£60 'contract renewal fee' - every 6 months!

lucystardust

I moved into a shared house 6 months ago with my housemate, we've now had a letter from the letting agents saying that the contract now needs to be renewed for another 6 months, with a 1 page form to sign and send back. But it says we must include a £60 cheque with the form!!!

So it looks like we have to pay this blimming 'renewal charge' every 6 months. They don't manage our property, if we have problems we have to call the landlady, so we're basically paying £60 for them to send out a letter!

Is there any way of getting around this? I know it's a bit dodgy but I'm tempted to contact the landlady and ask if, in future, she wants to do a contract just between her and us so that both parties avoid this stupid fees.

ceh209

Speak to the landlady - if she's happy for you to go onto a periodic tenancy (which will happen automatically if you don't renew) then there's no need to pay the fees. The contract is between you and her anyway, not between you and the agency.

On the other hand, you don't get the security of knowing you can definitely stay there for 6 months, but the landlady should be able to tell you if she's happy with you staying there generally!

Also check if you've been (properly) served with a S21 notice sometime during your fixed term - as if you have then the landlady can just chuck you out at the end of the fixed term. Someone else on here will be able to tell you more details about that.

maginot

Our letting agency did this, except it was only £30 every 6 months. I stopped paying it after the first 2 payments and just reverted to a month by month tenancy. Been here for 3 years now. The agency do send you the occassional reminder letter, but have a good relationship with the landlord and they can ask you to leave after the 6 months anyway, so having 2 months wasn't a massive difference. Not for £60 a year anyway!!!

lucystardust

To be honest I think I'd prefer a rolling month by month contract anyway, because we'd rather not be tied to 6 month periods. Both me and my housemate have jobs where there is talk of redundancies, so a month-by-month contract would suit me incase (god forbid) I needed to quickly move back in with my parents temporarily.

Do you think the letting agency & landlady are likely to agree to a rolling contract if we ask for one?

ceh209

You can only ask. The letting agency may make a fuss, but if the landlady wants it then they pretty much have to go along with it.

The landlady will be more happy if you've always paid your rent on time, haven't caused any real damage to the house, and if you explain your job situation then I'm sure she'd prefer it, as she won't want the possible trouble of someone who's tied into a contract with no money to pay for it in a few months time!

maginot

You will automatically go onto a month by month contact if you just ignore the letter. They will now need to give you 2 months notice to vacate the property and you are able to give one. As mentioned they may have issued an S21, but this is unlikely if they offering a further 6 month tenancy.
The costs of advertising and showing people around, along with the added risk of the place being vacant and also the unknown in the the new tenant (presuming you have been a good tenant), they are unlikely to serve notice for not renewing a 6 month tenancy!

lucystardust

Thanks for your advice. I'll definitely tell them we'd like to go to a rolling contract.

We pay our rent by standing order, the house is spotless and we've only ever had to ring the l/lady once to get permission to put up picture hooks, since that was required in the contract! So since we've been such good tenants hopefully a rolling contract will be fine with them.

G_M

Just refuse to sign the new contract. As explained you automatically move onto a periodic tenancy.
Let the Landlady know so she's not perturbed, but as explained, losing good tenants is every landlords nightmare - it's expensive, time-consuming and hassle. And they never know what the next tenant will be like till after they've moved in!

martindow

You might also be saving the LL some money too as the agent no doubt charges her a fee as well. The only problem is that the LL may have little or no knowledge of the options and is likely to be pressured by the agent to insist on new contracts.

poppysarah

It's a con IMO.
Shouldn't be allowed. I would class it as an unfair charge but you'd have to be prepared to not pay it and argue the toss over it.

Any sane judge should rule it unfair - but it's a risk.