Estate agent increased fully managed letting fee percentage with no escape clause - was this legal?

letom

Yes the letting agent can't vary the contractual unilaterally however at the point they presented the 3 options to you was the point they were likely varying the contract and the fact it seems you agreed with an option is probably enough legally to show your acceptance. If the options were crazy and you had accepted then you'd maybe have a claim, and you probably still do but I would says odds are in the agents favour if you took them to small claims.

Best to go via internal complaints then whatever industry body complaints method they use and hope you maybe get something, but lesson is don't agree to things if you don't understand or think are appropriate.

_Penny_Dreadful

sourpuss2021 said:

_Penny_Dreadful said:

sourpuss2021 said:

_Penny_Dreadful said:

sourpuss2021 said:

I think you’d get more answers if you tried posting this on LandlordZone forum.

I might have been slightly wrong about Winkworths by the way.  It looks like their rates vary between offices and may be a bit lower. But 20.4% (or 17% excluding VAT) is indeed the figure for Foxtons.

Anyone who uses Foxtons and is willing to pay those ridiculous fees has a head that buttons up the back. 

@saajan_12 is right, 10% is the kind of fee letting agents charge across the UK. 

Really?  That seems absurdly low if we are talking about a fully managed service.

Here’s a branch of Winkworths:

Why do you think it’s absurdly low? What do you think a fully managed service from a letting agent involves? Mostly it’s just collecting the rent, skimming a bit off the top and then passing what remains on to the landlord. Nice work if you can get it. Sure, there might be the occasional question from the tenant that the letting agent forwards on to the landlord but that’s about it. Everything else incurs additional fees e.g. tenant find, referencing, inventory and advertising is not included in the fully managed fees. There’s an extra charge for organising repairs plus letting agents tend to use contractors from whom they get a kick back. 

Have you ever actually engaged the services of a letting agent to manage a property on your behalf?

Why would the letting agent be forwarding questions from the tenant to the landlord?  That’s not what fully managed means.  

My situation is I rent a whole property (house divided into flats) from the freeholders.  I live in one flat and sublet the others.  One of the freeholders will give me one-line replies to emails but apart from that I’m on my tod when it comes to anything regarding the property’s maintenance, management and lettings.   

Don’t think I’d be doing it for 10-12%!   Yet I’m still cheaper than if they used a high street firm since I don’t cream anything off repairs or charge any one-off costs or extras. 

I just can’t believe 10-12% for fully managed is normal anywhere.  Unless in fact you are talking about the agency doing tenant find only, and the landlord dealing with everything day to day.

I’m not sure why you’re doubting me given that I have actually hired and fired letting agents being paid for a fully managed service and you haven’t. Letting agents, and there might be a few exceptions who break the rule although I’ve never personally come across one, come in three flavours: lazy, thick, lazy and thick. This is why I now self manage. 

Once you’re up and running there’s really not much to do dad-to-day. For the most part I leave tenants alone to get on with their lives save for a few inspections to see if there’s any routine or preventive maintenance that needs doing. I attend some SaL meetings and the odd NRLA webinar to ensure I stay on top of the legal side of things and the rest of the time I’m sunning myself in the Bahamas (joke). 

You might not be adding fees or getting kick backs from contractors but I’ll bet you’re not paying the market rate for the flat you live in. How much below market rate are you paying? 

For the avoidance of doubt I’m not talking about tenant finder fees. Why would you continue to pay 10% of the rent for the perpetuity of the tenancy for a tenant-find-only service? 

Edit to add:

I’m not surprised Winkworth’s fees are high given that they can’t get away with the pish and capers in the article below anymore thanks to the Tenant Fees Act 2019. 

https://www.theguardian.com/money/blog/2017/apr/15/tenants-charged-835-new-name-contract-winkworth