Letting agent increasing fees and rent

bumblebee23 · 14 May 2018 at 9:27AM

Sorry this is a bit of a long post... I have two issues with our letting agent. We have been living in the same rented accommodation for 8 years now, our tenancy is due for renewal and we received a letter from the letting agents stating that they had spoken with the landlord regarding the renewal they are happy to renew the contract, and the rent would be increased by £45 per month.

The renewal fee referenced in our original contract from 8 years ago is £50 + vat. Last year the letting agents sent us a renewal agreement and the fee was listed as £70 + vat, we had not been informed of any increase prior to receiving the invoice so disputed it and said we would only pay the £50 + Vat detailed in the original contract. The agents agreed 'on this occasion' and then sent a letter saying "all future renewals will be at the agreed rate of £70 + vat". We didn't acknowledge this letter and just paid the £50 + vat for that year. This year they have sent us a renewal letter and the renewal fee is £95 + vat! Obviously we are going to dispute this again as that's another increase, but my question is do we insist upon the £50 renewal fee as per our original contract or the £70 one?

We then contacted the landlord to warn her to check her own renewal fee and she mentioned that she had instructed the letting agents to NOT increase the rent this year to be reviewed next year. This is the second time this letting agent has done this, the first year we were in the property the landlord said no increase and they tried to put the rent up by £50 per month - that time they said it was an 'admin error'.

Where do we stand with this, obviously we don't want to pay the rent increase or the higher renewal fee, but we don't want to get kicked out by the letting agency.

Should we be contacting the ombudsman regarding this, it seems very sneaky at the least and if we hadn't queried it would they just pocket the rent increase themselves?

bigisi · 14 May 2018 at 9:43AM

Why are you considering paying any fees at all. Just let the tenancy move to periodic, keep paying the same rent and ignore all the letting agent's lies.

I don't think you can go to the ombudsman without exhausting the LA's complaints process and all they're going to do is blame an "admin error" again so it's pretty pointless.

If the landlord is happy for you to stay with no rent increase then do just that. You don't have to even deal with the LA.

bumblebee23 · 14 May 2018 at 11:01AM

Yes, we've received an email this morning blaming 'new staff' for the error.

To move to a periodic do we need to obtain permission from the landlord first or just say to the letting agent we don't want to renew, we want to let it roll month by month? Sorry, never done this before, we have just paid the fee each year!

wesleyad · 14 May 2018 at 11:10AM

Just explain to the LL you are happy in the house, you have been great tenants for 8 years and from now on you will be going on periodic tenancy. There's very few LLs that will have a problem with this.

The agent will kick up a fuss.. they are charging you £70 a year (and the LL as well!) just to change a date on a word document once a year.

Remember your contract is soley with the LL. The agent is just that; "an agent of the LL". It would probably be more appropriate for the LL to take any action regarding the "rent increases" as technically they are defrauding her (by not passing rent on). Extremely dodgy by the agent though and makes you wonder how many people they are doing this to.

need_an_answer · 14 May 2018 at 11:17AM

The LA is employed by the LL and as such both the LL and the tenant pay fees to the LA for the services they provide.
In the case of annual renewal fees both you and you LL are likely to be charged the LA "standard fee"

You certainly have the right to roll onto a periodic tenancy with the standard terms being one month notice from you and 2 months notice from the LL but whether the LA will be compliant to want to allow the change is another matter.....in doing so they then lose the 2 lots of fees they charge to you and your LL!

its possibly a conversation for your LL to have with the agency.Its a conversation I had as a LL with my agency some years back and we now have the agreement that no renewal fees are charged to either side in return for keeping my properties with them.

In light of the administration errors that you seem to be encountering with this agency I would certainly go back to your LL and explain that you would like to remain as their tenant but are finding the situation with the agency misinforming you rather unprofessional.

Hopefully your LL will be happy to speak with the agency on both your behalfs in order to find a suitable solution in a rolling tenancy going forward.

bumblebee23 · 16 May 2018 at 9:56AM

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]

notafan · 16 May 2018 at 10:03AM

Just ignore them and it will automatically go onto a periodic tenancy - on the same terms as you already have.

westernpromise · 16 May 2018 at 10:14AM

Agree with the advice you've been given - the only parties who can unilaterally end a tenancy are the tenant or a court. If you don't sign up it defaults to a periodic which so far as you and your rights to stay there are concerned is no different.

What your letting agent wants to do is get you to sign another tenancy so that they can charge the landlord another letting fee. If you go to a periodic tenancy they can't do this, so what they are trying to do is screw 10% of the annual rent (or whatever) out of the landlord. The landlord gains nothing by this for the reasons set out in the previous paragraph.

I am a landlord FWIW.

bumblebee23 · 16 May 2018 at 2:05PM

Thank you, I'm just a bit worried they will put pressure on the landlord to kick us out if we don't sign.

need_an_answer · 16 May 2018 at 2:14PM

Have you thought about going to the LL and expressing your own concerns?

My feeling is that the LL may not be experienced and is relying on the LA giving good advice and service for the fees paid by you both.

It is very clear that the email you have quoted is just a smokescreen to bully or cajole whichever way you want to look at it into signing something that attracts a fee payable by both yourself and your LL.

if you were to explain the situation to your LL that you are happy there but feel that you are being pressurised into accepting something that doesn't need to be offered and as such you really will have to consider your onward plans if this is going to continue to be a regular cash cow!
Presumably if you have been good tenants for the time that you have lived there,your LL will not want to lose you simply because of a renewal fee.

For the record,I have 5 sets of tenants 4 of which are on periodic contracts of the like that this LA would claim there is no contract in place,its madness.The other tenant specifically asked for a new 12 month contract despite my plea for them to reconsider because I knew it would cost both of us money for my LA to draw up!

bumblebee23 · 16 May 2018 at 2:36PM

Thank you. We do have a good relationship with the LL, we wouldn't want to lose the property mainly because our LL is great, she allows us to have pets, redecorate etc. I just don't want her to get fed up with us asking questions!

One last question, the property is fully managed, would that make any difference with regards to the renewal?

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Letting agent increasing fees and rent

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