Experiences landlords please advise: is letting agent taking the mick?

Windsorcastle

I have been letting out my property for 2 1/2 years through a chain of agents in SE London. I have had the same tenant during this time, initially on an 18 month contract and then renewed for another 12 months. However, I don't trust the agent at all. At regular intervals (every 6 months or so), they phone me up about some minor issue (no hot water/water leak, etc) and say they will send round a workman to sort the problem out. They always deduct £100 from my rent for each of these incidents. The thing is I have no way of knowing whether these are genuine maintenance issues or just a rip-off. I have NEVER been sent an invoice/receipt for any of these jobs that have supposedly been carried out, despite asking several times. They never even come back to me after the initial call to say whether the problem has been resolved. I also asked them to arrange for the gutters to be cleared a few months ago - again they charged £100 for this, but I have received no confirmation that this has been done, or any proof.

Also, is it normally the landlord who is expected to pay the fee for the renewal of the tenancy? Each time, they charge me £80 but I note from other threads here that the charge is often applied to teh tenants - is it likley they charge both the LL and the tenant or am I being ripped off?

There are several other examples of laziness/incompetence I could mention, but all in all, the service I get from the agent is rubbish, and I end up with stress anyway, because I often end up sorting things out myself just because I don't trust them.

I'm inclined to dump the agency but the tenants want to renew for another year and I don't want to jeopardise that.

Any advice from experienced landlords would be gratefully received...

clutton_2

they are taking the mick...... read your agreement wiht them and see how much notice you need to give them and come back to us...

yes some LAs charge the LL AND the tenant to renew an agreement

Annisele

I think that it's unlikely that your decision to manage the property yourself would put the Ts off renewing for another year.

My experience (admittedly as a T) has been that every time I think the LA is useless my LL agrees with me; you might find that your Ts are just as annoyed with the LA as you are.

G_M

You have a right to receipts/invoices for their charges.
They probobly charge the tenants for renewals too.

Have you ever visited the property to inspect the work they do?
When they call to say work is needed, have you ever checked either by speaking to the tenants or visiting?

The EA sound like they are taking the mick, but you are making it all to easy for them! You are the landlord. It is your property. You are legally responsible for evrything that goes on - ie if there is no gas safety certificate it is YOU who is responsible. Start taking some responsibility for your business.

Yes you could change the agents (subject to the notice terms you agreed with them), or you could manage the property yourself, save the (10%? 12%?) you pay them AND know what extras are being spent.

Why should the tenants care as long as you manage it well. If repairs are done efficiently, gas safety certificates issues etc the tenants will be happy.

Windsorcastle

Thanks so much for the responses so far, that's been really helpful. I agree that I need to stop making it so easy for the LA, so I contacted the tenants directly for the first time last night - they were really happy to hear from me and confirmed that they are not overly impressed with the LA either. I've obvioulsy been very naive cos I was shocked to hear that they are charged £90 a throw for each renewal of contract, as am I.

Having done a bit more research, I have now contacted the LA asking them not to renew an AST but to allow the agreement to roll over as a Statutory Periodic Tenancy which seems fine to me and offer the tenants the same protection, but allows them to leave with a month's notice. The tenants have always been impeccable so I've no reason to doubt them and they assure me they want to stay for 12 months anyway.

I have also told the LA I want to continue on a Let Only basis rather than fully managed, as their service has been rubbish anyway. I've been through all my correspondence and they have never contacted me about renewing the Gas Safety Cert so I need to get this done asap.

Does this sound like I am doing the right thing?? Apart from the Gas cert, and LL insurance which I already have, is there anything else I am legally obliged to have in place if I'm managing the let myself? Also, will the LA continue to collect the rent or will I have to get the tenants to pay directly to me?

If anyone can set my mind at rest I would be most grateful as always.

Cheers!

tbs624

The vexed question of tenancy renewal fees crop on here on a regular basis and many of us have pointed out that LLs are all too frequently unaware of the charges levied on their Ts by LAs who generally do very little to earn their charges.Join the RLA, NLA or a local affiliated branch and/or sign up to LL Law. .....membership fees tax deductible, discount on your LL insurances etc plus much useful guidance.

Assuming property is in E/Wales & that rent is currently under £25k per annum.....

Look up your LL repairing obligations under S11 of the LL & T Act 1985 and google HHSRS (Housing Health and Safety Rating System)

Read up on tenancy deposit schemes - do you know with which scheme the tenant's deposit has been registered? Has the T been given the scheme's "prescribed info"?

Trawl Shelter's excellent webpages so that you have a clear understanding of your tenant's rights and your own legal obligations. Your Ts are obviously happy enough to stay put but its best to get the knowledge in place *before* an issue arises.

Get that gas safety cert done pronto - hefty fines for LLs who fail to meet their obligations under gas safety regs. Note that you are required to hold on to your certs for 2 years.

chucknorris

Windsorcastle wrote: »

I have been letting out my property for 2 1/2 years through a chain of agents in SE London. I have had the same tenant during this time, initially on an 18 month contract and then renewed for another 12 months. However, I don't trust the agent at all. At regular intervals (every 6 months or so), they phone me up about some minor issue (no hot water/water leak, etc) and say they will send round a workman to sort the problem out. They always deduct £100 from my rent for each of these incidents. The thing is I have no way of knowing whether these are genuine maintenance issues or just a rip-off. I have NEVER been sent an invoice/receipt for any of these jobs that have supposedly been carried out, despite asking several times. They never even come back to me after the initial call to say whether the problem has been resolved. I also asked them to arrange for the gutters to be cleared a few months ago - again they charged £100 for this, but I have received no confirmation that this has been done, or any proof.

Also, is it normally the landlord who is expected to pay the fee for the renewal of the tenancy? Each time, they charge me £80 but I note from other threads here that the charge is often applied to teh tenants - is it likley they charge both the LL and the tenant or am I being ripped off?

There are several other examples of laziness/incompetence I could mention, but all in all, the service I get from the agent is rubbish, and I end up with stress anyway, because I often end up sorting things out myself just because I don't trust them.

I'm inclined to dump the agency but the tenants want to renew for another year and I don't want to jeopardise that.

Any advice from experienced landlords would be gratefully received...

I don't use agents, although I have in the past on rare occassions like when I was away on holiday and when the market was poor for a short time.

I have managed my properties for 19 years and I think you will find that tenants appreciate a decent private LL a lot more than a letting agent. I am a chartered surveyor so I suppose it was a easier for me to start doing it myself. You as the LL will be a lot more motivated than most if not all LA's to promptly deal with any issues arising and the tenants will appreciate this. Of course you have to work at it, but you will be rewarded for this by saving on substantial LA's fees, and in your case the additional fees that you are being charged too. Your tenants too will save on the high fees that LA's charge them. You will probably find that your tenants stay with you longer, on average my tenants tend to stay for about 3-4 years and mostly move due to a change in circumstances such as buying their own place, moving to another area or moving in with their partner. If you want any specific advice feel free to PM me. I can advise you contracts etc but I would recomend that you join an organisation such as the NLA or RLA, I am in the NLA even though I don't tend to need advice very often, but over the years you will come across something new occassionally, but you would almost certainly need advice if you have not dealt with managing your properties before.

CapitanPugwash

Also be aware that there is a lot of competition in London for lettings agents. I have used a letting agent on one flat where I was getting the wrong type of tenant applying. I asked for them to introduce a tenant for which I would pay one fee for the initial tenant finding, referencing & check-in. I use my tenancy agreement and my own inventory clerk. This fee should be 8-10% + VAT for the 12 month contract with NO further renewal fees.

Then I tell them that when the tenant leaves I will give them the letting fee again for the renewal. Some will um and ah but you don't have to be agressive or rude- tell them it's up to them and you will try elsewhere.

The tenant then has your phone number and will contact you at 8am saying the washing machine is leaking. At 9am call the washing machine repair man (who must not sell washing machines) who agrees to contact the tenant to organise appointment. Text tenant again with repair man's number and tell them I will get invoice. At 2pm tetx tenant to check appointment organised. Next afternoon washing machine repair man calls to say that the machine is irreperable. Find replacement immediately on internet/shop and call/e-mail tenant to arrange replacement. With less than 5 days, the tenant has a replacement and thanks you for being so prompt.

Using a letting agent, the above could easily take 2 weeks and leave the tenant thoroughly dischuffed.

As for the gutters/immersion ect at £100 a pop!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Find a local handyman (maybe through a referral site if you cannot get a recommendation) and each visit should be costing £25-£50 for this sort of stuff. Pay them IMMEDIATELY by return of invoice and you will end up with a responsive and quick responsive for the smaller stuff. Tenants will love it. Win-Win!

The only caution is that your current LA will still require monthly fees until the end of this contract.

Windsorcastle

Thanks so much for all the great advice kindly posted about my issue with the LA. I told them I was really unhappy about them not reminding me re: the gas safety check and that I wanted to take back management of the property - their response was to pressurise me to leave them managing the property at a 'very special reduced rate' of 12.5% instead of the whopping 15% I have been paying for the last 2 1/2 years!!

I spoke to my sister who is a solicitor and agreed with everyone on here that the LA was outrageous. I wrote to the Manager (bypassing the silly rude girl who has been managing the property) and explained in great detail all the issues, including the fact that I held them responsible for not ensuring there was gas safety certificate, and they had thereby endangered my tenants, and also listing my other grievances, including the fact they have never provided me with invoices for work carried out, did not renew contracts in time, etc etc. I was able to quote from the Supply of Goods and Services Act and another statute that covers unfair terms of trading. I told them I was refusing to give the 3 months notice they requested and was proposing to take back management of the property with immediate effect, due to their breach of contract and professional negligence. I also gave them a list of demands to be carried out within 24 hours, including declaring all contracts null and void, returning the renewal fee to my tenants, and supplying all invoices for work carried out. I informed them that if they didn't do all these things, I would make a full report to Trading Standards and take legal action to reclaim all my management fees.

The result was amazing!! By the end of that day, the Manager sent me a very apologetic letter, basically conceding every point I made, other than about the time delay in issuing the new tenancy agreement. They gave me back immediate management of teh property and had already sent my tenants and myself a letter confirming this and returning the tenants' fee. They also agreed they would return the deposit to me with written authorisation on both sides, and have now done this. They sent me by email and post, every single invoice I had been asking for. They were clearly very very worried, as well they should be.

I now intend to ask them to compensate me for a proportion of the management fees which I feel I am entitled to as they have already acknowledged in writing that they failed on many counts.

My advice to anyone else would be to stand up these sharks, but make sure you know your stuff before you quote the law and make sure your letter is really well-written and professional. Also make sure what you are asking for is reasonable, as if you just go in, demanding loads of compo, they won't take you seriously.

My tenants are happy too, now that they got their fee back and don't need to contact the LA again and I am issuing them with a new contract and have protected the deposit in another scheme.

Everyone's happy, apart from the LA!

So thanks again - this website is a brilliant source of advice and I wouldn't have known how to sort this out without the advice I was given. :T:rotfl: