Letting agent fees (tenant side) - room to negotiate?

bizwax

Hi Folks,

Quick question. In London, I am in the processing of finding a new flat and one has come up, which is managed by Hamptons.

I have read that Hamptons will want to charge me in the region of £450 - 500 for tasks such as screening, letting agreement, inventory etc.

I find this preposterous to be frank, and wondering if there is room to negotiate? Has any body ever succeeded on this? I think £300 is a fair amount to be honest.

Large estate agents like this have completely streamlined the process of tenant onboarding and it amounts to simple administration.

Thanks

G_M

Yes it's a rip-off.
Yes you can try negotiating.
But many agncies will simply quote their standard policy at you.

It's supply and demand - the reality is that supply of potential tenants exceeds supply of properties, so if you walk away if they refuse to negotiate, they'll have someone else apply later in the day.......


And unlike the landlord, the agent does not care if it takes a few extra days to find a tenant. They make their money on finding a tenant; it's mainly the landlord who loses on the missed rent.

Thrugelmir

bizwax wrote: »

I think £300 is a fair amount to be honest.

How did arrive at this figure?

davidmcn

bizwax wrote: »

I think £300 is a fair amount to be honest.

Thrugelmir wrote: »

How did arrive at this figure?

Also intrigued by this. In more sensible jurisdictions, we've decided that zero is the only fair amount. £300 strikes me as being only a bit less extortionate than the number they first thought of.

quotememiserable

davidmcn wrote: »

Zero is the only fair amount. £300 strikes me as being only a bit less extortionate than the number they first thought of.

Exactly. They're charging the landlord a finders fee, and a montly management fee most likely, then they want to charge the tennant as well, for photocopying a form. But it's landlords that have to push it. I make sure my letting agents charge very modest fees, or they don't get my business.

bizwax

Hi guys,

Well.. to be honest, £300 is a somewhat arbitrary figure in this instance but also somewhat based on previous experiences and monies paid to other agents.

"Fair" in the sense that I find it more palatable and if I put a cost of the agencies clerks time at £100 per hour cost to the business and that it takes no more than three whole hours in aggregate of bite size sessions then it seems like a kind of reasonable cost. 3 hours is still very generous in my opinion. I understand that the screening is outsourced but still would be pretty cheap those services are mainly fulfilled by computer applications these days (for the mostpart).

I admit my logic is rather contrived and simplified but still..

Yea, I guess it's a negotiation really and if you don't get you don't ask.

[Deleted User]

In the bad old days when I had to look for a private rental property I didn't even consider one where the agency told me the fees were over £500 for a property with a monthly rent of £600 (this was over 5 years ago). I voted with my feet.

Try Openrent if you don't like LA fees. The LL's might charge some fees but nothing like an LA.