Solicitor Fees - Please help. I am a tenant that voluntarily left after section LBA & Section 21

HolyLad

Hi all,

I’m trying to get some guidance on a tenancy/legal cost dispute with a letting agent’s solicitors and would really appreciate any advice.

Background:

I rented a property for around 3 years and had no major issues during the tenancy. In 2025 I began experiencing financial difficulties and was in contact with the landlord/solicitors throughout this period. The property is owned by a large corporate company that own multiple properties, Quintain Living.

• I was in a 60-day Breathing Space moratorium (around October 2025), during which enforcement action was paused.
• During this time, I communicated financial hardship and was in a Debt Management Plan with StepChange.
• I was served a LBA due to arrears in October 2025
• Served with a section 21 Notice in January 2026.
• there have been a few emails back and forth quesoning the balances etc.

Payments made:

• I have about a £1,500 outstanding arears and am due in the next week to offeset the deposit and make a lump sum payment to clear the arears.
• I am disputing £860 costs for legal fees.

None of this went to court and have only had a few emails and 2 letters.

I have now vacated the property (before the tenancy end date), returned keys, and left the property in good condition with a professional clean completed. I have evidence of the condition.

I have now been provided with a new statement claiming:

• Interest             £99.28
• Legal Costs      £881.50

No court proceedings, possession order, or CCJ have ever been issued.

My position:

I am questioning:

• How legal fees have increased significantly without court action
• Whether pre-action legal costs are reasonable and recoverable in this situation
• Whether these costs were properly communicated or contractually justified
• Whether it is reasonable to pursue large legal fees when arrears were cleared a few weeks after i moved out and I vacated voluntarily

I have requested:

• Full itemised breakdown of legal fees
• Dates and work carried out
• Hourly rates / invoices
• Contractual basis in tenancy agreement
• Explanation of interest charges

They have replied with alot of threatening terms like the below.

''We will not be entering into any further protracted negotiations regarding the balance and if we are required to correspond with you further regarding this, the costs incurred in doing so will be added to your liabilities.''

How can they charge for just simple communication and a few letters?

The clause in my contract '''you will pay any legal and other costs awarded by a Court if we have to take legal action against you
for not paying any amounts you owe or if you do not meet any of your other responsibilities listed in
this agreement.'

Do they have grounds to charge me all fees if its not gone to court?

I am offering £300 total towards legal costs and interest as a full and final settlement on a without prejudice basis.

If rejected, what would i do? I am concerned if i email them to negoaite if i can they will add more fees?

Should I fight this or pay it in full? Would they pursue and take me to court over just their legal fees? The lady i spoke to was very rude and said we dont work for free…

TDLR - Disputing solicitor fees from the landlord.

Any advice appreciated.

GDB2222

I’d say that you don’t need to pay either the interest or legal fees, but I am interested to hear what others say.

elsien

Ditto. Surely it would be up to the court to decide about costs if it had ever got that far?
I wouldn’t be communicating with them by asking for breakdowns, et cetera because that implies that you think you do owe them something.
The cosys associated with issuing a letter before action, et cetera are simply one of the perks of being a landlord.

lincroft1710

If you dispute your liability for fees charged, you do not offer anything, even "without prejudice"

HolyLad

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81973399#Comment_81973399

Thanks. So you think they would accept my £300 offer and go away? Would they look to take me to small claims court for 860? How can they charge such high fees for a few emails and a LBA and a section 21?

''We will not be entering into any further protracted negotiations regarding the balance and if we are required to correspond with you further regarding this, the costs incurred in doing so will be added to your liabilities.''

Is the above an empty threat? Basically implying if I ask more questions they will add more fees because they are doing more work?

You say i wouldn't communicate but they have charged me fees which I guess they have billed the landlord for? Do I just say take my offer and leave it?

HolyLad

I replied to them before I wrote on here the below. Here is the full email chain and im waiting for their reply...

What should I do now? What if they push for the fees.

My email.

I confirm that on 24 April 2026, I will have vacated the property with no intention to return. The keys will be handed over and the flat has been left in brand new like condition, with a full professional clean completed prior to departure. I will retain photographic and video evidence of the condition at both move-in and move-out.

I remain concerned about the level of legal fees being claimed. As previously outlined, the initial legal costs were stated as £309.50 (email dated 23 October). However, £150 was already deducted, leaving £159.50, and I understand that £150 is not included in the current balance. I do not understand how these costs have increased to £882.60 particularly given that:

Over the period from October to April there has been under 10 emails and 2 letters. Some of these letters were simple statements.

I was in breathing space back in October for 60 days, so some of this may not apply.
I have also documented and communicated several times financial hardship.
No court proceedings have been issued
No monetary judgment has been obtained
I have vacated the property voluntarily, earlier than my tenancy end date
No possession proceedings were required or issued following service of the notice
In these circumstances, the costs appear disproportionate and were not clearly communicated at the outset.

For clarity, please provide:
A full breakdown of the legal costs claimed
A breakdown of the work undertaken
Dates and time spent
The hourly rate applied
Confirmation these costs were actually incurred, most importantly, supporting invoices

The contractual basis within the tenancy agreement relied upon
Confirmation of how these costs comply with the Consumer Rights Act 2015 in terms of fairness, proportionality and transparency
These costs relate to pre-proceedings work only and are not automatically recoverable, being subject to the court’s discretion as to reasonableness.

Following your letter dated 20 January 2026, I confirmed on the same day my intention to vacate by 27 April (and will have in fact vacated 3 days earlier). I had also previously made it clear to the landlord well before receiving this letter that I would be leaving at the end of the tenancy and would not be renewing. In light of this, the level of costs being claimed appears unreasonable.

Without prejudice, and in the interest of resolving this matter promptly, I am in a position to clear the rent arrears in full and make a one-off payment towards legal costs, interest, and utilities (if any) with the assistance of a family member.
For context, I am currently in a Debt Management Plan and my outgoings exceed my income. This is therefore a single opportunity to resolve matters in full, as I would otherwise need to include any balance within my existing repayment arrangements over an extended period.

I am able to offer £300 in respect of legal costs and interest as a reasonable and proportionate figure to bring this matter to a close.
Based on the last statement:
Arrears: £2,290.86
Legal Costs & Interest: £300
Total: £2,590.86

This represents the maximum sum available to me and is offered strictly on a full and final basis in settlement of all sums claimed, including rent arrears, legal costs, interest, and utilities reconciliation.

Should this proposal be accepted, I will arrange payment by 5 May 2026 and simultaneously consent to the release of the £1,000 deposit to offset the balance. Upon receipt of both, I would expect written confirmation that this matter is concluded in full with no further sums to be pursued.

If we are unable to reach agreement on this basis, I would not be in a position to make a lump sum payment and any balance would need to be addressed through my existing financial arrangements. I would also require the full itemised breakdown and supporting documentation outlined above before any further payments are considered.

I trust this offer will be given due consideration in light of my voluntary vacation of the property and intention to resolve matters amicably. Any resolution would need to be agreed on a full and final settlement of all claims.
This is a low complexity case and pre-court only work.
I look forward to your response.
Kind regards

.......

…....

This was their initial email from them

Please see the attached Statement of Account showing a clear breakdown of the arrears balance which now stands at £2,614.26. The full rental for April has now been applied, however once you have vacated the property as intended on 24/04/2026, a move out credit will be applied to reflect the vacate date. I have responded to your queries regarding the balance below:

 

Arrears Balance

 

A breakdown of the charges & payments has been provided below:

 

31/07/2025                                 Balance was in credit of £24.55

01/08/2025 – 01/04/2026           Charges in the sum of £14,608.60

05/08/2025 – 02/04/2026           Payments/Credits in the sum of £11,969.79

 

Total arrears balance as of today’s date is £2,614.26

 

In regard to your overpayment of £100.00 made on 5 January 2026, as you can see the monthly rent & utilities is £1,628.00 per month however on this date you made payment of £1,728.00. Before this payment was made there were arrears on the account of £3,232.44 as shown on the attached statement of account and due to this, the overpayment of £100.00 went towards the arrears bringing the balance to £1,504.44 in total.

 

As stated previously the £150.00 legal costs that have been paid already by yourself have been included in the attached statement of account and therefore will not be included in any further cost breakdowns provided to you as this has already been paid.

 

Interest

 

In respect of the interest that has accrued on this matter, please see the attached interest calculation which shows a clear breakdown of how the interest has accrued to date and this is currently continuing to accrue at the daily rate of £0.29.

 

Our client is entitled to claim interest at the rate of 3.00% above the Bank of England base rate until the arrears balance has been cleared in full pursuant to Clause E.2 of the Tenancy Agreement dated 27 April 2024 which has been signed by yourself. I have also attached a copy of the Tenancy Agreement for completeness.

 

Just to clarify, interest is only accruing on rental arrears and does not include utilities, hence why the arrears balance on the interest calculation is less than the arrears balance provided above as this is just for rent charges minus any payments.

 

Costs

 

In respect of the legal costs that have accrued on this matter, our client is entitled to claim legal cost pursuant to Clause E.4 of the Tenancy Agreement dated 27 April 2024 which has been signed by yourself. Again, a copy of the Tenancy Agreement has been attached.

 

The costs have been incurred as we have carried out the following:

 

• We served you with Letter Before Action due to arrears in October 2025.  
• Communication back & forth with yourself regarding payment plans & making payment of the balance on numerous occasions throughout the history of this matter.
• We served you with a Section 21 Notice in January 2026.
• Back & forth protracted negotiations regarding the balance.

 

The balance as of today’s date is broken down as follows:

 

Arrears             £2,614.26

Interest             £99.28

Legal Costs      £881.50

 

Total                 £3,595.04

 

As mentioned above, this includes rent for the full month of April however once you have vacated on 24/04/2026 a move out credit will be applied to reflect the vacate date.

 

Now that a full breakdown of this balance has been provided, we will not be entering into any further protracted negotiations regarding the balance and if we are required to correspond with you further regarding this, the costs incurred in doing so will be added to your liabilities. Our client account details are attached for payment to be made – please ensure to quote the reference when making payment to ensure the correct allocation of funds.

 

Once you have vacated the property, please confirm that you have done so with no intention to return as our client is unable to take possession until this has been confirmed and your liabilities will continue. Once you have vacated, our client will carry out their End of Tenancy inspections and apply any End of Tenancy Charges, there may also be utilities reconciliations that have yet to be calculated which may also be added to the balance. As soon as these figures are confirmed to us by our client, we will notify you of the same and an updated balance will be provided.

 

We trust that the above answers any queries you have regarding the balance and that we should not need to clarify this any further.  

HolyLad

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81973439#Comment_81973439

See my recent post if you have time?

GDB2222

I haven't read your email chain in detail, but my understanding is that the rental contract cannot lawfully add in legal fees and charges the landlord incurred. It's not a contract term that is lawful. (It's an unfair term in a consumer contract.) It's not enforceable.

I think the interest clause is likewise unenforceable.

Consequently, as long as you paid all the rent and any dilapidations, you owe nothing further. Have you had your deposit back, or did you relinquish that towards the unpaid rent?

I would therefore write and say that your offer to pay £300 is withdrawn. And, I would explain (very briefly) that you don't believe the contract term relating to landlord costs or interest is enforceable. I would respectfully point out that you would defend any claim through the courts for these amounts.

In practice, it's incredibly unlikely the landlord will use a solicitor to claim these amounts. A solicitor would charge several £000s in fees to bring the case, but in the small claims track of the court system, only very small fixed costs would be awarded by the court. So, even if the landlord thought you owed him nearly £1000, he would be charged several times that amount (in unrecoverable costs by his solicitor) to bring the case.

The landlord could file the court proceedings himself, but I don't think he has a good case at all.

TLDR - It's all sabre rattling. Tell them to get lost.

HolyLad

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81973614#Comment_81973614

Thanks for replying. I haven't yet released the deposit. My concern is if I release the deposit and they use some of that to the rent arears and some to the legal fees it would still leave with a balance. Should I only realease the deposit once its agreed or release it and just not pay the fees. And say the deposit is released purely to offset the

Worried_fool

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6665282/solicitor-fees-please-help-i-am-a-tenant-that-voluntarily-left-after-section-lba-section-21

You quote the relevant part of your contract, where you agree to pay legal and other costs "awarded by a court".

In other words, now that you have left the property you would only have to pay legal fees if a court ordered you to do so. You have not agreed to pay these costs without a court order.

I doubt very much that they would take you to court for this, and from the part of the contract you have given it seems unlikely that a court would order you to pay the costs that are the subject of the thread.

GDB2222

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81973785#Comment_81973785

With most deposit schemes you can specify how much to release to the landlord and how much you want returned to you. The LL can either accept that or dispute it, and there’s an arbitration process.

I’d release exactly the amount you owe to the LL, and I would do that straight away.