MSE News: 25% 'ripped off' by letting agents

bargepole

mynameisclare wrote: »

Because that's where most of the properties are!

What we need is regulation, eg a cap on fees or a requirement for agents to have at least some knowledge of the law.

Sorry I didn't make that clear - what I meant to say was I don't know why Landlords use letting agents. They charge ridiculous fees for doing very little work, and rip off LLs over things like safety certificates, inventories and so on.

I suppose the problem is that most LLs are money-grubbing barstewards who want to sit on their fat backsides and collect rents with no involvement in the property or their tenants.

I've only got the one flat at present, but am hoping to get 2 or 3 more over the next year, and will do all the refurbishments myself, advertise them privately, vet the tenants and do the paperwork. All the tenants will have to pay is the deposit and monthly rental, no "admin fees" or "renewal fees" or any other nonsense. With the numbers of people looking to rent, I anticipate no problems in finding good tenants.

southoftheriver

I hate the way letting agents get away with fleecing people. I was looking to rent a 2 bedroomed flat in Central London with a friend. We looked around at so many flats and eventually put in an offer.

The letting agent told us that we needed to put in a deposit before making the offer, so that if it was accepted we couldn't back out. Then then forgot to take it luckily. What really got me was the sneaky way they kept trying to add extra charges on as we got closer to singing the tenancy. They also mucked us about with contacting people, leaving me chasing them whilst I was at work. Considering they were taking close to 1500 pounds of my money I was not pleased. Eventually I got so stressed that I pulled out of the process because I was so worried that my time in the flat would be fraught with stress. I am now at my parental home trying to find a shared house to move in to (stress of a different kind!).

I wish the English government would grow some balls like the Scottish have and lay down some regulations about what they can charge for. Why should my inventory cost me 150 pounds? 75 pounds for a reference? Daylight robbery.

Rant temporarily suspended. I don't think i'll ever stop being angry about this!

jjlandlord

To be fair, letting agents try to charge as much as they get get away with just the same as garages, plumbers, builders, etc., etc. do.
If we start to complain to MPs every time someone tries to inflate the bill they'll soon be drowning under complaints.

Key to me is for landlords and tenants to do their home work, and to stand up for themselves.

Zorz_2

bargepole wrote: »

I suppose the problem is that most LLs are money-grubbing barstewards who want to sit on their fat backsides and collect rents with no involvement in the property or their tenants.

There is nothing wrong (in principle) in trying to reduce your involvement in the day to day running of your BTL business. So, if they want to spend money for someone to do part of their job, let it be.

What landlords urgently need to grasp is that:

a) BTL is a business
b) they are still ultimately responsible under the law
c) any fool can open a letting agency
d) they have to stop being dazzled by those crooks-in-suits and take every word they're being told as a gospel.

ilovecheese

I moved in June and paid £420 in fees, I could not find a property managed directly by the LL, so I had no choice.

I did write to my MP, no reply to the first e-mail, and a load of bull**** when I chased it up.

I think all LL should be in contact with thier tenants, as you never know what the agent is up to. If I am given a S21 and notice to move, how do I know that is what my LL wants? He may have been told by agent that I have given notice, so that the agent can re-let the property and charge their "fees" again.

guyh

This is very relevant to me at the moment as the Mrs and I are moving to London and are looking at a fee of £350 for the letting agent's 'hard work' for the flat we're thinking about. Now, by all means the agent should be paid a fair wage - but the reality is that estate agents have a monopoly on the market and can charge what they like. When I get a blocked plughole I have the option to either get a plumber out or to go out and buy unblocker and a plunger from a local DIY shop and sort out the problem myself - when you're moving house you're not given that option and as a result the plumbers have got together and decided that £150 to print off a tenancy agreement is a reasonable fee. :beer:

Key money has been illegal in the UK for some time but it has returned albeit under the guise of various technically-named 'fees'. These are poorly veiled bribes in my book and just another mad thing to add to the list of what is wrong with the property market...

(rant over!)

Now the question I have at this point (only a few days away from signing something) is whether I have the right to extract the landlord's contact details from the letting agent? Do you think that this would even get me anywhere, or would they have already paid the agent to advertise the property, in which case there wouldn't be anything in it for them..?

I intend at the very least to have a 'discussion' with the agent about providing my own tenancy agreement and putting the property in my name only to avoid one of the £50 reference fees...

Any advice as to my rights would be much appreciated (even if it's just to bite the bullet). I'm keeping an eye out for private landlords but as far as I can tell they're pretty much hen's teeth down here.

theartfullodger

Tell your story of being ripped off to a wider audience here...
http://england.shelter.org.uk/campaigns/letting_away_with_it

They say...

Shelter wants to make sure that letting agent fees are fair for people who rent their homes.

That’s where you come in. We need your evidence of hidden charges, unfair fees or other problems you’ve had renting through letting agents.

Join our investigation to help us fight for change.

There are decent agents: I've got one, but you hear terrible stories...

frooglefraggle

My letting agent charged 125 for a credit report? and 125 for the admin, i have lived in my property for 6 months. I cannot get hold of the letting agent at all, i had a toilet which didn't work for 3, drains which blocked and flooded from day 2 in the property. my electrics in one half of the house didnt work, managed to get through to the letting agent once. Had to move into my parents to help us out as have two young children, and there was rising damp in the property, so i stopped paying rent on the 5th month he was in contact within 24 hours.. tried to give notice on my tenancy at the same time, and refused to pay the rent until the problems were sorted.
I had no help off my local council, i had no help off the local MP. Still he is showing the property to perspective tenants, (my friend lives next door), and no problems have been fixed. Needless to say someone else is going to be conned.

chanz4

what the forget to tell you is they cant see your credit accounts, only ccj and public information. so way over fees

chanz4

frooglefraggle wrote: »

My letting agent charged 125 for a credit report? and 125 for the admin, i have lived in my property for 6 months. I cannot get hold of the letting agent at all, i had a toilet which didn't work for 3, drains which blocked and flooded from day 2 in the property. my electrics in one half of the house didnt work, managed to get through to the letting agent once. Had to move into my parents to help us out as have two young children, and there was rising damp in the property, so i stopped paying rent on the 5th month he was in contact within 24 hours.. tried to give notice on my tenancy at the same time, and refused to pay the rent until the problems were sorted.
I had no help off my local council, i had no help off the local MP. Still he is showing the property to perspective tenants, (my friend lives next door), and no problems have been fixed. Needless to say someone else is going to be conned.

you should speak to environmental health