Hidden charges- HES Parry & Drewett agency

zaynab

Hi all,

So we are in process of renting from HES parry & drewett and i have received the payment details today which are shocking.
From day one admin fee communicated to me and advetised on rightmove was £225 which has been paid by me and the deposit was communicated as £1275/- (monthly rent £850/- as per our offer). At no time we were informed that there is extra admin fee of £187 and extra 25 day rent of £696 (other than deposit) so now the total amount to be paid is £1971/- instead of only the deposit £1275/-.

I have emailed the agency back with explaination for these extra fees. I am really not prepared to pay these charges specially the Apportioned rent in advance for the period[FONT=&quot] 7 – 31 August 2012 (25 days @ £27.87 per day):696[/FONT]

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[FONT=&quot]Can i really fight this ??
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chris_m

When is the tenancy supposed to commence and when are you supposed to be moving in? 7th August or 1st September?

zaynab

7th august

chris_m

In that case, what is wrong with paying rent from 7th August?

At a guess, they prefer to have rent due at the end of a month, for the following month but, as you are not starting your tenancy from the start of the month they are charging you the pro-rata rent to cover the period until the standard end-of-the-month payments start.

zaynab

the deposit includes the 6 week rent in advance hence i do not see the point for this amount. I have been renting for the past 2 yrs and have never come across any such extra rent charges other than deposit amount

SkyeKnight

The deposit is equal to six weeks rent. It is not rent. You still have to pay the rent and it is in advance so this sounds fine to me. The extra £187 admin fee sounds like something you should question though.

moromir

It sounds to me like the £225 was a holding deposit + reference fees whilst the £187 is for administration and paperwork.

Did they not give you a schedule of the fees when you viewed/agreed to take the property?

G_M

Tenancy start date: 7th August.
Monthly rent = £850
Rent payable in advance on 1st of each month?

Deposit = £1275 = 6 weeks rent (refunded at end of tenancy). Fine
Holding fee = £225 (refundable? Check the terms)
Credit checking/admin = £187 Expensive but fine
Rent for period 7th to 31st August = £696 (I've not checked daily amount but seems about right)
Rent for period 1st Sept - 30 Sept = £850. Presumably payable 1st Sept? Fine

Seems about right.

zaynab

i was only informed about £225 as admin fee, there was no mention of any holding deposit etc at any point. I emailed the agency and asked for details of payment of admin even then they didn mention anything and only asked for £225/-. I have always paid only deposit and then rent from next month onwards so really dont understand this apportioned rent in advance concept.

i am surprised and shocked because these extra charges were never explained or mentioned since i agreed to rent the property.

zaynab

i wasnt given a schedule

moromir

I'm still not clear why you were suprised about the apportioned rent, why did you think you were getting to live rent free 7th - 31st August?