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Letting agent increasing fees and rent

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  • need_an_answer
    need_an_answer Posts: 2,812 Forumite
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    edited 16 May 2018 at 2:55PM
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    It shouldn't do,but it probably reinforces the thought that your LL is being guided by the LA a little more than perhaps they need to. Given if they live local too.

    A fully managed contract could be costing your LL 15% of your monthly rental payment each month in just administration fees....10% if they thought to negotiate a discount but certainly no less than 6% and that would have needed to involve serious haggling!

    This agent is fleecing you both!
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  • Pixie5740
    Pixie5740 Posts: 14,515 Forumite
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    bumblebee23 wrote: »
    So I've advised the letting agent that we do not plan to renew and would like to move to a periodic and they have refused.


    The email I have received:


    " [FONT=&quot]Hi Jo[/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]Unfortunately the tenancy agreement doesn!!!8217;t constitute as a periodic tenancy. If the tenancy was periodic there would be no contract in place. We don!!!8217;t do periodic tenancies so if you are intending on staying in the property we require a signed agreement.[/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]Kind regards[/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]Louise"[/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]
    [/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]Bearing in mind the contract they are asking us to sign is basically just a periodic tenancy in itself. It's a 12 month tenancy agreement with break clause saying the landlord can end it early with 2 months notice and we can end early with 1 month.
    [/FONT]

    :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

    How many lies can one letting agent cram into a single email or perhaps it is sheer ignorance.

    The current tenancy agreement might be a fixed term agreement but the moment the fixed term ends and you remain in the property you automatically start a periodic tenancy. There is absolutely nothing the landlord or letting agent can do to prevent this from happening. The periodic tenancy will either be on a contractual or statutory basis.

    To say that a contract will not be in place is just a steaming, big, pile of poo.

    Read G_M's Guide to Ending/Renewing as AST. It covers: what happens when a fixed term ends? How can a LL or tenant end a tenancy? What is a periodic tenancy?

    Care to name and shame the letting agent? In fact that email is so full of crap I'd put in a formal complaint to the letting agency suggesting that the staff require further training.

    As for the tenancy I just wouldn't bother responding to the letting agent any further. They can't evict and only the landlord can go to court to obtain a possession order so all I would do is start paying the new rent amount when the fixed term ends. Would any right minded landlord take a paying tenant to court just because the tenant doesn't want to sign a new fixed term contract? No.
  • bumblebee23
    bumblebee23 Posts: 205 Forumite
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    Thank you so much for all your advice.


    I responded to ask the letting agent to confirm, in writing, that they are saying we would be evicted if we refuse to sign and pay the fee and she has now back tracked.


    [FONT=&quot]"Hi Jo[/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]No not at all you wouldn!!!8217;t be evicted just that we would only do periodic tenancies on special occasions (say your tenancy ended next month and you needed to extend for 2 months because you had purchased a house).[/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]Most of our landlords prefer proper tenancies than to go periodic. I can ask on your behalf if she would agree to a periodic tenancy. I know you deal with her direct on time to time so she might be happy for this.[/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]Kind regards"[/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]
    [/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]The letting agents are Leaders. We have had so many issues with them, they really are worse than awful, but we love the house and our landlady is amazing. But I would never ever consider moving into a Leaders managed property again!
    [/FONT]
  • Pixie5740
    Pixie5740 Posts: 14,515 Forumite
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    Statutory periodic tenancy the clue is in the name, it is statutory law and periodic tenancies are "proper" tenancices. Honestly, just stop communicating with these dingbats.
  • GoingOn30
    GoingOn30 Posts: 231 Forumite
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    Important that you let your landlord know this feedback so that she can avoid them in the future.
    Unfortunately in my experience they all tend to be as bad as each other...
  • bumblebee23
    bumblebee23 Posts: 205 Forumite
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    Quizzical_Squirrel wrote: »
    If I were in your shoes with such a great landlord, and I could afford it and wanted to stay, I'd consider paying the extra fee to stay on annual contracts.

    I know it shouldn't make any difference and thousands of tenants live for years on periodic tenancies but, you know, it's a little bit of extra protection for that year.
    Also, if the switching to periodic was automatic, that's one thing, but specifically asking to switch to periodic may be interpretted as signalling your future intentions. This might have consequences.


    I would be more than happy to sign up to a fixed term tenancy for that extra protection but the tenancy they are offering is 12 months, with a break clause that the landlady can give us 2 months notice to end the tenancy early and we give her 1 month notice if we wish to end. So it's actually the same as the periodic tenancy but we have to pay them for the privilage. It's not a huge sum of money but I begrudge paying them anything extra after they already tried to rip us off by increasing the rent without the landlords authorisation.
  • G_M
    G_M Posts: 51,977 Forumite
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    I would stop communicating with the agent regarding this.

    They have made it clear that they either

    * don't know the law, or
    * know it but are hoping that you don't!

    and they are not going to suddenly change their tune. So ongoing discussion with them is pointless. It would just go back and forth.

    Go silent. Just wait for your current fixed term to end and a periodic tenancy will then exist.

    To re-iterate Pixie's post above: read this link:

    Ending/Renewing as AST. what happens when a fixed term ends? How can a LL or tenant end a tenancy? What is a periodic tenancy?

    I would also speak to the landlord who may also be receiving erroneous advice from the agents. Make sure he understands

    * you are happy tenants
    * you want to stay
    * you are happy with the rent that he says he wants
    * you wish to move to a periodic ('monthly' or 'rolling' tenancy) not because you plan to leave but because you don't want to have to 'renew', and pay the agent (not the landlord!), each year.
  • saajan_12
    saajan_12 Posts: 3,622 Forumite
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    bumblebee23 wrote: »
    Thank you so much for all your advice.


    I responded to ask the letting agent to confirm, in writing, that they are saying we would be evicted if we refuse to sign and pay the fee and she has now back tracked.


    [FONT=&quot]"Hi Jo[/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]No not at all you wouldn!!!8217;t be evicted just that we would only do periodic tenancies on special occasions (say your tenancy ended next month and you needed to extend for 2 months because you had purchased a house).[/FONT]- they don't decide when to / not to "do periodic tenancies" it happens automatically if you don't move out & don't renew.

    [FONT=&quot]Most of our landlords prefer proper tenancies than to go periodic. - a periodic is just as "proper" as a fixed term. I can ask on your behalf if she would agree to a periodic tenancy. - I'd decline this or ignore agent completely. The agent might phrase it in the same way "do you want a proper contract or this super risky periodic malarkey?" which may make the LL go along with the agent's self serving suggestion. Much better if you can explain to the LL yourself that the security of tenor is the same, only difference is the annual fee when you renew this time, and next time, and the time after.. " I know you deal with her direct on time to time so she might be happy for this.[/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]Kind regards"[/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]
    [/FONT]
    [FONT=&quot]The letting agents are Leaders. We have had so many issues with them, they really are worse than awful, but we love the house and our landlady is amazing. But I would never ever consider moving into a Leaders managed property again!
    [/FONT]

    Ignore agent, just talk to the LL, especially since you have a relationship with her. Explain that the security of tenor / notice period is the same, and you have no intention of leaving, but periodic will be the least cost & hassle for BOTH of you.


    Quizzical_Squirrel wrote: »
    If I were in your shoes with such a great landlord, and I could afford it and wanted to stay, I'd consider paying the extra fee to stay on annual contracts.

    I know it shouldn't make any difference and thousands of tenants live for years on periodic tenancies but, you know, it's a little bit of extra protection for that year. - no extra protection, as the proposed 12 month fixed term has a 2 month break clause, ie the same as the notice LL can serve in a periodic.

    Also, if the switching to periodic was automatic, that's one thing, but specifically asking to switch to periodic may be interpretted as signalling your future intentions. This might have consequences.

    The switching to periodic IS automatic.
  • G_M
    G_M Posts: 51,977 Forumite
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    saajan_12 wrote: »
    ..... Explain that the security of tenor / notice period is the same, and you have no intention of leaving,

    .
    Not sure tht singing to the landlord is the best way forward.... :rotfl:
  • breaking_free
    breaking_free Posts: 762 Forumite
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    ^ Indeed. And what if the landlord prefers a soprano to a tenor?
    "The problem with Internet quotes is that you can't always depend on their accuracy" - Abraham Lincoln, 1864
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