Nearly £1000 letting agent fees?

00ec25

PurpleCat89 wrote: »

Yes, I queried this as it sounded wrong to me.

They told me it's something they need the tenant to pay, but I can get it elsewhere from another insurance company.

need to pay for what?

they have not given you any explanation at all, although I note they have covered their backs from an allegation of anti competitiveness by saying you can buy "it" elsewhere, whatever "it" is.

[Deleted User]

£499 for admin and credit check is outrageous. It costs them £20 for a check and they will use a standard tenancy agreement which they will print off in 5 mins.

I really hope the legislation to ban these fees goes through quickly.

parking_question_chap

Cakeguts wrote: »

Find a house with a different agent. Those fees are ridiculous.

Absolute rip off, go elsewhere.

If you have landlord details contact them and say you refuse to pay those fees.

I bet they will try and rip you off with check out and random property checks as well, given they are clearly a rip off merchant.

Pixie5740

Those fees are outrageous. I too would walk away and find somewhere else to rent. I wouldn't want to rent from a landlord who used an agent who charged so much for referencing and insisted that the tenant has liability insurance. Tenants don't require liability insurance, your deposit is there to cover any damage over and above fair wear and tear.

PurpleCat89

Thanks guys. It seemed excessive to me too. Interesting to hear it can be less in London, too.

We are in a difficult position as we need to move fairly soon and properties round here go so quickly. It took us a long time to find this one, we got turned down from many before we got this one (this is before any referencing or anything) just as there was so much interest in the places.

I guess that is why they feel they can get away with it. It does worry me that even if we gave in to this, they would then try it on with check out fees and not returning all the deposit.

Thanks again

PurpleCat89

00ec25 wrote: »

need to pay for what?

they have not given you any explanation at all, although I note they have covered their backs from an allegation of anti competitiveness by saying you can buy "it" elsewhere, whatever "it" is.

Sorry I didn't see this. I looked it up and Tenency Liability insurance is basically for if you cause any damage to the property or fixtures. However, to me this is what a deposit is for? It is also possible to get it as an addition to contents insurance (which we would get anyway) and I have found it cheaper than what they quoted. I had never heard of it before now, though.