Letting Agent tenancy renewal issues

ValHaller

DRP wrote: »

The phone conversation might muddy the waters, but if it were me I wouldn't return the form, but write a letter confirming you're happyto stay on SPT.

donfanatico wrote: »

Verbal doesn't mean anything. Unless its on paper and signed you are ok

More to the point, OP verbally agreed to renew but at no time made any agreement to pay a renewal fee.

tim123456789

ognum wrote: »

I think it is now noticeable than some homes with particular agencies stick on the market far longer than other similar properties.

certainly in my area there are very savvy renters who read and write on the agency review sites.

I don't think it is entirely true there is no choice. Renters need to ask questions at the start of the tenancy, read the agent reviews and be aware.

In my area on any one day within a small price band there are 10s of properties available. Both landlords and tenants need to reject the poor agencies.

This depends upon what your required property criteria are.

I spent 9 months looking for a propertly that ticked all of my must have [1] features.

Vetoing it because of the agency would have been a stupid thing to do.

Not everybody is looking for something as simple as any house in town x!

tim

[1] 2 bedroom flat
not ground floor
walking distance to (one of a choice of) main line stations

not a long list, but still very hard to meet.

pinteresque

ValHaller wrote: »

More to the point, OP verbally agreed to renew but at no time made any agreement to pay a renewal fee.

Thanks. You're right, I didn't. However, in my original tenancy agreement, it says the following:

"You are liable for..... sharing the cost for the preparation or this tenancy agreement and any future tenancy agreement that may be required"

So in signing that agreement with that obligation, have I dug myself a grave and already agreed to the fee? Just by saying "I want to renew" I guess I have accepted that there will be a fee.

dotdash79

Offer them a reasonable cost i.e. £10.

RupertTheCat

With my tenants I don't let the letting agency handle renewals as they charge me as well as the tenant. I have a standard 1 page renewal agreement I send to my tenants, they sign and return, all happy. No money changes hands. I have had LAs in the past issue renewals and they've charged me £75 as the LL, and presumably the tenants a similar amount which is a bit excessive, hence me doing it myself nowadays.

Your landlord may however prefer doing things through the LA if he pays them to manage it. Unfortunately you may be stuck with this if you want to renew. That is a lot for a renewal so I understand why you're annoyed - I would ring up the LA and negotiate with them.

G_M

RupertTheCat wrote: »

... I would ring up the landlord and negotiate with them.

............................................................

pinteresque

G_M wrote: »

Read:

*link* (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?)

Thank you for this. I must have missed it before. Very useful thing, which I have included in an email to my landlord.

dgtazzman

Was there any mention of the 120 pounds fee during the phone conversation? If not, I'd say they've broken any verbal agreement made anyway as the terms of said agreement differ from what was discussed on the phone. As you have a good relationship with the LL, I'd contact him, tell him you would be most comfortable to just go onto a rolling contract under the terms of the original agreement and use the new agreement, along with the invoice, to light a cosy little fire.

pinteresque

No mention of the £120 in the phone conversation, which I think is the saving grace.

Have entered into a sensitive conversation with the LL about going in to an SPT. Thanks for all advice.

Herbalus

Glad I found this thread. I have a friend who just got sent an email saying the letting agent can negotiate a new tenancy agreement on his behalf for £250....! Glad I told them to wait a few minutes before replying while I checked online.