Put deposit down to rent now EA changing rent amount before we have moved in?

Pink.Sara

I have put down a £200 cash "holding deposit" on a rental property and agreed a term of 12 months at £595 a month rent. Now my estate agent is trying to force me to agree to 6 months at £650 a month. We are due to move in 4 weeks and this would change our moving in day costs from £1669.00 to £1999.00 which we cannot afford. Can they do this? And can I ask that the first month (and hence deposit and fees) remain the same, then change to £650 but for 12 months?
Thanks in advance for any advice!

maninthestreet

Did you sign a contract???

Pink.Sara

maninthestreet wrote: »

Did you sign a contract???

We haven't signed the full contract or tenancy agreement yet, we are supposed to do that the day we move in. We have however signed Tenant Information Sheet, (with Ocean lettings) which agrees a 12 month tenancy and sets out the rent amount, deposit amount, fees and VAT. And has an agreed amount to be paid on the moving date.
It is all subject to references and credit checks which have come back clear, but now thy have moved the goalposts and have £200 of my money to hold me to it.

jjlandlord

Pink.Sara wrote: »

now thy have moved the goalposts and have £200 of my money to hold me to it.

No.
The £200 holding deposit is subject to the conditions agreed when you paid it.
Now they are backing out by changing the conditions, so if you refuse to agree to them they should refund all of what you paid.

GAH

If you haven't signed Tenancy agreement yet, they can change the rent up until you sign. Its immoral but does happen.

They can't force you to pay the extra rent as thats upto you.

Did you sign any terms when you put the deposit, outlining the rent, length of contract etc?

If you aren't willing to pay the extra rent they are asking for, you should speak to the agent and say you can't afford the extra rent and they should give you the holding fee back so you can look for another property.

I wouldn't have thought the agency is going to let you pay the original fees and then £650 each month after that, ask them by all means, but I don't think that will happen?

Is £650 still a fair rent for the property?

Pink.Sara

£650 is still a fair rent (just) and we would be willing to pay it, but the agency fees alone are over £400 and as they want to shorten the tenancy agreement to 6 months that is an unreasonable amout to pay I feel.
The agreement we signed does have a commencement date, a term of tenancy (12 months) and a rent amount stated on it and signed by our agent and ourselves so I anticipate getting our deposit back. But what we really want is this property for 12 months and the original moving amount to remain the same. (fat chance I know)
Immoral is one word I would use to describe it. Particularly as I have sold my house and now have given a date for completion based on this property. And they know that. Fuming.

tbs624

LA acts on LL's behalf so you may want to try talking direct to the LL - you can obtain their name and address from the Land Registry for a 4 quid fee. If LA is trying to shorten the inital tenancy term it will usually be so that they can stuff both LL and T for "renewals fees".

No training, qualifications, particular expertise needed to be able to set up in business as an LA and many of them act in a wholly unprofessional manner.

You may want to post at https://www.allagents.co.uk. If the LA is signed up to ARLA, NALs, NAEA etc then make a complaint there as members are obliged to follow a code of conduct.

As a previous poster has said, in these cicrumstances, should you choose to withdraw the LA should refund all of that holding deposit.

You could check whether there is a local LL association and with the local PRS officer at the Council for contact info on LLs who let their properties direct.

GAH

It sounds more to be that the LL is only wanting to offer a short let now of 6 months, which means you will need to uproot and move again.

Tell agent you want holding fee back, and go and find a new property. There are plenty of LL's out there im sure that would prefer to do a 12 month agreement.

tbs624

Pink.Sara wrote: »

But what we really want is this property for 12 months and the original moving amount to remain the same. (fat chance I know).

Not necessarily - unless there are other potential Ts lining up to rent that particular property the LL needs to balance up the costs of a further month's potential void against that potential extra 55 quid per month rent.

Although there may have been some error by the LA on the rent figure/initial term and the LL has instructed them to try to change them, many LLs are totally unaware of the amount that their LA fleeces the T by in term of spurious fees. If you want to try to negotiate with the LL direct you may also wish to consider suggesting a 12 month term with a mutual 6 month break clause or suggest £625 if s/he goes along with the 12 months w/o a break clause.

I have to say that an LA being this carp from the start probably does not bode well for the LA/LL/T relationship further along the line. I would describe them as sharks but that would be suggesting that they have a greater level of intelligence than most LAs seem to possess..

Ignite

Even though there is not a signed tenancy agreement, there is a signed contract with the letting agency. This was signed by both yourself and the agent so if they make changes and you back out, then the agents are in breach so you are entitled to a return of all of your deposit and any referencing fees you have paid out. If it came to it, then you wouldn't have any problems taking them to the small claims court.

Pink.Sara

Thank you all for the very relevant advice. I went down in person and attempted to renegotiate for £625 a month and 12 months tenancy, after a lot of fast talking on my part I have managed to arrange £650 but for 12 months and the LA actually deducted £120 of fees. Took the words, "immoral" "void" and "complaint" being mentioned but I'm happy we have a decent property and th landlord is happy he got his £650 pm.