Letting agent increased fees by 50%

sheff6107

martinlewisjunior wrote: »

Hi all,

Anyone have any advice! Fees are just spiralling out of control and all without being informed!

Depends which fees are being charged that apply to the contract you hold in your hand.

If a new tenant moves in surely they are subject to the new fees? Similarly if a tenant moves out they are subject to the old checking out fee (whatever the hell a checking out fee is).

martinlewisjunior

sheff6107 wrote: »

Depends which fees are being charged that apply to the contract you hold in your hand.

If a new tenant moves in surely they are subject to the new fees? Similarly if a tenant moves out they are subject to the old checking out fee (whatever the hell a checking out fee is).

Yes thats right we found the contract. The fees for myself leaving the flat wouldn't change. It's just unfortunate for those moving in.

Comms69 wrote: »

Not subletting, and I don't know about the contract but I'd say that there is not much the LL could do about it except to evict.

"In terms of a lodger, 12.1 of the contract states this.

Not to assign, sublet, otherwise part with possession of the Property or let any other person live at the Property without the prior written consent of the Landlord or the Landlord's Agent which cannot be unreasonably withheld and must be given within a reasonable time.

Comms69

martinlewisjunior wrote: »

Yes thats right we found the contract. The fees for myself leaving the flat wouldn't change. It's just unfortunate for those moving in.




"In terms of a lodger, 12.1 of the contract states this.

Not to assign, sublet, otherwise part with possession of the Property or let any other person live at the Property without the prior written consent of the Landlord or the Landlord's Agent which cannot be unreasonably withheld and must be given within a reasonable time.

Like I say the only outcome is eviction - not many landlords evict ayungbtenants

martinlewisjunior

Comms69 wrote: »

Like I say the only outcome is eviction - not many landlords evict ayungbtenants

I'll let my housemate know thank you

stator

So the tenancy is in both your names at the moment in a joint tenancy?
You don't have two separate tenancy agreements?
Does the tenancy agreement state Northwood as the Landlord (ie there guaranteed rent scheme) or does it name a different person?

You don't have to pay renewal fees, it's a con that Northwood run. You can just ignore their letters and move onto a statutory periodic tenancy.


As for the other fees, write to the landlord and complain if you like. They might decide to move agency anyway. They've probably put up their landlords fees just as much.

martinlewisjunior

stator wrote: »

So the tenancy is in both your names at the moment in a joint tenancy?
You don't have two separate tenancy agreements?
Does the tenancy agreement state Northwood as the Landlord (ie there guaranteed rent scheme) or does it name a different person?

You don't have to pay renewal fees, it's a con that Northwood run. You can just ignore their letters and move onto a statutory periodic tenancy.


As for the other fees, write to the landlord and complain if you like. They might decide to move agency anyway. They've probably put up their landlords fees just as much.

Yes Northwood, those evil folk. We didn't pay a renewal fee, we avoided that at Christmas. Our fixed contract was up and I was in the middle of looking elsewhere and we agreed with approval from the landlord to go to a rolling contract for three months.

Anyways to answer your other questions, it's a joint tenancy. The tenancy does not state Northwood as the landlord. I will double check though. It only states 12.1

"Not to assign, sublet, otherwise part with possession of the Property or let any other person live at the Property without the prior written consent of the Landlord or the Landlord's Agent which cannot be unreasonably withheld and must be given within a reasonable time"

martinlewisjunior

stator wrote: »

So the tenancy is in both your names at the moment in a joint tenancy?
You don't have two separate tenancy agreements?
Does the tenancy agreement state Northwood as the Landlord (ie there guaranteed rent scheme) or does it name a different person?

You don't have to pay renewal fees, it's a con that Northwood run. You can just ignore their letters and move onto a statutory periodic tenancy.


As for the other fees, write to the landlord and complain if you like. They might decide to move agency anyway. They've probably put up their landlords fees just as much.

Hi Stator do you think much can be done? :money:

stator

You could always negotiate if your flat mate is taking it over in his sole name. There's minimal work involved for them.
But when you want to add a new person to the lease there's not much you can do. Negotiate or pay up or move somewhere else

00ec25

lets start at the basics as it seems you don't understand how letting/renting works

1. someone owns the building, it appears in this case that the owner has decided to let the property to tenants. That makes the owner into a landlord

2. the landlord has decided that they want a letting agent to actually deal with the tenants and do the paperwork associated with finding and signing up a tenant.

3. the landlord therefore has chosen an agent to act on behalf of the LL. The agent has a contract between the LL and themselves. It is the LL's decision who to select as agent. The agent obviously charges the LL fees for doing the work on behalf of the LL

4. the agent makes it profit from fees charged to the LL and fees charged to tenants it finds. It has no contract between itself and any tenant. It is not a LL itself and you do not rent from the agent, you rent from the LL.

5. anyone looking to become a tenant is free to choose that property or another property. If they choose that property then they must pay whatever fees the agency charges. They cannot avoid those fees nor do they have any ability to vary those fees other than bluntly asking the agency to charge less. A prospective tenant has no power over the agent as they have no contract with the agent. An existing tenant is in exactly the same situation

6. tenants can appeal to the LL to change agents and find a different agent who less. But the tenant has no right to ask the LL to change and the LL has every right to refuse to change, after all the LL may think the agent does a good job and the charges paid by the LL to his agent are "fair"

Summary
if you are already living in the property then you are bound by the LL's choice of agent and whatever fees are set out in your tenancy agreement. There may be some fees payable by you which can be increased whilst you are a tenant, but that would be unusual.

A new tenant has to pay the fee stated. The fee can be increased by the agent whenever they like. A new tenant is free to choose a different property with a different agent. All the existing tenants can do is ask the LL to consider moving to a cheaper agent. That is it.

martindow

Comms69 wrote: »

Like I say the only outcome is eviction - not many landlords evict ayungbtenants

?? Covfefe??