References

poochel

stashmycash wrote:

Also that she would need to pay a non refundable £300 up front for admin and contract fees.

Is this normal?

Seems very excessive to me. We were charged £100 each (2 of us) for credit check, references, arrangement fee, professional inventory etc. This was just over a year ago and in a pricey part of SW London. I thought £100 each was taking the p, in fact I overheard the agent on the phone to another agent saying 'we charge as much as we can get away with'!

But what choice do you have if you really want the property but to pay it.

£300 to a private landlord, not even an agency, is way too much in my opinion.

Wings

poochel wrote:

Seems very excessive to me. We were charged £100 each (2 of us) for credit check, references, arrangement fee, professional inventory etc. This was just over a year ago and in a pricey part of SW London. I thought £100 each was taking the p, in fact I overheard the agent on the phone to another agent saying 'we charge as much as we can get away with'!

But what choice do you have if you really want the property but to pay it.

£300 to a private landlord, not even an agency, is way too much in my opinion.

I agree, and if the landlord is asking for that amount at the start of the tenancy, what will he ask for at the end of the tenancy.

stashmycash

rosysparkle wrote:

If she has a poor credit history or her income is below or near the threshhold for the particular rent level, she will have to provide a guarantor or pay rent in advance.

The admin fees vary in amount from agent to agent but are to cover the cost of referencing (most references are done by a third party reference agency) and drawing up the agreement.

Some agents charge contract fees and some don't. We don't.

They told her she needed to earn 30 times the monthly rent which she does and they have not carried out the credit referencing so they would not know about her credit history yet.

stashmycash

bump............