is this a normal practice

jayward

hi,
my son went to view a house last night and the letting agent.wanted to charge 100 pounds to submit a application for the house .
i have never heard of this is it normal practice?

david29dpo

Not in the present climate, no.

Batchy

yes its pretty normal...

I have paid it in the past... but obviously he can discuss a waiver...

this is the cost of an agent representing a landlord, for all they know your son could be wasting their time as he knows he will fail a credit check they have to pay for! and process plus possibly send off references...

theartfullodger

Unfortunately they can pretty much charge what they like.

And, by the way, AFAIK you need no qualifications or training or certificates to set up as a letting agent. There are some good agents and some right dodgy a***oles...

Problem is, if your son wants that place he has to play to their rules... Otherwise try elsewhere...

If you really want to raise the stakes and increase the chances of being told to go elsewhere... go to the Land Registry @
http://www.landregistry.gov.uk/wps/portal/Property_Search

- where for £3 british you can get the name of the owner (if and only if the property is registered). You could then ask him if he's happy with what the agent is doing. Landlord will probably tell you to f-off...

Cheers!

Lodger

ClareEmily

Yes we had to do the same, and when the landlord decided to let to another couple and £100 chq was returned. It was to make sure we were serious about renting the property.

tbs624

*Before* paying out any fees any T should always get clear *written* confirmation of the full amount of any fees payable to set the tenancy up, and a statement of the circumstances under which any or part of those fees will be refundable to the T should the tenancy not proceed.

So, for example, this LA could ask for £100, which covers the actual costs (of around 50 quid) of a comprehensive credit check and , as Batch says, maybe a bit of thier time in following up employers/bankers/previous LL references. Those clear and then the LA comes back & says

"yes, we can go forward, now gimme £125 tenancy agreement fee, £100 inventory fee, and a £50 general "you are sitting in my office fee", plus a months rent in advance and your tenancy deposit equivalent to a month and a half's rent."

You then are stuck with either walking away & losing your original £100 quid or being obliged to pay the additional fees to get the property.

Try the local LL association for LLs who self manage - they tend only to charge the actual costs of the credit check.

tbs624

ClareEmily wrote: »

Yes we had to do the same, and when the landlord decided to let to another couple and £100 chq was returned. It was to make sure we were serious about renting the property.

And what does the LA give you to show that he is serious? Most Ts have to give an enormous amount of personal information to apply for a tenancy: I think few people would do that if they weren't a serious applicant.