Landlord wants £234 for reference check

mhurry

Hi,

I'm hoping to rent a one bed flat I've found in the Manchester area - saw the flat on Rightmove and had a viewing through the lettings agent who advised that their referencing fees are £234 for a single tenant (high but I've paid similar before in London). After I made an offer and the landlord accepted, the letting agents passed my details on to him and said he would now deal with me directly in order to carry out the referencing.

The landlord is now asking for £234 direct to his account to carry out a tenant check with the National Landlords Association, which on their website state that a full reference check is only £29.50 (cheaper if landlord is a member of NLA). He wants the money transferred direct to his account and says the letting agents no longer have any involvement. After emailing the letting agents they simply replied that he does his own checks. I've not experienced this before and feel I have no protection/guarantee here?

TLDR; why is the LL asking for the same fees as the letting agent to be paid direct to him, when a tenant check only costs £29.50? Should I query it?

If anyone has any experience/insight I'd massively appreciate it! I'm new to solo renting

Pixie5740

mhurry wrote: »

Hi,

I'm hoping to rent a one bed flat I've found in the Manchester area - saw the flat on Rightmove and had a viewing through the lettings agent who advised that their referencing fees are £234 for a single tenant (high but I've paid similar before in London). After I made an offer and the landlord accepted, the letting agents passed my details on to him and said he would now deal with me directly in order to carry out the referencing.

The landlord is now asking for £234 direct to his account to carry out a tenant check with the National Landlords Association, which on their website state that a full reference check is only £29.50 (cheaper if landlord is a member of NLA). He wants the money transferred direct to his account and says the letting agents no longer have any involvement. After emailing the letting agents they simply replied that he does his own checks. I've not experienced this before and feel I have no protection/guarantee here?

TLDR; why is the LL asking for the same fees as the letting agent to be paid direct to him, when a tenant check only costs £29.50? Should I query it?

If anyone has any experience/insight I'd massively appreciate it! I'm new to solo renting

Ask the landlord why he wants to charge you £234 for something that will only cost him £29.50. Yes, yes I know landlords are in the business of letting property to make money but to try and profit from referencing fees when the tenant has already paid fees to be referenced for the exact same property seems very shady to me. In fact because of the way the landlord is going about this I'd be tempted to stick his flat where the sun doesn't shine.

What have the letting agency said with regards to refunding the fees you have paid to them since you have been referenced for a property they are no longer representing?

Comms69

Pixie5740 wrote: »

Ask the landlord why he wants to charge you £234 for something that will only cost him £29.50. Yes, yes I know landlords are in the business of letting property to make money but to try and profit from referencing fees when the tenant has already paid fees to be referenced for the exact same property seems very shady to me. In fact because of the way the landlord is going about this I'd be tempted to stick his flat where the sun doesn't shine.

What have the letting agency said with regards to refunding the fees you have paid to them since you have been referenced for a property they are no longer representing?

Sorry Pixie, I think it's just one lot of £234. Could be wrong but the OP didn't say he'd paid the letting agents anything

alanobrien

That's a ridiculous amount of money for a reference. Ask yourself if he wants that amount for a reference what sort of landlord is he going to be longer term ? Unless you are in urgent need i would consider moving on and looking elsewhere.

NaughtiusMaximus

alanobrien wrote: »

That's a ridiculous amount of money for a reference. Ask yourself if he wants that amount for a reference what sort of landlord is he going to be longer term ? Unless you are in urgent need i would consider moving on and looking elsewhere.

My thoughts exactly. The plus side is he has at least revealed himself to be an unscrupulous landlord before the OP has signed a contract.

saajan_12

mhurry wrote: »

Hi,

I'm hoping to rent a one bed flat I've found in the Manchester area - saw the flat on Rightmove and had a viewing through the lettings agent who advised that their referencing fees are £234 for a single tenant (high but I've paid similar before in London). - so you're willing to pay £234 for a reference to be allowed to rent the property? Note the direct cost to the agent will be less than that, but they are providing a service and charging a fee to make a profit. After I made an offer and the landlord accepted, the letting agents passed my details on to him and said he would now deal with me directly in order to carry out the referencing. - perfectly normal, some LLs are hands off and employ an agent to manage the property in full, others just use an agent for the bits they can't do easily eg advertising in this case, and then do the ongoing management themselves.

The landlord is now asking for £234 direct to his account to carry out a tenant check with the National Landlords Association, which on their website state that a full reference check is only £29.50 (cheaper if landlord is a member of NLA). - same as if you paid the agent.. you are paying for a service ie reference check which your LL requires to decide whether you are a safe bet as a tenant. You can take it or leave it (ie the fee and the property) He wants the money transferred direct to his account and says the letting agents no longer have any involvement. After emailing the letting agents they simply replied that he does his own checks. I've not experienced this before and feel I have no protection/guarantee here? - nothing has changed, you have no greater protection from the agent. Note the agent works for the LL, so as far as you're concerned, they're one and the same.

TLDR; why is the LL asking for the same fees as the letting agent to be paid direct to him, when a tenant check only costs £29.50? - because he wants to make a profit. Should I query it? - depends on how much you want the property vs how many other options the LL has. The £29.50 figure is irrelevant to you. You can accept the £234 or negotiate something lower or negotiate £0 (ie LL pays for the reference) or walk away.

If anyone has any experience/insight I'd massively appreciate it! I'm new to solo renting

The agent works for the LL. You have no greater protection by dealing with the agent vs the LL directly. What in particular are you worried about?

The LL is wanting to profit from rent / fees / whatever.. you can either agree, negotiate lower or walk away on any aspect.

mhurry

Hi Pixie,

Yes Comms69 is right, I haven't paid anything to the lettings agents, they simply passed my details to the landlord once I'd made an offer. I asked the landlord if he could clarify to whom the fees were going to and what they were paying for, he replied:

"The fee is charged by (his company) for the administration of the tenancy same as what the letting agency charges. It includes not only the referencing process but drawing the tenancy agreement, inventory, all the required documentation to be served and contacting the utilities."

I know other LLs on OpenRent etc. only charge about £20 for referencing and that's it. I think I'll follow up with the lettings agency to ask what their involvement will be (if any) and perhaps ask the LL for a sample contract? Is that reasonable?

Thanks for the help!

Comms69

mhurry wrote: »

Hi Pixie,

Yes Comms69 is right, I haven't paid anything to the lettings agents, they simply passed my details to the landlord once I'd made an offer. I asked the landlord if he could clarify to whom the fees were going to and what they were paying for, he replied:

"The fee is charged by Persia Management (his company) for the administration of the tenancy same as what the letting agency charges. It includes not only the referencing process but drawing the tenancy agreement, inventory, all the required documentation to be served and contacting the utilities."

I know other LLs on OpenRent etc. only charge about £20 for referencing and that's it. I think I'll follow up with the lettings agency to ask what their involvement will be (if any) and perhaps ask the LL for a sample contract? Is that reasonable?

Thanks for the help!

Clearly the letting agents will not be involved at all. That actually has no bearing on you. Letting agents work for the landlord not the tenant (despite what some quasi-official sources state, ahem BBC Watchdog!)


A sample contract is very reasonable and I would encourage everyone to ask for one.

NaughtiusMaximus

mhurry wrote: »

"The fee is charged by Persia Management (his company) for the administration of the tenancy same as what the letting agency charges. It includes not only the referencing process but drawing the tenancy agreement, inventory, all the required documentation to be served and contacting the utilities."

I know this is heading off topic (and into grumpy old git mode) but when I used to rent in the 90s and early 00s, landlords managed to do all of that without charging any extra fees over and above rent, it was 1 month's rent in advance plus the same again as a deposit and that's it, none of this 'arrangement fee' nonsense which has since become standard practice.

Andalya

If it's £234 all in for admin fees (not just referencing) then it makes a bit more sense - you'll often pay ~£150 for inventory, another £50-60 for the tenancy etc etc. Just make sure you get that into your contract with the LL, that the fee is all inclusive.

It's not fair at all, but I've never managed to rent without being charged for every piece of (usually wrongly drafted) paperwork.

mhurry

Hi all,

After clarifying with the letting agents they confirmed that they just do the marketing for the LL and he takes care of all the admin (inventory, contract, referencing). I still think £234 is a lot but oh well, I negotiated the rent down already! Have asked for sample contract from LL in the meantime.

Thanks so much for all your advice, hopefully one day these arbitrary 'fees' will be abolished and there'll be some degree of transparency for both LLs and tenants!