Rental fees for LL

hngrymummy

We may be looking to rent our house out for a couple of years.

We will be doing lots of reading up, and we will make sure to do everything by the book.

However, I know very little about agency fees.

We will need fully managed, although one company has said that they're happy to use our recommended workmen for repairs.

What is a reasonable percentage for the agency to charge? Is it a percentage of rental value, or actual rent taken?
What other admin fees are we likely to face?
What fees are our tenants likely to face?

Thanks

Guest101

Depends on area.

15% of the rent for managed service.

As for fees, anything from £100-700 and possibly more

For tenants: £65-300 or more ( depends on number of tenants too )

tripled

The property I am a tentant in is non-managed. We as tenants paid £400 for two of us (negotiated down from £600). My understanding is the landlord was charged 1 month's rent (£795) - despite the fact the landlord advertised the property themselves (the letting agent did credit checks, supplied the contract and handled the deposit). This is for 12 month contract with 6 month minimum term.

If we'd only stayed 6 months it would have cost the landlord around 16%, over a year around 8%. Your management fee would be on top of that.

Shop around and remember to haggle with them - if there's good rental demand in your area for properties like yours, it's easy money and many will move on their fees

It's worth looking at what they charge tenants too - when we were looking, the higher the agency fee, the less we'd be prepared to pay in rent for any properties marketed through that agent.

G_M

Letting Agents (Tips for selecting, and tips for sacking them)

New Landlords (information for new or prospective landlords)

What is a reasonable percentage for the agency to charge?
Depends on the company. And what you instruct them to do/not do. 8-15%
Is it a percentage of rental value, or actual rent taken?
Usually % of rent agreed
What other admin fees are we likely to face?
See link above
What fees are our tenants likely to face?

Referencing/credit checks
Holding deposit
Rent in advance
Security Deposit

If high, tenant will be p*ssed off. Agent does not care - it's your property that will be misused, not theirs.....

hngrymummy

Thanks

I do self-assessment anyway, so it shouldn't be too much extra trouble to add a property to my next one.

Does the rent count towards my tax-free inccome? I don't currently pay tax as I don't earn enough.

We will be doing copious amounts of reading, just in case we do end up moving. We don't want to panic and try to do everything last minute.

One agent seemed very nice and said they would use our workmen if we wanted, and that tenants would go on to AST after their 6 month fixed term ended.

We'll be doing a spreadsheet soon to get everything written down.

We want to be good LL, and part of that means getting a good agent that won't fleece the tenants for outrageous fees, and won't hassle them with endless 'inspections'