Advice on estate agent question

SouthLondonUser

I am not surprised that an agency tries to charge you for a periodic tenancy - this happened to me many moons ago, too (of course I told them to get lost). However, if I were you I would file a formal complaint. What's the agency? Are they part of a professional body / ombudsman to which you can escalate? Do you have the contact details of the landlords? I would let them know, too (dear landlord, I like you and your property, but the agent has tried to overcharge me etc etc)

G_M

SouthLondonUser wrote: »

I am not surprised that an agency tries to charge you for a periodic tenancy - this happened to me many moons ago, too (of course I told them to get lost). However, if I were you I would file a formal complaint. What's the agency? Are they part of a professional body / ombudsman to which you can escalate? Do you have the contact details of the landlords? I would let them know, too (dear landlord, I like you and your property, but the agent has tried to overcharge me etc etc)

I would not dismiss this suggestion, but I'd put it on hold.

The OP still has an ongoing tenancy and has to deal with the agent. Why anatagonise, risk escalation, or make more waves than needed and make the remainder of the tenancy harder than it need be?

Hence my " cursive part in Parentheses!" earlier.

Contacting the landlord is an option, but bear in mind some LLs:
* are not well-informed, and hence rely on what their agent tells them
* choose to be 'hands off',and refer everything back to the agent
* may be overseas and simply not respond (even assuming they receive your correspondance.)



But once the OP has left, by all means contact Head Office or the relevant Ombudsman...........

liamr220989

Thanks all, we've gone with the below after receving a chasing call from them earlier after a response, wait and see now.

Good morning Tina,

Thank you for your email dated 04/07/2019 outlining two of the options open to us.

Yes, I can confirm that we are happy with the property and have every intention of remaining. The property and area are lovely and we’re very happy up to now.
We aren’t concerned about the impact of Brexit at all with regards to impacting our tenancy, it is nice to know that the landlord is happy for us to remain as we too would plan on staying here for quite a while yet so would be more than happy for this to become a periodic tenancy.
My previous experience with these have been that they have automatically became Statutory Periodic Tenancies on the first date after the original tenancy has expired. I’ll have to double check our tenancy agreement but I thought this periodic tenancy would be written in already as it is a legal right, either way I have never been charged a fee for this, can you explain what this fee is for please?
This will have the benefit of saving ourselves and the landlord from any fees as there is no new documentation required
I look forward to hearing back from you
Yours sincerely

hazyjo

liamr220989 wrote: »

My previous experience with these have been that they have automatically became Statutory Periodic Tenancies on the first date after the original tenancy has expired. I’ll have to double check our tenancy agreement but I thought this periodic tenancy would be written in already as it is a legal right, either way I have never been charged a fee for this, can you explain what this fee is for please?

Would have excluded/reworded that. You've given them get-out clauses. G_M's was fine without it. You should be telling them, not asking them your rights.

AndyTails

You had no need to ask the agent anything, you should have just told them that you're going onto a statutory periodic tenancy, for which no fee is chargeable.

liamr220989

Thanks everyone, below response received.

I wonder how many people just pay these without questioning this.

Good Morning xxxxxxxxx

Thank you for your email. Your points have been noted. Your are quite right that after a fixed term tenancy agreement comes to an end, if you have not paid for the monthly rolling renewal agreement you would automatically LAPSE onto it. As I deal with renewals, many tenants and landlords request a signed renewal agreement for their records.

There has been new legislation come into force since the 1st June where by there is a tenant fee ban introduced which at present affects new tenants only but after May 31st 2020 will apply to all tenants. Due to this and having spoken to your Landlord, I will send you out a rolling monthly renewal agreement for you both to sign and will not apply the charge as a gesture of good will as both yourselves and your landlord are happy with the property/situation.

Kind Regards

SouthLondonUser

I'm not sure I am following. What is the point of signing anything, unless some of the terms change or a minimum term is guaranteed?

m0bov

Oh god what a mess! Don't sign anything, let it go onto a rolling tenancy!

M_Python

liamr220989 wrote: »

Due to this and having spoken to your Landlord, I will send you out a rolling monthly renewal agreement for you both to sign and will not apply the charge as a gesture of good will as both yourselves and your landlord are happy with the property/situation.

Kind Regards

How very kind of them :rotfl::rotfl:

tom9980

The agent wants you to sign something so they can justify charging the Landlord a fee no doubt for this bogus service.