Renting a flat, do I risk losing £180 for admin fees?

shadow47

I have found an apartment I really like :j, it is advertised with a reputable letting/estate agents. (I have no way of verifying that they're reputable, I'm just assuming they are as they are a popular company where I live. The last agents I rented from were very scummy and unprofessional).

I took a visit to their office to find out more. They explained to me that they require £180 to perform a credit check on my guarantor.

I am using a guarantor because I owe money on all of the previous addresses I have lived at.

I have a few questions that you guys may be able to answer...

1) Is there a risk of losing the £180 if the agents find out about my bad debts? Assuming my guarantor owns their own house and earns £20k+ - I have already told them I have a bad credit rating

2) Can I ask the agents to lower their fees as I feel it is an unreasonable amount for the little work they have to do.

3) Should I also haggle with the rent? It is £450 PCM. If I'm only living in the flat for 6months (that's all I plan to live there for as I'm going to uni in sept) and I manage to get the rent down to say £420, that's covered the extortionate admin fees.


Oh and BTW I plan on sorting out all of the debt I owe when I move to my new address - wherever that may be. I'll have to do some research on dealing with the scum bag debt collection agencies :mad: before I bother with that, I'm sure I can find some great info on this site.

arbrighton

1) Possibly, although if your guarantor has good credit rating, this is the point of the check, as they are presumably aware you would not pass on your own.

2) You can ask, but it is unlikely they will. No regulation and a case of supply/ demand. YOu will probably be politely (or not so politely) told to look elsewhere.... We paid £195 for our holding fee/ credit check. A portion of that went to the company who actually did the (very small amount of) work checking we were good for the money. Admittedly they did have to make a telephone call to us to verify my circumstances as the form couldn't cope with unemployed but have savings that cover my half of the rent (for now)

3) again, you can ask, but as they will already see you as a risk thanks to the credit score and needing a guarantor.....

tbs624

Welcome as a newbie

That's a pretty hefty referencing fee. The true costs of a third party check is between 16 and 60 quid, depending on how in depth it is. The LA making a couple of phone calls on top of that should see the job done. £180???

You need to be upfront with the LL/LA about your own debts as it is usual for both T and G to be checked. Do you have CCJs on file? Are you sure the fee is not for checks x 2?

In answer to your specific questions, yes, you can *ask* the LA to lower their fees and yes, you can *try* haggling on the rent but bear in mind that it doesn't mean that you will be successful. The better a prospect you are as a T the higher the chance of some negotiation and that obviously isn't your current situation.

Is this a property that has stood empty for some time or is it in a popular area and easily re-lettable?

Have you considered renting direct from a self managing LL who may be prepared to be more flexible? Local Council may have a list of accredited private sector LLs and you could also try the local LL association for contact nos..

Have you also checked what other fees may be payable for this tenancy btw - admin fees/ tenancy agreement drafting fees and so on?

shadow47

tbs624 wrote: »

Welcome as a newbie

That's a pretty hefty referencing fee. The true costs of a third party check is between 16 and 60 quid, depending on how in depth it is. The LA making a couple of phone calls on top of that should see the job done. £180???

You need to be upfront with the LL/LA about your own debts as it is usual for both T and G to be checked. Do you have CCJs on file? Are you sure the fee is not for checks x 2?

To tell the truth I don't know how much debt I am actually in, I plan on signing up to Experian or another company to find out, I know it won't be much, it will mostly be to utility companies, I've always made sure I payed the rent as a member of my family was guarantor. I used to have Sky and paid each month as their ISP service was outstanding.

tbs624 wrote: »

In answer to your specific questions, yes, you can *ask* the LA to lower their fees and yes, you can *try* haggling on the rent but bear in mind that it doesn't mean that you will be successful. The better a prospect you are as a T the higher the chance of some negotiation and that obviously isn't your current situation.

Is this a property that has stood empty for some time or is it in a popular area and easily re-lettable?

I'll try but I doubt I'll get anywhere, the flat is situated in highly sought after area, and looks great inside.

tbs624 wrote: »

Have you considered renting direct from a self managing LL who may be prepared to be more flexible? Local Council may have a list of accredited private sector LLs and you could also try the local LL association for contact nos..

I would rather rent from LL direct, as the fees make me a little sick and are simply unreasonable. I had trouble looking for private LL on the internet, I tried gumtree, but they do not upload any quality photos of their apartments and I don't want to waste too much time viewing the properties in person when a few photographs/video would do the job of putting me off a lot of the time.

tbs624 wrote: »

Have you also checked what other fees may be payable for this tenancy btw - admin fees/ tenancy agreement drafting fees and so on?

I did ask, but I got a rather vague answer, I am worried that I'll pay the 180 - I'll get the flat, and they'll say "oh yeah we need more money for X fees before you get the keys.. blar blar " .

Perhaps I should get it in writing that all I'll have to pay is 180 in fees?

I found another agent which only charge £60 for a guarantor credit check, and have the fees listed on their website. Seems a lot more reasonable and honest.

shadow47

arbrighton wrote: »

1)

2) You can ask, but it is unlikely they will. No regulation and a case of supply/ demand. YOu will probably be politely (or not so politely) told to look elsewhere.... We paid £195 for our holding fee/ credit check. A portion of that went to the company who actually did the (very small amount of) work checking we were good for the money. Admittedly they did have to make a telephone call to us to verify my circumstances as the form couldn't cope with unemployed but have savings that cover my half of the rent (for now)

195 :mad:?

Ridiculous, I'll be enraged if I pay it and I don't get the apartment.

Say if they say "no", is it a good idea to offer them more rent money in advance, say 3 months.

I have to pay it anyway as it's a 6 month contract.

Notmyrealname

Leaving a trail of debts behind you at every address you've had won't put you in a good light. The LL is usually who ends up having to sort it out and foot the bill.

I wouldn't rent to you no matter how much money you put on the table.

shadow47

Notmyrealname wrote: »

Leaving a trail of debts behind you at every address you've had won't put you in a good light. The LL is usually who ends up having to sort it out and foot the bill.

I wouldn't rent to you no matter how much money you put on the table.

Indeed, I would like to correct this mistake and not make it again in the future.

I certainly would not have done this to an actual LL, the agency had to deal with all of this and I was having a lot of trouble with repairs etc, so I just up and left in a hurry. I think I mentioned earlier that the agents in question at my previous address were incompetent vultures and I was happy to leave them with more work to do when I left.

If I pay off all debts from previous addresses, will this repair my credit rating?

jjlandlord

shadow47 wrote: »

Indeed, I would like to correct this mistake and not make it again in the future.

Then contact the utilities company to settle the debts, and settle your account next time you move out. Simples.

Certainly as you said you did a runner every time, it's rather unclear how much you really think it was a mistake...

tbs624

OP - you didn't answer the question I asked earlier - do you have CCJs on file?

Have the people to whom you owe money taken you to court and obtained judgement against you?

Its not showing you in a good light when you don't even have a clear record of what you owe.

shadow47

tbs624 wrote: »

OP - you didn't answer the question I asked earlier - do you have CCJs on file?

Have the people to whom you owe money taken you to court and obtained judgement against you?

Its not showing you in a good light when you don't even have a clear record of what you owe.

No I don't believe they have, I only owed 150 to United Utilities on my previous address which I can re-pay on Monday.

When I was younger I forgot to pay council tax on my first flat, I think it went to court and they sent bailiffs out for 300, the bailiffs added 150 for "van charges" even though no van was used. Marston I believe was the name of the bailiffs. I paid that debt in full shortly after the bailiffs started showing up in person.

PasturesNew

Bearing all the above in mind: in debt, lots of debt, moving into a new place, admin fees, just for 6 months, I'd suggest to you that you'd be better off having a house share for this period of time. Having a flat at £450, plus bills at, say, £200, is a total of £650/month. You could probably get a nice house share for £350 and put £300/month (£1800 over 6 months) towards your move into student accommodation, or towards your debts to get a fresh start, or simply as a nest egg.

A flat, for six months, with all the utilities going into your name, and other things that are tricky/impossible to arrange for 6 months (TV license, contents insurance, phone/broadband), then to maove out again (with the costs and hassle of that) is an expensive lifestyle choice.