Russells - High and odd check-out fees (rental)

Duncpott

This must raise some eyebrows. Our rental agency, Russells in Cambridge, are asking for the following fees upon early release from a one-year lease. These seem a little high and, item d, surely can't be legal?

a) Check-out fee: £385 (as > 3 months before tenancy contract ends)
b) Portable Appliance Testing fee: £45 (for next tenants)
c) Cleaning fee, 2 bedrooms, £145
d) Also "Ten working days will be required after your vacation and the new tenancy commencing and you will be responsible for rental payments during this time"


All of this was in the original lease, except for item b) for which the lease said only 'PAT testing: as applicable" and item 'd' which is not mentioned in the lease at all.

This makes total early checkout, cleaning and PAT charges of £575 plus the 'd' charges of 10 days rental, which at £715 pcm work out at an additional £238.

Does this sound like usual practice? We've rented for years and never come across paying PAT charges for the next tenants, nor this 10-day forced rental after tenancy ends before?

We also had to spend over £250 replacing cat-urine soaked carpets which we didn't notice as the bungalow was profesisonally cleaned prior to moving in, masking the odour. As this was outside of their 7-day notification period after move-in, they claim no responsibility. The place was uninhabitable in one bedroom and hallway because of the smell.

When we moved in, the toilet was leaking at the base, knobs were broken on the gas cooker, gas boiler cover plate was held on by sticky tape and so on. These were all fixed by the landlady's repair man, promptly. We're professionals, and have leased the place for 18 months now.

Thanks.

sooz

But your tenancy isn't ending. You are asking to leave early, and in such circumstances reletting fees are common. These can be negotiated, but ultimately if you don't like their charges, you do have the option to fulfill your side of the contract.

If d) wasn't in the contract you signed, you can challenge this, but the rest you agreed to. You could have negotiated and had these clauses removed before you signed the contract, rather than disputing them some 9 months later.

princeofpounds

These charges are largely spurious and excessive. But as noted the landlord is not obligated to release you from a contract early so there us always a question of negotiable 'charges'.

HOWEVER... You have a contract with the landlord, not the LA. You may well find that all these charges do not find their way to the landlord at all and have unilaterally been added by the LA.

So it may be worth contacting the landlord direct and seeing if the LA are offering him the other side of the deal they have presented to you or not.

He might even be prepared to self-manage the
check out etc for less than the agent's extortionate demands and release you from the contract. You only need his permission to surrender the tenancy early, screw the EA.

Or he may not care about your plight or that the agent is likely using his power to screw you.

And PAT testing is not legally required at all and really of little practical use either. Nice little earner for LA's electrician...