Rental, is £250 Admin fee too much?

boatman

Friend is about to rent a property and was told the 'admin' fee is £250. This seems a lot for what, a credit check, contract, and check-in fee. Is there any thing else it pays for, is it acceptable to haggle? What is a reasonable fee?

polyalloy

A week ago I paid £100 deposite, £25x2 references fee for two, I will pay £88.30 contract fee but that's all. I am in London
So I think it's too much.

Barcode

That's mad. I'd expect around £100 at the maximum. And I'm suspicious of places that have things like non-refundable fees for holding the flat. Then again, it might depend on where you are. Even in London, £250 seems excessive.

_Andy_

Definetely over the odds - guess you could try haggling, what's the worse that can happen?

DGJsaver

boatman wrote: »

Friend is about to rent a property and was told the 'admin' fee is £250. This seems a lot for what, a credit check, contract, and check-in fee. Is there any thing else it pays for, is it acceptable to haggle? What is a rasonable fee?

Rip off

we paid £125 for the check + £50 + VAT each , as we were both on the contract , they didnt contact my work , my other halfs work , my landlord at the time , my OH landlord

in short they did NOTHING


My brother and his missus just got somehwhere , he paid £200 + VAT + 2 X £50 and he had to give an UNCHARTERED accountant (he is self employed) as his reference , he was worried he would fail their checks , guess what....yep , no one on the form got checked

They check the electorol roll and thats about it

I hate letting agents , scum of the earth

boatman

Ok thanks will pass that on. Haggle hard!!!!

clutton_2

not all letting agents take admin fees then dont check up - if an agent has got you to sign a Data Protection disclaimer sheet (it gives Them your permission to search on you) on an application form which says you will be credit checked or whatever, then you are legally entitled to see what is in the searches when they come back. Ask for them.

topletters

Hi

I dealt with lettings agents daily for years in my old job and I would say that even by today's standards, theses fees are way over the odds. They say it is to cover things like reference and credit checks, and various other admin fees. But quite honestly, I don't think that they do anywhere near enough to justify those fees. But sadly they have prospective tenants over a barrel because they know that there are a lot of households chasing every vacancy. It's a sellers market. I do know that since the new Tenancy Deposit Protection provisions came into legal effect last April, some agents are charging more through certain fees to 'protect their interests.'

3 things to consider doing:

1. Ask the letting agent if there is any possibility they would consider a compromise.
2. If not speak to your local trading standards office. Are the agents in breach of the Unfair Terms & Conditions in Contracts Regulations 1999.
3. Speak to the housing advice team at your local council to see if they can advise or even liaise with the letting agent for you. It is the sort of thing I used to do.

Hope it gets resolved.

Regards

topletters

rich68

This was common in Surry/Berks a year or two ago. It's a rip-off.

Tassotti

It is a rip-off..The other alternative is to look for a property via the Classified section of your local paper.

As a LL, I only charge £40 per tenant for credit checks..no admin fees...

Turnbull2000

Got charged £290 on my first place, but it seems some agencies are like a cartel and you have no choice. Thankfully, my landlady dumped them so I didn't have to pay the £70 "renewal fee" every six months.