Agent wants payslips, B,statements and holding deposit

kmmr

theartfullodger wrote: »

Thanks (>?) What does

mean??

i think there is a t missing there!

'you have not meT me lol'

G_M

bristol_pilot wrote: »

If you rent from a private landlord you will have none of these problems. Agents rip off tenants but the good news is they rip off landlords too so quite a few landlords don't use them.

Holding deposits are not all that common in the UK and are of doubtful legality - especially where a holding deposit has been taken from multiple tenants against the same property (who will then find that they have 'failed the credit check' and lost their deposits). This is a scam and possible fraud. Credit checks are becoming common but are unjustified because the tenant is not being offered credit (rent being paid in advance). Credit checks are useless as 'affordability checks' as they do not check income. The real reason for the credit check is so that the agent can charge a fee that vastly exceeds the cost of the check, which is most likely not done anyway. Do not give copies of bank statements or payslips to agents! You will be wide open to identity theft and fraud. If they really wanted to check your income, they would have asked for the name and address of your employer and your permission to disclose salary.

Rent from a private landlord and all you will pay is one month's rent in advance plus one month's rent as a deposit against damages. You will also get better value for your rent as the landlord will not be paying a agents fees.

What a load of rubbish!
I rarely use agents other than to find prospective tenants. I reference them and issue contracts myself.

Yes, I charge for referencing but at the cost I get charged by the referencing service.
I ALWAYS reference, checking for debt, bankruptcy, county court judgements, salary etc. This is to protect my investment as best I can by ensuring my tenants a) can afford the rent and b) are reliable and likely to pay.

I take a deposit of more than a months rental - usually 1 1/2.

I take a holding deposit while this goes on since I stop marketing the property, and if the rental falls through (tenant changes mind, undeclared CCJ appears) I've lost a week or whatever when I could have been getting a reliable tenant in place. However if the tenancy IS agreed then I deduct the holding deposit from the first month's rent.

The rent I charge is the market rent for the area. I save money by not using an agent but that simply compensates me for the time I devote to doing what the agent would have done!

Don't believe that 'private' landlords are more lax!

PasturesNew

40% of my income wouldn't rent me a shed where I live. These days, for singles, you often have to part with 50-60% of income for rent, with a search radius of about 20 miles that can get you about 6 dodgy looking flats to consider.

If they want 40%, they should put the rents down

charlie792

PasturesNew wrote: »

40% of my income wouldn't rent me a shed where I live. These days, for singles, you often have to part with 50-60% of income for rent, with a search radius of about 20 miles that can get you about 6 dodgy looking flats to consider.

If they want 40%, they should put the rents down

I agree - the majority of places in my area are at least 50% if not more of our income, 40% will probably get you a grotty bedsit in the roughside of the city at best.

Brb

G_M wrote: »

However if the tenancy IS agreed then I deduct the holding deposit from the first month's rent.

My present LLs did this - the holding deposit was used towards first month's rent and I must admit I wanted to kiss him haha! I've privately rented the majority of my adult life and this is the FIRST time that's happened!

Wish it was an industry standard.

voytovdwiof

Brb wrote: »

My present LLs did this - the holding deposit was used towards first month's rent and I must admit I wanted to kiss him haha! I've privately rented the majority of my adult life and this is the FIRST time that's happened!

Wish it was an industry standard.

I'm a first time renter (1st december move in) and this is what my letting agents did, I thought it was standard! That sucks if most don't :-(

Brb

voytovdwiof wrote: »

I'm a first time renter (1st december move in) and this is what my letting agents did, I thought it was standard! That sucks if most don't :-(

Yup I've used 3 LAs through the years and every 1 has kept the holding deposit as just that, a holding deposit and complete month's rent + deposit (plus having paid admin fees/credit check fees) had to be paid too.

Shame the coalition government shelved plans to regulate the industry.