reference checks in the end even though I knew it was only £10 to get a credit check but by that point I couldn't be bothered to argue any more. Alas. Refuse to pay it. They'll want your business anyway.
  • sooz
    sooz Posts: 4,560 Forumite
    JonnieHACK wrote: »

    I've been told that this is a "must" because of some sort of rent guarantee insurance the land lord needs. Can anyone confirm/explain this?

    It is required if the landlord WANTS to have a rent guarantee policy. He does not NEED to have such a policy though, that is his choice. It might be a requirement of his particular BTL mortgage.

    There are other cheaper full reference check companies, and there are some which offer a substantial discount to landlord association members. If you don't like the letting agent's charges, find another agent or look elsewhere for a landlord who advertises privately, and might charge less for checks, if at all.
  • weegie.geek
    weegie.geek Posts: 3,432 Forumite
    I wouldn't touch a LA that charged that amount of money. :/

    In my experience private landlords are generally better to deal with and more on top of things than letting agencies are, so I'd recommend going down that road.
    They say it's genetic, they say he can't help it, they say you can catch it - but sometimes you're born with it
  • JonnieHACK
    JonnieHACK Posts: 101 Forumite
    Private lettings? Other than my weekly local paper, and hints/tip on finding private landlords? Cant seem to find any on the www.
  • pinkkaz
    pinkkaz Posts: 538 Forumite
    Where abouts are you based? I only know how to find them in London! Local paper seems a good place to start though.
  • clutton_2
    clutton_2 Posts: 11,149 Forumite
    there are 3 tiers of landlord checks a landlord can choose to buy - their costs range from around £10 +vat up to £30-45 +vat depending on how many references you take up.
  • Fergie73
    Fergie73 Posts: 85 Forumite
    This really annoys me too. I've been being asked for anything from £80 upwards (£175 being the most expensive) for "agency fees" and "credit checks". As far as I'm concerned, checking references is a landlord or agents job. The LL pays the agent a fee for that kind of thing, or does it himself. Last time I was renting, it was assumed the tennent paid nothing (you're paying to rent the place, after all), and any agency who charged, you were recommended to give a wide berth to. I'm not sure when that changed, but I agree with the OP - one month in advance and a month's deposit (or often more) is bad enough to try and come up with. Stick all those fees on the top and you're looking at well over a grand just to get moved in anywhere - utter rip off. I hope they bring back social housing soon - the private rental market in the UK is a complete rip off and landlords deserve for their places to be lying empty if people can't afford to move in without taking out a sodding mortgage!
  • Gorgeous_George
    Gorgeous_George Posts: 7,964 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    Why don't you advertise in the 'Wanted' column?

    As a LL I would rather take someone with your payment history than someone who has a positive credit report. The £240 would be better off as 2 weeks more rent up front. Accepting a private rental also saves the LL the LA's fees.

    GG
    There are 10 types of people in this world. Those who understand binary and those that don't.
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