£300 inventory for a studio flat

Bee86

Hello, i just paid £300 inventory on a studio flat but my work colleagues told me that i have been ripped off is that true? i have never rented a flat through an estate agency and now i am worried! my rent will be £695 bills included. Have i really been ripped off or not?! any ideas??? thank you

skint_explorer

I dont think so. Its the norm.

Bee86

But i was checking on the internet and it shows that the inventory price for a studio flat is £65?! why would they ask me to pay £300?! isn't that a lot for a studio flat? Thank you

jd87

What do you even mean? What is inventory? Do you mean a deposit?

Bee86

@jd87, there is a difference between an inventory and a deposit, when you rent a house through an estate agency, you have to pay for an inventory, can't explain here right now because it's too long but you can google it.

CKhalvashi

We don't work through agencies (we have a number of long-term tenants in a number of properties) and still make a £75 + VAT charge.

The norm of things that you should be paying, with our price list (they will vary greatly) are:

Deposit: 2 months rent
Credit check: £20 + VAT (or 6 months upfront)
Inventory: £75 + VAT
Referencing: £75 + VAT

Therefore, you're looking at just over £200 before you move in.

We charge the CC first, so if that fails, it's all it costs you.

CK

00ec25

it probably is high but not sure what you expect to be able to do about it?

Fire_Fox

If you've already paid there is little you can do, you have agreed the charge.

Hebblethwaite

I paid £150 for a check-in inventory for a three-bedroom house. I was told the landlord was paying half the fee, so the total would have been £300. I suspect I shall be asked to pay a check-out fee of the same amount, but I intend to dig my heels in as the check-in inventory was grossly inaccurate and although the inventory company haven't challenged any of the errors that I pointed out, I still haven't received an accurate version.

dancingfairy

What website were you looking on and found the fee to be 65 pounds? the company who actually did it or the letting agents? If the letting agents that you are using then you should dispute/challenge the amount paid. If it was the cost by the actual third party then I'm not so sure as I'm not sure whether technically you were engaging them or whether your contract was with the letting agents and they engaged the third party (IYSWIM).
Double check with the letting agents exactly what the fee you have paid covers first.
I hope you've got a receipt? If not then write asking for one.
df
P.S Also double check the contract to see if the otherside pays the checkout fee (it's normal for the tenant to pay one and the landlord the other).

dodger1

Have rented two flats and daughters have rented three between them, these were all through agencies and none of us were charged an inventory fee. Guess it's the luck of the draw.

They wanted to charge me for the check out inventory but there was nothing in the agreement so I told them no chance and they had to agree and no deductions.