Letting Agent Hidden Fees

Sp3no

Moving from one rented property to another is a very costly experience, i am currently moving out of mine and into another, so far the costs to me have been as follows

Check out fee
£50
£40x2 Credit Check
£200 For all the administration fees
£600 Deposit
£600 Months rent

That kind of cash is not avaliable very easily, especially when 99.9% of the time it all has to be paid BEFORE you ever get your previous deposit back!! Which in my experience is ALWAYS minus some trivial amount.

Icelus

Hello again.

This is great, I've got lots of questions to ask in our meeting with the Letting Agent tomorrow, and have made a list of things that will hopefully counteract a lot of their argument.

I just have a question for caljoemor, as a Letting Agent, and that is, what does the admin fee cover?? This isn't meant to be sarcastic, I genuinely would like to know from someone less biased than the lady I will be speaking with tomorrow.

Thanks again. :-)

tbs624

You may find it interesting to look at the PDF "Let Down" available here http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/index/campaigns/policy_campaign_publications/evidence_reports/er_housing/let_down.htm.

The "admin fee" can be for anything the LA wants it to be, despite the fact that the LL is already paying a % of the rent as a fee to the LA.

gribbo2001

I work for a letting agent in Brighton and generally the fees in some places are astonomical. We're at the slightly cheaper end of the market (£130 per person - deals on multiples and one and a half fees for couples in a one bed/studio/etc). We also charge £47 for a check-in/out which is a total charge and not per person. Plus its quite common in Brighton for deposits to be 5-6 weeks worth of rent. We're usually a month plus £50 per person and this is held in a scheme and given back at the end subject to seeing final bills (protect LL from potential CCJs on the property) and the flat being as was.

Back to the matter at hand:
See if they'll do you a deal on fees and rent - its a tenants market until July so you can have some wiggle room here. Also point out that a recent BBC report said there are 52% more available property than there was last year.
Ask who the deposit is held with - TDS, mydeposits, etc. This needs to be held in a government scheme to give you ultimate protection.
If they give you the check in report at the signup you've got a week to make ammendments and make sure before you unpack you inspect everything, photograph if necessary and then email any ammendments to the agent who compiled the report.
After 2 weeks check your deposit has been lodged with the scheme - it has to be lodged by law within 2 weeks - and ask for your certificate.
Make sure you get a tenant copy of a current gas safety and a copy of the EPC so you can see how energy efficient your home is. If they cant provide an EPC then their client (LL) is liable for a £200 fine.

Hope that helps!! May also be worth getting a landlord and work reference before you go in - that may help you negotiate a bit off your fee. Worked when I moved into my girlfriends place - got it from £180 down to £100!

tbs624

gribbo2001 wrote: »

.... Plus its quite common in Brighton for deposits to be 5-6 weeks worth of rent. We're usually a month plus £50 per person and this is held in a scheme and given back at the end subject to seeing final bills (protect LL from potential CCJs on the property) and the flat being as was.

slight diversion but if the utility bills are the responsibility of the T under the terms of their tenancy agreement then any CCJ is awarded against the T, rather than the LL, and are awarded against a person not "on the property". Please let your bosses know

What does your agency include within that 130 quid charge and how much do they charge the LL as a % of rent? Do they further double dip by charging both the LL & the T for printing off the AST?

junkmayle

Our letting agents (ripping people off in Driffield since 1891) charge £70.50p to provide one landlords reference. Nowhere is this documented and, quite frankly, this is extortion, as few landlords will take you on without a current landlords reference. Anyone know what I can do about it?