Letting agent charges - reasonable or not?

tbs624

dawyldthing wrote: »

i've rented a few times and never paid the fees as i've always found the houses on gumtree or somewhere online. There is a lettings side on rightmove too, don't think its private landlords tho

The properties are those of private LLs, private LLs who let through an agent (as opposed to social housing LLs)

adg1

Challenge the non refundable bit.

It sounds like a percentage holding fee + credit checks.

If you pull out you should get it back,

Or, get the full postcode, put it into RightMove and see if the house miraculously pops up with another, cheaper agent.

Edit - forgot to add - use this as ammunition to get teh agent to reduce fees accordingly, price match rather than to use other agent to avoid double commission being payable from the landlord.

wonderman

Sorry for late follow up - in the end the LA reduced the fees by 50%. They were still the most expensive local agent but not by the ridiculous amount that they were originally. I think most LLs do not consider these charges when deciding which LA to use.

tbs624

Thanks for posting back - glad your persistence paid off for you.

Unfortunately, many LLs only check the fees which will be payable to the LA by them

wonderman

That is EXACTLY the problem.