Tenancy Agreement Renewal

Muhren

I am renting my house out via a letting agent and the tenancy agreement is up for renewal, the tennants want to sign up for a year which I am happy with. I can keep them on a rolling contract or renew the tenancy for £50 + VAT, does that sound a reasonable price?

G_M

£50 is reasonable.

But is there a charge for the tenants too? Agents often (usually) charge them, and they may be very unhappy about paying!

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?)

Muhren

I am going to go back to the letting agent stating that I am not happy with the fee as I there is no change to the contract and don't see why this fee should be applied. Or would you recommend against this?

Have spoken with the tenant at there is no fee to pay at their end. They want to sign up for a year and I am happy for them to do that.

stator

This is a money making scheme by the agent. They write misleading letters to the tenant implying they have to pay a renewal fee or move out. Then they charge the landlord for the renewal also. Even if both tenant and landlord are happy with a "rolling" tenancy they both get stuck with fees for a new AST no-one wants
If you want to move onto a rolling tenancy write to the tenant and agency and tell them.

Muhren

stator wrote: »

This is a money making scheme by the agent. They write misleading letters to the tenant implying they have to pay a renewal fee or move out. Then they charge the landlord for the renewal also. Even if both tenant and landlord are happy with a "rolling" tenancy they both get stuck with fees for a new AST no-one wants
If you want to move onto a rolling tenancy write to the tenant and agency and tell them.

This is what I thought, a money making scheme by the agent. I would like them to sign a year long contract but object to paying the fee. I am going to say to the agent that if they want to keep my business I am not prepared to pay this fee.

stator

Ah, if you want a new fixed term tenancy you will usually have to pay them a fee for the new contract :undecided: but I suppose there is always room for negotiation if you are paying them an ongoing management fee.

G_M

Since both you are and the tenants seem to want a new 12 month fixed term, this is the way to go.

Naturally the agent will charge a fee for preparing this and getting it signed - they are a business!

The question is, what is a fair fee?

As I said in post 1, I think £50 charged to the landlord is reasonable assuming the tenant is not also charged as you seem to indicate.

The above is of course based on the fact that you (landlord) have chosen to employ an agent to manage these things.

You could, of course, do it yourself and save yourself the money (but take on the extra time and responsibility).

Muhren

I get that they are a business for which they are receiving a their monthly commission. The only thing that changes on the contract is the date so I don't think that it is fair but like you say I did choose to employ them to carry out these tasks.

Although saying that I can a fee for renewal mentioned in the tenancy agreement.

stator

Just because the agents say the tenants want a new contract doesn't mean they do, they may have been tricked into it.

Muhren

I have spoken with the tenant and they do want a new contract. They actually wanted a longer contract than a year but the agent advised against doing this.

chanz4

just like the search fees, that they pay about £15 for