Letting agency wants £30 for a reference!!

clutton_2

baker you asked for advice as to how to get a new tenancy - given that you have no reference from you current landlord. I told you what i would do, as an alternative to a lack of reference. you didn't have to bite my head off !!

Turn this on its head.. and look at it from the landlords point of view... what would YOU do as a LL if the prospective tenant in front of you had no current landlords reference ?

Its the same thing as an employment reference... no employer in their right mind would employ someone without a reference from their current employer.

G_M

Baker89 wrote: »

Hi G_M,

I answered the following questions, can I ask what the relavance is to you asking please?

As explained above I was picking up on your reference to receiving a S21. Which may or may not have been valid (from your replies it appears it is).

I wouldn't have wasted my time asking (or yours answering) if you'd attached this current query to your previous thread, or at least referred/linked to it. By starting a new thread, all the previous history / information is lost.

cr1mson

Forgot to add but new landlord may not be okay with reference unless it is specifically addressed to them. The experts will guide you right but when I worked in mortgage assessment we would only accept the reference if it was actually addressed to the Mortgage company. Something to do with the referee then having a liability to the Mortgage company to provide the correct information. Like I say LLs and LA may operate differently and things may have changed but something to bear in mind!

C

Baker89

G_M wrote: »

Ask the landlord to provide a reference. Most will not charge. In fact he might be shocked to hear his agent is charging you and making your onward move more difficult.

Hi G_M,

I've been thinking about this and was wondering if you could help me out with what exactly to put in a letter to the landlord regarding a reference (I don't have any contact number for him) as I would want him to know the agency is demanding a £30 fee before giving any reference and if he does want us out due to having 'other' plans for the house then it would be beneficial to all involved to furnish us with a reference.

As I say though I don't know how to word it as my heads so messed up at the minute knowing we need to move but have nowhere so my minds a blank

Can you help please? Feel free to PM me.

G_M

Dear Mr Landlord,

I am writing following receipt of the S21 Notice you sent me (had your agent send me) dated xx/yy/zz. I understand that you do not wish to extend our tenancy beyond the current fixed term which ends on xx/Feb/2012. Is this correct?

As you know, we have been very happy here for the last year, and believed that you also were happy with our tenancy. We had hoped to remain beyond February on a Statutory Periodic Tenancy which will, in any event, start as soon as the Fixed Term runs out.

However, if you have other plans, we will, of course, start the difficult process of house-hunting.

As you will appreciate, obtaining a new tenancy elsewhere will be in part dependant on providing a reference from the current landlord. Your agent, sadly, is insisting on a fee to provide this, and given the significant costs of moving (finding a new deposit in advance, application fees etc) this is a cost we could well do without.

I am therefore writing to ask if we can provide your name and address as a referee in any new tenancy application we make. This would to some small extend help us in securing onward accomodation, making compliance with your request that we leave that much easier.

Yours sincerely,

A Tenant

Baker89

Thanks G_M

Much appreciated.