Rental, is £250 Admin fee too much?

PasturesNew

I paid £150+VAT for a single-occupancy credit check.

I had just sold my house and relocated to look for work, but while I had no job, I was not claiming any benefits and wouldn't be.

I ended up paying 6 months' rent up front too as I didn't have a job.

I think £50 for their time and £50 for the check would have been fair enough. Any time they took to show me the property would have been part of their arrangement with the landlord to find the tenant (don't forget landlords pay them too)

But, you're stuck. There is no one central place to find a property to rent. It is very difficult to get actual viewings, so by the time you get to look at something decent, you're really panicking and just want to get it over and done with. If you could go to one source and arrange a series of viewings in the next 24-48 hours the pressure wouldn't be there so much and there'd be the inclination to haggle.

PasturesNew

Turnbull2000 wrote: »

Thankfully, my landlady dumped them so I didn't have to pay the £70 "renewal fee" every six months.

I think I might have got off light. My landlord only paid for a Finders Fee. The property is then managed directly with the landlord. 4.5 months into a 6 month agreement and I've heard nothing, so I am hoping/assuming it will just slip onto a periodic tenancy (which is what I want). And there will be no renewal fees.

Also, there was no inventory. So there can be no check out fee and no problem over returning the deposit (which is properly lodged with the TDS)

speedtwin

If you try to haggle the ref charges the agent might take the view that if you cant afford that how will you afford the rent and rent it to someone else.

I think you are better off trying to haggle the monthly rent down. Get £20 off the monthly rent and it will soon add up

Tassotti

speedtwin wrote: »

If you try to haggle the ref charges the agent might take the view that if you cant afford that how will you afford the rent and rent it to someone else.

I think you are better off trying to haggle the monthly rent down. Get £20 off the monthly rent and it will soon add up

Rubbish!! Its not the Landlords fault if the agent takes the mickey.

Note to renters (and Landlords)..Don't Ever pay for a renewal of the tenancy...Let it run periodic.

Tass

speedtwin

I never said it was the landlords fault and if tenant reading reading your quote demanded not to pay a renewal (which i dont agree with anyway) there is a fair chance they might be served notice.

If there is a renewal fee it should be in the T & C the tenant signed at the start so they can make a choice. Although i think there is a legal arguement to the fact it could be unfair (if thats the right word)

kitschkitty

When we moved into this house 3 years ago I ended up paying £400 in fees - I was livid, as they quoted prices, then when charged to my card they were higher as VAT was added on. they kept charging for more stuff, and we had to move to that house (no other options). then after 1 year I was chage over £50 to renew the contract! there are no bodies you can complain to about extortionate fee's either.

purpleozzie

We are currently moving out of rented accomodation and the letting agents are trying to charge us £66+VAT to do a final check-out.

With all the other charges I've had to pay to move this is one fee I could do without.

In my contract it says we will have to pay any fees associated with the check out. (in small print) It also says it in a way that implies that we are not paying for that service but will have to pay for any damages that are found whilst the check out is happening.

Can I claim that this is an unfair clause in the contract?

wendykearney

At the house from hell last year we paid over £300 in various fees. The tenancy agreement alone was £200. The thing was it was an old very out of date agreement. Thanks to the help i got on this site i had fun with my red pen crossing out all the incorrect stuff.

This time i'm trying to get private and not touch LA's as i think their fees are unfair, if the banks have been told to charge fair fees which reflect actual costs maybe LA's should be next....

wendy

MissMoneypenny

wendykearney wrote: »

This time i'm trying to get private and not touch LA's as i think their fees are unfair, if the banks have been told to charge fair fees which reflect actual costs maybe LA's should be next....
wendy

Why not put a complaint in to The Office of Fair Trading? That is how the banks an credit card companies got brought into line, as someone complained to the OFT about the charge on their credit card.

bandit348

I am looking at a place that is £900pm and Romans have just quoted me the admin fee, which is.... 12 days rent (over £400). I literally fell off my seat.
Please tell me this isn't the norm!!!