Contract Renewal

rchrisp

we recently received a letter from the estate agent handling our property asking if we wanted to renew our tenancy, which we obviously said yes to.

3 weeks later, we received a letter on lovely thick paper confirming that the tenancy had been renewed, and a bill for £115 + VAT for the privledge of them changing a few dates on a sheet of paper, demanding payment within 14 days!

we physically cannot afford this (just scrape by with the rent as it is), what can they do if we do not pay?

all the agents do is collect rent and issue the contract, we have a separate managing agent we arrange all repairs through who are lovely.

DVardysShadow

Did the initial letter advise there would be a fee? Is a fee mentioned in either the old contract or the new?

Because if it ain't, then there is no basis on which they can claim.

rchrisp

there's nothing in the renewal letter, in the extension contract it says "the landlord and tenant agree that each party will pay costs including VAT of drafting the extension agreement."

we were not advised of this beforehand... what can we do?

tbs624

Have you or the LL actually signed the "extension contract" yet ? Has the original Fixed Term expired yet?

If not, then tell them that unless they waive the fee, which should have been expressly mentioned by them in the preliminary discussions, then you are happy for the tenancy to simply continue as a statutory periodic tenancy. This occurs when a T stays on after expiry of the original Fixed Term and the LL has not sought a repossession order.

rchrisp

tbs624 wrote: »

Have you or the LL actually signed the "extension contract" yet ? Has the original Fixed Term expired yet?

If not, then tell them that unless they waive the fee, which should have been expressly mentioned by them in the preliminary discussions, then you are happy for the tenancy to simply continue as a statutory periodic tenancy. This occurs when a T stays on after expiry of the original Fixed Term and the LL has not sought a repossession order.

i dont know if the LL has signed it yet, we have no contact with him, its all through the managing agent. we haven't sent the signed contract back yet and the fixed term is due to expire on the 21st.

i have had nothing but problems with this estate agency. they delayed giving us the keys by two days last year due to the snow, and cancelled the inventory visit due to the weather, so i had to do it all myself. it said in the contract if we did not show up for the inventory assessment they would charge us £75, yet they cancelled even though we attended and didn't compensate us? i didn't make a song or dance about it, but am certainly tempted to now.

thriftyjoe

Good luck sorting this out, I hate how renting works, seems that you have to pay a fee for everything. Doesn't get much better when you are buying a house, I'm even paying someone £50 for an electronic money transfer, swear I could do that online for free.

If you do have to pay and you plan on staying for a while may be worth asking for as longer contract as possible so it's less time till you have to pay again

F_T_Buyer

Why not just ignore it, when it goes past the 21st (I.e. tomorrow) you will be on an ast.

Alternatively, just write back objecting to the fee. Don't sign the contract!

tbs624

F_T_Buyer wrote: »

Why not just ignore it, when it goes past the 21st (I.e. tomorrow) you will be on an ast.

Alternatively, just write back objecting to the fee. Don't sign the contract!

The OP is already "on an AST" - which would then
become a statutory periodic:)

Wings

tbs624 wrote: »

The OP is already "on an AST" - which would then
become a statutory periodic:)

Agree, as you quite rightly stated after the 21st the Assured Shorthold Tenancy has now rolled over into a Periodic Tenancy, the same being a monthly contract tenancy, with the same only being ended by the LL/LA serving two months Notice. That same Notice being dated and served from the 21st day of any month, with the next possible date now being 21st January 2011.

rchrisp

thanks for all your help.

im in the process of writing an email to the managing agents who are usually very helpful and aren't too keen on the estate agents either, basically stating that we want to stay here for a good few years but object to this annual fee, to see whether they can do anything about it.

G_M

rchrisp wrote: »

thanks for all your help.

im in the process of writing an email to the managing agents who are usually very helpful and aren't too keen on the estate agents either, basically stating that we want to stay here for a good few years but object to this annual fee, to see whether they can do anything about it.

The 'managing agents'? As opposed to the 'estate agents'? Who exactly do you mean? If this is a flat with a management company, they are nothing to do with your tenancy.

Your contract is with a landlord (whose name should be on the tenancy agreement), who may have delegated the managing of the tenancy to a letting agent/estate agent.

Write to the landlord or his (letting) agent.

On the other hand, if by 'managing agent' you mean the (letting) agent to whom the LL has delegated control of the tenancy, then who do you mean by 'estate agent' and what is/was their role?