Tenancy renewal fees

Bazshawkins

theartfullodger wrote: »

You can contest away, you can propose another figure, anything you like - but they don't have to agree and can issue S21 at any time....

Pretty sure it is only the landlord that can issue the S21, not the letting agent.

The landlord is unlikely to care whether or not the letting agent get a fee off you. If you sign the lease, the landlord has their money gauranteed. I can't see the landlord being too pleased if they lost a tennant for 6-12 months because the letting agent insisted on getting a £50 fee.

dimbo61

An S21 is a notice that the landlord is giving you 2 months to move out of your rental property. Now this does not mean that you have to go! as the landlord would have to go to court to evict you and the costs involved.
What you need to do is speak to the landlord and tell him/her that you are happy with the property except for X,Y,Z minor problems and want to stay for another year or longer BUT you will not be paying the letting agent £50 for 2 A4 sheets of paper.
You could agree to sign another 12 months contract IF the rent stays the same ( If you want to do that) but you will not pay any renewal fees to the letting agent and leave the costs in the landlords hands

tom9980

runningfool wrote: »

Hi all

My letting agent wants to charge quite a fee for renewing my 6-month tenancy.

They say the fee is the half the cost of the Memorandum of Agreement with VAT etc. (essentially it's a template of a paragraph printed out with my name and address on on their headed paper - not even the dates have been entered). I am assuming if I were to sign for 12-months (which is an option) I would be charged double.

Is this fair? It's nearly £50 for printing two letters. It was even hand delivered as they are in the same village!

They get their money from the landlord for looking after the property (there are still things outstanding on that score) and charging me for this seems to be incredibly unfair - can I negotiate it?

Many thanks

Negotiate by telling them you are staying for the foreseeable future but will not sign a tenancy renewal because you do not have to. They want your cash its that simple and likely charging the landlord a fee too. The tenancy will roll over into a rolling contract without having to do anything/no fee chargeable.

If you have any problems after telling the agent this come back and update the thread but im betting they back off.

Werdnal

Bazshawkins wrote: »

Pretty sure it is only the landlord that can issue the S21, not the letting agent.

Agent can issue notice on behalf of the landlord - but should it have to go to court, landlord must represent themselves or hire a legal professional.

For an agent this is a win-win situation. Either charge tenant renewal fees OR tenant fails to pay, they advise the LL that you have to go (many LLs believe their agents act in their best interests, when agents general only act in their OWN interests). Agent issues notice, tenant leaves, agent gets reletting fees from new tenant.

If you can contact your LL direct and explain that you want to stay and sign up for another fixed term, but do not want to pay a fee, LL may tell their agent to go whistle!!!!

By the way, do you definately want the security of another fixed term, and you and LL might prefer to allow it to becoming and SPT and not worry about renewing every year. I have let property for 13 years now, only ever give my tenants an initial 6 month FT, and allow it to lapse to an SPT after this. One tenant stayed over 5 years, never having renewed or paid any further fees!

runningfool

Thanks everyone for all your help!

Sandstone

runningfool wrote: »

Yes - definitely want to renew - and am happy to for 12 months but just think the fee is high - that's the sticking point.

In case you have misunderstood, no one is suggesting that you move out.

By renewing, you are essentially ending your tenancy and starting a fresh one. Either of you will be able to end the tenancy at the end of the term stated, and there is no guarantee that you would be able to stay on afterwards.

OR

By letting your current tenancy roll-over, you enter into a rolling contract, similar to a monthly rolling phone SIM deal, where (assuming you pay rent monthly) your tenancy is considered to continue indefinitely, until such notice as required (usually one or two months).

toneeb

Our letting agency wants £72 for sorting out the renewal!

i.e. to change the date on the new tenancy agreement.

Ive heard stories of £150 + being charged!

newsgroup_monkey

£50? That's cheap!

Our LA tried to get us to only sign up for 6 months and we insisted on 12.

They charge us £98 every time we re-sign and charge the LL £98 too.

Fortunately, the rent is fairly cheap, but the true losers are the LL.

We're moving at the moment. New LA is only £25 which seems a bit more reasonable.

I wrote to my MP lately because of the extortionate nature of LA charges which are legal in this country, but no longer in Scotland. He's passed it to the minister of housing, but I won't hold my breath.

Let's just say in under 6 years, we have currently paid around £900 in charges and we haven't moved out yet (there are "administration" fees in dilapidation too).

Oh and to add insult, 2 months before every contract is due up, we are served a section 21 in case anyone considers a "rolling contract" (which of course we would have done in the past).