Agent wants £300 to renew my FT contract!

xfive71

In a bit of a pickle. We have been renting the same flat from April 2010, initially with a FT term of 12 months.

The agent came back to us in July 2011 to renew it again on a 12 month FT and charged us £300 for this 'lovely' service. We were aghast because I am used to having it under rolling contract and after haggling, halved it to £150.

The FT expired in July 2012, I believe and now they are asking us to sign another 12 months FT. No doubt they will be asking for another £300!

Please can anyone help? We are unable to contact the landlord who is living overseas. We've met him once before and he was very happy with us. No rent arrears at all these past 2ish years.

I loathe to move until after we know where DD is going, secondary-school wise (which is in March). Should I stall them? The problem is they also told us to sign a S21 form when we signed the FT tenancy in July 2011. I know, very stupid of us

G_M

Read:

Ending/Renewing an AST (what happens when the Fixed Term ends?)(What is a Periodic Tenancy?)(How can a LL remove a tenant?)(How can a tenant end a tenancy?)

tom9980

xfive71 wrote: »

I loathe to move until after we know where DD is going, secondary-school wise (which is in March). Should I stall them? The problem is they also told us to sign a S21 form when we signed the FT tenancy in July 2011. I know, very stupid of us

Not sure if that s21 is valid now since you have signed a NEW contract since therefore its void, someone please correct me if i am wrong.

As for the agent when they ask for a new contract tell them that you are staying and want the contract to roll into a standard rolling contract, they cannot charge you for this.

xfive71

I need to double check but I think we sign a new S21 with the new contract. Is it legal for them to ask us to do this?

InsertWittyName

You're already on a periodic tenancy if the AST expired last June - tell the LA this and to jog on.

My LA tried similar over 12 months ago.

Naf

If possible speak to the LL directly; LAs have a habit of pulling this type of stunt (actually, I want to call it a scam) behind LLs backs; or otherwise fooling LLs into believing its necessary/beneficial for some reason. LAs only motivation is their own profit, neither your, nor your LLs best interests enter into it.
It's quite likely that with their eyes opened to the real situation your LL will be happy to leave the periodic tenancy in place saving both of you money and hassle.

G_M

xfive71 wrote: »

I need to double check but I think we sign a new S21 with the new contract. Is it legal for them to ask us to do this?

A S21 Notice does not have to be signed by a tenant. It has to served (given to) a tenant.

Provided any deposit paid by the tenant has been registered, AND the 'prescribed information' given to the tenant, before the S21 is served, then yes, it is valid.

G_M

xfive71 wrote: »

....
The FT expired in July 2012, I believe .....

The problem is they also told us to sign a S21 form when we signed the FT tenancy in July 2011. I know, very stupid of us

You are now on a SPT.

No need to sign anything, or pay anything.

Providing the S21 was valid when it was served, then yes, it is valid. Whether the landlord/agent will choose to act on it, who knows?

whalster

Would not your deposit have to be protected again on a new AST and paperwork served

G_M

whalster wrote: »

Would not your deposit have to be protected again on a new AST and paperwork served

I believe it depends on the scheme.

But since an SPT is just a continuation of the previous Fixed Term, the deposit can remain where it was.

xfive71

Thank you all. My husband will be meeting the agent on Thursday to say we would like to go on a rolling contract and see where we go from there.

I would dearly love to go to the landlord direct but the agent is managing the rental and we can only go through the agent. They unprotected our deposit and put it into another scheme - mainly because the new FT also include a slight increase in rent.