agents admin fees! hellp

becky-nicholson

Hi,
my boyfriend and i are currently looking at moving into a 1 bedroom flat. We have tried to find a private landlord with no success.
So we turned to estate agents, however they are charging loads of admin fees, and security deposits. Plus the standard months rent in advance. And the total amounts are huge. We cannot afford to do this at all.

Does anyone have any advice on how we can bring the admin fees down? or know of any agencies that dont charge so much.

Any advice is appricated.

Thank you Becky.

Chris2685

How much are they charging exactly?

sarastark86

in my experience of renting you will always need one month's rent in advance plus at least one month's rent as a deposit (often 1.5 months), plus agency fees in the region of £75-100 per person.

this is the way it works i'm afraid, the only way of reducing this is by finding an agency that doesn't charge fees. private landlords might be more flexible but they are going to want to cover themselves in the event of you not paying or trashing the place. i expect you've tried gumtree and the classifieds of the local papers (often online, these are updated before the papers are printed so you can get in quick) but those are the places i'd look for a private rental.

have you considered moving into a house share where at least your upfront costs might not be as high as for a 1-bed flat?

Chris2685

I wouldn't feel comfortable if I was a landlord letting to someone who can't afford those... Especially in this economic climate!

tbs624

Have you tried contacting your local LL Association? They should be able to give you info on LLs who self-manage their properties:most will only charge you the actual costs of a credit check fee (between 16 and 60 quid, depending on how in depth it is).

Your local Council may hold a list of accredited private LLs - accreditation is voluntary so it tends to be the better Lls than make the effort.

You could try via https://www.landlords.org.uk or www rla.org.uk for a local contact, or try advertising on sites like letalife and vivastreet