[Tenant] £120 p.a. tenancy renewal fees !!

pinkshoes

A friend of mine discovered the letting agency he was using was also doing this, and was really p*ssed off with them, as he had no idea, and was quite happy to let the tenant go onto a periodic tenancy given they always paid their rent on time, and were good tenants!

I think it's an excellent idea contacting the landlord. I'd use 192.com or similar to see if you can verify the address you've been given, or I think you can get his address from the land registry, although this will cost a few £s.

poppysarah

Mr_Thrifty wrote: »

They have to cover the expense of processing your renewal, etc. Lettings agents are busy people and £120 is very cheap for a few hours of their time. They have to do the paperwork, make good this and that, and generally it's gonna cost you mate. We're talking money... BIG money.

*rolls eyes*

You a letting agent?

teebow

poppysarah wrote: »

*rolls eyes*

You a letting agent?

Haha, thought the same

tbs624

Mr_Thrifty wrote: »

They have to cover the expense of processing your renewal, etc. Lettings agents are busy people....

I can think of lots of other more appropriate adjectives to describe LAs...........:D

Mr_Thrifty wrote: »

....and £120 is very cheap for a few hours of their time. They have to do the paperwork, make good this and that, and generally it's gonna cost you mate. We're talking money... BIG money.

Most folk without training or qualifications generally bob along on a minimum wage - why should LAs be an exception? "Do the paperwork " = print out proforma tenancy agreement and ask two parties to sign.

"make good this and that" - they are paid by the LL to find someone to do repairs & maintenance.

LAs already benefit from renewals via the ongoing commission on rent: they work for the LL, not the T, and the LL can set down the costs of using one on their tax return.

DVardysShadow

teebow wrote: »

Thanks for your advices, G_M and BitterAndTwisted!

I think the letting agency thought about it; they've enclosed a "section 21" notice to the renewal letter.
It says


The noticed itselfs says:


Does that actually mean they're forcing me to sign for another fixed term (+paying their outrageous high fees) without not leaving me the choice to get in a periodic term?

Once again, your help and support is really appreciated!

I might be mistaken here, but I think that the Section 21 is invalidated by being synchronous with the offer to renew. I wouldn't tell the Agent, however - not till after it expires anyway - I would just research and check this point out.

N79

DVardysShadow wrote: »

I might be mistaken here, but I think that the Section 21 is invalidated by being synchronous with the offer to renew. I wouldn't tell the Agent, however - not till after it expires anyway - I would just research and check this point out.

That is certainly an argument that you could make but it is not black and white - a court may well decide that the S21 is valid.

The principle is that if a LL takes action after issuing a S21 which "goes against" the S21 then a court may decide that the LL's actions are inconsistent and thus the S21 has been "repealed" by the LL's actions. However, it would be for a court to decide if the LL's actions are inconsistent. The counter argument could be that offering a new tenancy on different terms (eg higher rent) is not necessarily inconsistent with wishing to end the current tenancy.

Arthritic_Toe

Mr_Thrifty wrote: »

They have to cover the expense of processing your renewal, etc. Lettings agents are busy people and £120 is very cheap for a few hours of their time. They have to do the paperwork, make good this and that, and generally it's gonna cost you mate. We're talking money... BIG money.

:rotfl:
Mr Thrifty's ironic posts seem to go over most peoples heads on here!

bristol_pilot

Fees are perfectly legal but you only pay them if you want to, the alternative is to move out. Why not rent directly from a landlord, there are usually no such fees - only rent and deposit. With house sales in the doldrums many agents are trying to screw over renters as an alternative.

Wings

As a private LL i would advise the OP to follow N79's sound advice, for what LL in their own right mind would evict a good paying tenant, talk to the LL direct.

teebow

Thanks everyone! Letter is done and will be posted tomorrow by Signed For delivery.
I will come back and let you all know how it goes, hoping it will help others in my situation.

Fingers crossed!