HELP agency wants to charge me £250 for referencing

DVardysShadow

sooz wrote: »

I understood the OP as meaning it's the proposed cost of tenant credit checking & referencing, not the cost of writing a letter of reference. If it's the latter, then that is a HUGE rip off.

Point taken. If there is a specific property in mind, I would suggest OP dropping a note through the door saying that they would have taken it but for the cost of referencing - £250 - and how much other agents would charge and leaving contact details.

maginot

This is probably one of the few threads that is a rip off. Something that probably costs a maximum of £50 (including time) and yet they can charge what they want.

Unfortunately, until regulation comes in or the landlord tells the agent it is unacceptable, this will continue and is an easy cash cow for the agents.

ruggedtoast

Ime pretty standard unfortunately. If its anywhere half decent they have you over a barrel. You can refuse to pay it but the next guy probably will.

dancingfairy

Is it a rip-off 'yes', will others be the same or worse 'yes'. Find out exactly what it covers. For one person for all the costs it sounds standard to me but check around with other agencies.
As ruggedtoast says they can pretty much charge what they like and if you don't pay it someonelse will
Look out for overly posh offices, posh cars etc as a warning as to how much of your cash is going to pay for them.
Not much you can do really but shop around agencies. You can try to negotiate on the fees but depending on the area and how desperate you are they will probably refuse to negotiate and wait for the next viewer .
Best of Luck
df

StuieUK34

i had to rent a house via PeterAlan (Cardiff) estate agents last week. They have a reputation for offering poor customer service, and luckily for me, they lived up to there name from start to signing..... (owned by a building society, so no need for them to provide a good service)

Fees (Admin fee as they call it), came to £192.
Consists of:
A request going to RedBrick Tenant Assessment company to assess me. Estimated cost £27
Teas/Coffees/Biscuits and maybe some cakes for the staff at the letting agents - estimated cost: £16
overheads in staff time - estimated £12
PROFIT ? £137 (inc vat)

Fees are designed to do u over, knowing that u want somthing they have.... (all said with freespeech)

mark5

StuieUK34 wrote: »

i had to rent a house via PeterAlan (Cardiff) estate agents last week. They have a reputation for offering poor customer service, and luckily for me, they lived up to there name from start to signing..... (owned by a building society, so no need for them to provide a good service)

Fees (Admin fee as they call it), came to £192.
Consists of:
A request going to RedBrick Tenant Assessment company to assess me. Estimated cost £27
Teas/Coffees/Biscuits and maybe some cakes for the staff at the letting agents - estimated cost: £16
overheads in staff time - estimated £12
PROFIT ? £137 (inc vat)

Fees are designed to do u over, knowing that u want somthing they have.... (all said with freespeech)

I once had the misfortune to sell a house with Peter Alan.

g0recki

Letting agency fees are totally unfair but unavoidable.

The letting agents are providing a referencing service to the landlord, yet they charge the tenant for this service. It's totally unjust in my opinion.

Sadly though your only option (other than pay up) is to turn your back on the property and find somewhere that isn't a rip off.

These fees used to be a rip off here in Oxford, but over the last few years far more letting agents have entered the market, so the established agencies lost their oligopoly and have had to drop their fees to a less horrendous level.