Tenant advice - handing the keys back

JackG88

We have just bought our first house, and as such are now in the process of vacating our rented property. I handed our notice in to the Letting Agents (Belvoir) who have come back saying that we will need to pay £50 if we want to be present at the property when they do their final inspection, or we can hand the keys in at the office and not be present.

This doesn't sound right to me, as it will still technically be rented by us when they inspect, so they are effectively charging us £50 to be present in our own home.

Not being present is unfortunately not an option, as the house was in quite a poor state of repair when we rented it, and we have already had the landlord accusing us of ruining an "immaculate" carpet - luckily we had taken photos when we moved in and it turned out that the landlord has not physically been to the property since several years before we arrived.

Are they allowed to charge £50 for us to be present? Surely it is our right to be there.

Pixie5740

£50 for you to be in a property that you still have a tenancy for? They're having a giraffe. If it was after the date your tenancy ends then, whilst unpalatable I could see that they could get away with charging you £50 but £50 during your tenancy...nae chance.

pmlindyloo

is it possible that you have misunderstood and they require you to pay £50 for the check out fee?

Have a look at your contract and see if it says anything about check out fees etc in your contract. Check their website and see it says anything about this fee.

If the answer is 'no' to both of these questions then you can challenge this.

When you say 'technically rented by us' do you mean that you will have moved out but still paying the rent and not having handed back the keys?

HappyMJ

JackG88 wrote: »

We have just bought our first house, and as such are now in the process of vacating our rented property. I handed our notice in to the Letting Agents (Belvoir) who have come back saying that we will need to pay £50 if we want to be present at the property when they do their final inspection, or we can hand the keys in at the office and not be present.

This doesn't sound right to me, as it will still technically be rented by us when they inspect, so they are effectively charging us £50 to be present in our own home.

Not being present is unfortunately not an option, as the house was in quite a poor state of repair when we rented it, and we have already had the landlord accusing us of ruining an "immaculate" carpet - luckily we had taken photos when we moved in and it turned out that the landlord has not physically been to the property since several years before we arrived.

Are they allowed to charge £50 for us to be present? Surely it is our right to be there.

England? They can charge what they like and you either accept the charge or you don't.

They've given you a free option. You can take that.

My advice...do your own checkout. Take your own photo's on departure and dispute everything they try and deduct money for.

Lily-Rose_3

Yes it's probably a checkout fee. It wouldn't be a charge just to be there. I am sure they will still charge it anyway, because they usually pay an independent party to do it. (Well in my experience anyway!)

JackG88

pmlindyloo wrote: »

is it possible that you have misunderstood and they require you to pay £50 for the check out fee?

Have a look at your contract and see if it says anything about check out fees etc in your contract. Check their website and see it says anything about this fee.

If the answer is 'no' to both of these questions then you can challenge this.

When you say 'technically rented by us' do you mean that you will have moved out but still paying the rent and not having handed back the keys?

Thank you everyone for getting back to me.

Her exact wording in the email w[FONT=&quot]as:

"[/FONT][FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot]We charge £50 for an accompanied check out, alternatively you may leave the keys and we will conduct it after you’ve left."

By technically rented, I meant that we have given our notice to vacate by 22 June and have paid our rent in advance for that month, and it was discussed that the final inspection would occur in the week preceding that date.

Thank you for the advice - I will check their website and the contract.
[/FONT][/FONT]

Miss_Samantha

It's a fee for the check-out.
But really it's just a trick to discourage you from attending.

Pixie5740

Miss_Samantha wrote: »

It's a fee for the check-out.
But really it's just a trick to discourage you from attending.

You'll like this but not a lot....

FBaby

I assume what they are saying is that they do a check out that you then sign and therefore one you are satisfied with. Otherwise they will do it for the landlord only and therefore won't be able to dispute is validity. Of course as it's been suggested you can do your own before you go. If you do make sure you can show evidence of when they were taken. The agency will claim that they are experienced in conducting them hence the professional fee!

Marvel1

Take loads of photos and even videos, of every corner, include a timestamp, and when they attempt to deduct, appeal through whoever is holding the deposit protection.

I would advise if you moving out and leaving it empty lets say a week, then get in day before they inspect and clean.

thesaint

JackG88 wrote: »

[FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot]
Thank you for the advice - I will check their website and the contract.
[/FONT][/FONT]

I would forget what their website says about any checkout fee.