New to renting through an agent , are these terms legal?

100rotor

Hi 
We`ve just enquired about renting and an agent tells us these are the terms , is this normal ?................

"So that we can process your rental enquiry please can you Clicj here to complete the attached Registration Form. Once we have received your completed Registration Form we will easily be able to arrange viewings for you if there is anything that was to come up for rent in your selected areas.

Please be advised that when applying for a property the following will be required:

Holding deposit of equivalent one week’s rent to be paid at commencement of formal referencing.

An equivalent of five weeks rent to be paid as a deposit at tenancy commencement along with one month’s advance rent.

Existing Greedy Agents Tenants whose tenancy commenced prior to the 1st June 2019 which ends prior to the 31st May 2020 will be required to pay Greedy Agents Termination and Check out Fee of £120 including VAT (£100 plus VAT) as per their Tenancy Agreement.

Please be advised that when applying for a property the following will be required:

Holding deposit of equivalent one week’s rent to be paid at commencement of formal referencing.

An equivalent of five weeks rent to be paid as a deposit at tenancy commencement along with one month’s advance rent.

Existing Bradleys Tenants whose tenancy commenced prior to the 1st June 2019 which ends prior to the 31st May 2020 will be required to pay Greedy Agents Termination and Check out Fee of £120 including VAT (£100 plus VAT) as per their Tenancy Agreement.

If you have any questions or problems, please contact us at our Customer Services office on 0000000000  Our office is available up until 10pm, 7 days per week.

anselld

Holding deposit of 1 week rent is normal but it should be clarified what happens to it at the start of tenancy, ie it counts towards the security deposit, and on what grounds it is/isn't returnable. 

5 weeks rent as security deposit is the maximum permitted but is otherwise normal.

1 month rent in advance is normal.

The rest concerns pre-existing tenancies so is irrelevant if you have just started looking.

Chumy

"Holding deposit of equivalent one week’s rent to be paid at commencement of formal referencing" - 
You also need to clarify what happens to this if your references comes back unsatisfactory or you decide to pull out. 

Morbier

I asked this very question in a previous post - if the references are satisfactory, then the holding deposit is deducted from the first month's rent. If references come back unsatisfactory (e.g. if you have omitted to mention something that would affect your application) or if you decide to pull out, then you forfeit the deposit and it is not returned. 

grumiofoundation

To clarify where in the country are you?

In England 5 weeks is the max permitted deposit. In Wales this limit is not in place.

SpiderLegs

grumiofoundation said:

To clarify where in the country are you?

In England 5 weeks is the max permitted deposit. In Wales this limit is not in place.

I’m guessing that the OP lives somewhere in the south west of England.

SpiderLegs

This is just a guess but I reckon that they will not take a holding deposit until some initial enquiries have been made and the landlord approves formal referencing.

Then I think the holding deposit will be paid towards the tenancy deposit as long as satisfactory referencing is made.

I also imagine there are four circumstances where the holding deposit will be retained.

The prospective tenant withdraws, provides false information, fails to commence the tenancy in a reasonable timescale, or fails the right to rent checks.

This is of course a pure guess on my part but sounds quite reasonable to me so I would be very comfortable with those terms and I certainly wouldn’t want to describe any such estate agency as ‘greedy’.

I would also be very upset it I was a lawyer for such an agency and saw my client described as in that way.

Morbier

The holding deposit is taken before referencing commences.  Otherwise there'd be no opportunity to withhold it, if reference checks failed.  I think I'm right in assuming that the point of the holding deposit is to stop viewings/applications from other people?

SpiderLegs

Morbier said:

The holding deposit is taken before referencing commences.  Otherwise there'd be no opportunity to withhold it, if reference checks failed.  I think I'm right in assuming that the point of the holding deposit is to stop viewings/applications from other people?

Yes that’s what I wrote.
I am 100% certain that what I suggested is correct in this instance.

Morbier

SpiderLegs said:

Yes that’s what I wrote.
I am 100% certain that what I suggested is correct in this instance.

Sorry, didn't mean to question your comments 😢  - it was your wording "they will not take a holding deposit until some initial enquiries have been made" that just seemed a bit ambiguous. I thought that the agents would do nothing until the holding deposit had been paid.  Please, correct me if I'm wrong!

SpiderLegs

Morbier said:

SpiderLegs said:

Yes that’s what I wrote.
I am 100% certain that what I suggested is correct in this instance.

Sorry, didn't mean to question your comments 😢  - it was your wording "they will not take a holding deposit until some initial enquiries have been made" that just seemed a bit ambiguous. I thought that the agents would do nothing until the holding deposit had been paid.  Please, correct me if I'm wrong!

No no. As stated, these particular agents will definitely make some initial enquiries, then take a holding deposit, then start the formal referencing process. Not sure what the issue is here.

I doubt these are the specific greedy agents like the ones the OP is talking about, but you never know do you!