Agent wants £240+Vat non refundable referencing fee!

vapd

Get this, Sandersons Lettings want a non refundable referencing fee and an admin fee to let a property. Shame, I liked the place I looked at yesterday. Thoughts? I am in no way saying that Sandersons Lettings (formally The Letting Shop) are charging more than any other agency nor am I suggesting profiteering or overcharging in any way.

Terms and Conditions:

1. Referencing fee £240 + VAT This fee covers the costs involved in processing your references for up
to 2 people. All persons over the age of 18 will be referenced and shall be required to sign the tenancy
agreement and additional parties who need to be referenced are charged at £50 + VAT per person (this
includes a guarantor if required). All administration fees are non refundable if your application is unsuccessful
for whatever reason.
2. Holding fee This is equivalent to the first month’s rent. At the time of payment this fee is used to hold
the property while references are checked. If you decide not to rent the property before you sign the tenancy
agreement part, or the entire fee will be used to compensate the Landlord. Calculations will be made based
on the daily rent of the property held. Payment may be made by credit (3% surcharge) or debit card, cheque
with guarantee card or bankers draft. All cheques must clear before referencing starts.
3. Identification You will be required to provide Sandersons with proof of photo identification (passport or
UK driving licence) before we start the referencing process. You will also be required to produce a mobile
phone or utility bill (within the last 6 months) as proof of your current address. In the event that you cannot
produce a Utility Bill please produce a Bank statement.
4. Security deposit! On or before the day you sign your tenancy agreement, you will need to pay, in
cleared funds, a security deposit usually equivalent to one and a half months rent (150%) rounded up to the
nearest £50. This is a refundable deposit and will be registered with one of the Tenant Deposit Schemes.
Sandersons will register all deposits for landlords who have opted for either a Managed or Rent and Collect
Service. Please check with your negotiator which level of service your landlord has opted for. Where the
landlord has chosen a Let Only Service the deposit will be paid over to the landlord to protect with the tenancy
deposit scheme of their choice.
5. Administration fee A fee of £55 + VAT is payable per property for the administration in preparing the
legal documentation. This is a one off fee.

jjlandlord

£288 non re-fundable for "referencing" + £55 admin fee: Outrageous. If anything if should be the contrary and many agents offer a full refund if referencing fails.

a security deposit usually equivalent to one and a half months rent (150%) rounded up to the nearest £50

Problem with dealing with decimals?

vapd

Oh, I didnt say anything about overcharging and profiteering. I'll just edit a little though.

Also should add this bit that I only read after I posted:

7. Tenant's contents insurance scheme You are required to carry adequate insurance for your own
contents. In addition your policy must provide cover for accidental damage to your landlord's contents. We
work in partnership with Homelet Insurance. Once you have passed references they will contact you to
arrange cover, alternatively you can phone them on 0845 117600 quoting the Sandersons member number
1508685 which will identify you as one of our tenants and entitle you to a more competitive quotation. We will
need to see proof of this cover on or before your tenancy commencement date.

I wonder if this charge would be good value?

I know the owner of the property has a number of places around my area. I wonder if it would be worth contacting him and what would be the best way of doing so?

jjlandlord

theartfullodger wrote: »

Thoughts? Mentioning SANDERSONS LETTINGS for, allegedly, overcharging & profiteering by charging £240 is probably unwise

You are claiming that, Artful . OP only made a statement of fact, quoting the agent's own documentation.

vapd wrote: »

I wonder if this charge would be good value?

Imo, the landlord should insure his belongings, and tenant should be free to insure his belongings or not.
Some agents try to force the tenant to insure landlord's belongings although landlord insurances can provide such cover. Imo in most case it does look like a way for them to make a commission.
In any case, you are free to insure with any insurer you like.

theartfullodger

vapd wrote: »

7. Tenant's contents insurance scheme You are required to carry adequate insurance for your own
contents. In addition your policy must provide cover for accidental damage to your landlord's contents. We
work in partnership with Homelet Insurance. Once you have passed references they will contact you to
arrange cover, alternatively you can phone them on 0845 117600 quoting the Sandersons member number
1508685 which will identify you as one of our tenants and entitle you to a more competitive quotation. We will
need to see proof of this cover on or before your tenancy commencement date.

Unenforceable (OFT say so)
http://www.oft.gov.uk/OFTwork/publications/publication-categories/guidance/unfair-terms-consumer/oft356
page 52, 4.4 ...

compulsory insurance – we object in particular to terms requiring
tenants to purchase specific insurance, or insurance provided by an
insurer specified by the landlord or agent. This may provide the
landlord or agent with additional income by way of commission at the

but, as with the £240+ if you want that property you have to play by their rules. It is up to LL to have sensible Insurance cover: He cannot insist you have any cover. The way round this one is to smile & agree, set the policy up 1 day before move-in date (so you get the keys..- over the 'phone on on't t'InterWeb but NOT IN PERSON FACE2FACE) then 1 day after move in cancel it under "Distance selling regulations"
http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/index/your_world/consumer_affairs/buying_services_your_rights.htm

which give you 7 days IIRC to change your mind.

They are only doing it to get the commission backhander.. perhaps, aye, right,.... I'm sure SANDERSONS LETTINGS will be along later to clarify matters..

Problem to my mind is, on the basis of info here, they clearly only care about their own profit and the man on the clapham omnibus might speculate that they won't concentrate on their real job of looking after LL & tenant's interests. The man on clapham... might be wrong of course..

vapd

Thanks for all the info.

You know I really dont like the T&C, I've now read further down the list and it also says that the admin fee of £55+vat is chargeable every time the tenancy is renewed. So I would presume thats every 6 months.

Can anyone suggest a way of contacting the landlord direct? A way of getting this info from the agency? When I viewed the place yesterday I asked the agency person about the landlord and they said that he owned a few places and would be redecorating before the property was let again. So I think this means he must be local and one never knows before asking if he really realises just how much money the agency are making from his property. A bit of a rambling paragraph but I think you will understand.

An example, I've been talking to a friend of mine about his experience: About 7/8 years ago a friend of mine was renting a place through an agency and after 6 months that agency wanted £150 from him to renew. He contacted the landlord direct and found that the agency was also charging the landlord to renew. Only even more than he was being charged. Obviously the two parties decided they could come up with a better solution.

PasturesNew

Virtually £300 written off, every time you move. Outrageous. I'd walk.

More and more are jumping on this bandwagon. Then, after 6 months, there's another £55 + VAT "new contract" fee, for printing off 4 sheets of A4 and sticking them in an envelope.

These charges are hidden, they don't tell you what their charges are until you've chosen somewhere.

99% are racketeering power freaks.

There used to be no credit checking, you'd view a place and be offered it if you didn't smell of wee or twitch ... and there'd be no fees to the tenant, the agents would take a %age off the landlord. And when it was time to leave it'd be a simple/straight forward month's notice.

Too many fees, too many hoops these days.

Callie22

We've just paid admin fees of £240 to an agency, plus a fee of £30 to protect our deposit. It's absolutely extortionate, especially as I know for a fact they didn't contact any of our references, the contract was just a few photocopied pages, the house wasn't cleaned and the inventory is awful. Problem is, it's rare to find enough properties on the market to shop around when you *need* to move, so you tend not to have a choice. The LA are also nagging us to get 'Tenant's Insurance' through Homelet at £10 a month, and presumably a bung to the LA.

tbs624

Find a LL who self manages their properties: you are still likely to be charged for "credit checks" but at a rate more in line with the actual cost incurred by the LL.

On Callie22's comments - it is outrageous that LLs should charge Ts to protect the tenancy deposit and Ts should complain to their MPs and the Housing Minister.

It's the LL who is legally required to get that registration done and it is s/he who chooses *which* scheme is used. If s/he wishes not to use the free DPS then it is s/he who should foot the bill IMO: it's a tax deductible expense for a LL.

Take detailed photos on both move in and move out, and make sure that the inventory adequately reflects the state of the property. Photos should include down the lav,on top of shelves, inside white goods etc plus any outside space.

Callie22

tbs624 wrote: »

On Callie22's comments - it is outrageous that LLs should charge Ts to protect the tenancy deposit and Ts should complain to their MPs and the Housing Minister.

It's the LL who is legally required to get that registration done and it is s/he who chooses *which* scheme is used. If s/he wishes not to use the free DPS then it is s/he who should foot the bill IMO: it's a tax deductible expense for a LL.

It seems to have become standard (in my town at least) to charge the tenants to protect the deposit. Pretty much every agency we spoke to is charging the tenants a fee, ranging from £25 to £50. What's frustrating is that our deposit has now been protected with the 'free to use' DPS. The problem I have as a tenant is how far I can go with the LA, in pointing out just what they're doing wrong. The amount it's cost us to move this time is ridiculous (we've had to find well over £2k) and there's no way we can afford to do this again in six months. I don't really want to end up with the LA recommending that the tenancy not be renewed because we're 'difficult' (in their eyes).

Gleeful

I'm ashamed to admit we paid around £240 to COUNTRYWIDE for 'admin' when we moved in. It's a joke.

Not to mention we are still without an oven and the tap is broken so constantly has a stream of water coming out of it....2 months after first contacting them about it.

Absolutely disgusting. Should be moving into a house of our own at the end of the month, can't wait, although I do know that homeowning has it's own problems and responsibilities!