Agency fee for getting a new tenant?

underhanded

Hi,

I've been renting from a letting agency for over a year. As i'm already quite sick of the inflated administration costs we had to pay when we moved in, I'm now shocked to realise they are now charging us a further £100+vat for a new tenant to move in. Our old housemate moved out in July, we signed a new contract as three of us (not four) and continued to pay rent (albeit increased rent) until we found a new house mate. Now we have one, she is subject to the inflated agency fees we werre subject to on 1st moving in, but why on earth are we subject to some administration fees for this, are they really suggesting we have to pay such a large amount of money for them to add a different name to our tenancy? i understand the new housemate may have to pay some costs herself, but does anyone know if we should be liable to such administration fees? I imagine, somehow, its all probably legit, as it seems today letting agencies can literally charge and do what they want, pretty much daylight robbery!

Thanks

Underhanded

whalster

Do I understand you right that you are all being expected to pay ? if this is the case then you will have to work out whether it is worth paying the extra rent for a few months and then move on .As a landlord I would be outraged if I knew a letting agent working for me were doing this. ( not that I ever use agents )
He/she may not be aware of the fees and charges and if they are then it is not the type of landlord you want anyway .
keep paying the rent and put in a formal request to the letting agent in writing for the name and address of your landlord , you do not have to give a reason for the request and they must by law provide it to you within 21 days . On receipt of the address write your landlord a letter saying you would love to stay in the property but due to the agents fees you can't . At the same time offer him/her the option of creating a private contract and cut the agent out altogether explaining it will save them money as well as you
good luck

Fire_Fox

Welcome! Write to the letting agent asking for a breakdown of the charges that the incoming tenant and existing tenants are expected to pay.

The problem is if you are on a joint tenancy then one person serving notice ends the tenancy for all, so the agents can levy the same charges for any aspects of setting up a new tenancy that have to be carried out. They can also charge the incoming tenant for credit checking and referencing. But they might be charging for the same things twice so it's worth clarifying.

underhanded

Thanks for the info guys. Firefox, I thought this may be the case, I've asked for a breakdown of fees as you suggested. We're also seriously considering trying to go private with the landlord, the letting agents are useless, and we pay fees regularly and then if we need contact or help from them, it takes an age to get a response or any help. I will also ask for the landlords contact details, only problem is, as far as i know he lives on the other side of the world, so think he depends on the letting agency to act on his behalf

Fire_Fox

Do you have a UK address at which to serve notices on your tenancy agreement? Have you checked with the landlord or agency that the landlord is what the landlord has organised as regards paying tax? The tenants could end up liable.
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/international/nr-landlords.htm
http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/landlord's_address.htm