if you're really in love with the flat and don't want to lose it you'll just have to pay it.
Its a rental flat - not your lifelong partner.
Move on - there are plenty of other flats around. The agents sound like rip off merchants - imagine what they will be like when you leave and want your deposit back:
£10 envelope fee plus a £5 handling charge for buying a first class stamp
£20 fee for checking your name against their records
£25 fee for writing a cheque
£5 for sending you an e-mail t confirm your cheque is in the post
£20 insurance fee in case your cheque gets lost in the post and they have to issue a new one
£50 to pay for some new furniture in their offices
£40 for their Xmas party etc etc.:D:D
Lol I'll have you know that it's very possible to fall in love wth a flat! As soon as I saw mine I knew I had to have it and even spent a month staying in my boyfriend's room in his crappy houseshare coz the dates didn't line up.
This isn't countrywide residential lettings is it? Me and my partner both have houses, and moved in to one and rented out the other - CRL charged both us and the tenant a fortune, and were so rubbish at the job we got rid of them after the first year - the tenants are wonderful, but threatened to leave if we didn't get rid of the agency!! Even after we'd given them notice they sent the tenants letters asking for £75 renewal fees (they wanted the same off us too!). Absolute shambles.
As others have said, PLENTY of agencies have much more reasonable fees. Find somehwere else, or somehow contact the landlord and tell them you're interested but you'd like to go private in exchange for a longer contract?
bloody hell fire! I wouldnt be suprised with these Letting Agents, i'll be reading the contract very carefully - thanks for bringing that to my attention xx
so the tenants want to live in the houses, but the Landlords should pay for them to stay there? Or the Letting Agent, who has employees & overheads to meet should? Oh please get real. Better still, pull out of your proposed new tenancy and shop around. All Letting Agents will happily tell you their fees in advance. And if you don't like being charged anything, best you look in the personal ads for the private Landlords looking for tenants. And good luck having a smooth and efficient tenancy with them :rolleyes:
I was horrified at the costs when I moved this year:
Security Deposit £916
Rent in advance £795
Agreement and Inventory Charge £111.63
Credit Checks £240 (£120 per person)
And it's been £55 to renew after the initial six months (which isn't even up yet, they wanted the money to secure it in advance)
If only my old landlord hadn't decided to sell up
I don't even like the damned flat!
...and they'll take a portion of your deposit when you move out, despite nothing changing in the flat. They'll claim cleaning costs, as usual.
My friends were charged £200 cleaning costs, but they left the flat in a spotless condition. In fact, they knew the people who moved in after they left and nothing had been touched since they left! They're still fighting this!
In my old flat the sofa was broken before we moved in. We reported it and they said "monitor it". Monitor what?!?! It's broken! We moved out at the end of the contract and the same sofa is there! A cheap Ikea Klippan. We can see it thorough the window, delving in at the bottom like it was when we were there.
Find an ARLA registered agent to rent through - there are industry recognised standards that they have to adhere to.
The admin fee sounds a bit steep - but I have heard of agencies charging up to £150 per tenant, so there are worse. It will be to cover the costs of the credit chacks and references, but there will also be a bit for the agency too. I have also heard of agents that charge the outgoing tenant for providing them with a reference - personally I think it's a cheek, but unfortunately they probably won't provide one unless you pay.
We charge a bond of one month's rent plus £100 as well - it means there is enough to cover the cost of cleaning or minor damage as well as the last month's rent, if a tenant decides to leave without notice, or without paying the last month. As it is a deposit you will get it back at the end of the tenancy anyway, and that is where the inventory comes in. I'm suprised that you are being asked to pay for this, we include it as part of our managed service for landlords, although we would charge either a landlord or a tenant that wanted one prepared privately, or on an unmanaged property.
I'd definitely recommend that you have a proper inventory though, even if you do have to pay for it. It's taken very heavily into account by the Deposit Registration schemes in the event of a dispute over the deposit at the end of the tenancy - but I'd also look for a flat with a different agent if I were you!
Comments
Its a rental flat - not your lifelong partner.
Move on - there are plenty of other flats around. The agents sound like rip off merchants - imagine what they will be like when you leave and want your deposit back:
£10 envelope fee plus a £5 handling charge for buying a first class stamp
£20 fee for checking your name against their records
£25 fee for writing a cheque
£5 for sending you an e-mail t confirm your cheque is in the post
£20 insurance fee in case your cheque gets lost in the post and they have to issue a new one
£50 to pay for some new furniture in their offices
£40 for their Xmas party etc etc.:D:D
As others have said, PLENTY of agencies have much more reasonable fees. Find somehwere else, or somehow contact the landlord and tell them you're interested but you'd like to go private in exchange for a longer contract?
so the tenants want to live in the houses, but the Landlords should pay for them to stay there? Or the Letting Agent, who has employees & overheads to meet should? Oh please get real. Better still, pull out of your proposed new tenancy and shop around. All Letting Agents will happily tell you their fees in advance. And if you don't like being charged anything, best you look in the personal ads for the private Landlords looking for tenants. And good luck having a smooth and efficient tenancy with them :rolleyes:
Security Deposit £916
Rent in advance £795
Agreement and Inventory Charge £111.63
Credit Checks £240 (£120 per person)
And it's been £55 to renew after the initial six months (which isn't even up yet, they wanted the money to secure it in advance)
If only my old landlord hadn't decided to sell up
I don't even like the damned flat!
My friends were charged £200 cleaning costs, but they left the flat in a spotless condition. In fact, they knew the people who moved in after they left and nothing had been touched since they left! They're still fighting this!
In my old flat the sofa was broken before we moved in. We reported it and they said "monitor it". Monitor what?!?! It's broken! We moved out at the end of the contract and the same sofa is there! A cheap Ikea Klippan. We can see it thorough the window, delving in at the bottom like it was when we were there.
Renting is a pain in the arse through agencies!
The admin fee sounds a bit steep - but I have heard of agencies charging up to £150 per tenant, so there are worse. It will be to cover the costs of the credit chacks and references, but there will also be a bit for the agency too. I have also heard of agents that charge the outgoing tenant for providing them with a reference - personally I think it's a cheek, but unfortunately they probably won't provide one unless you pay.
We charge a bond of one month's rent plus £100 as well - it means there is enough to cover the cost of cleaning or minor damage as well as the last month's rent, if a tenant decides to leave without notice, or without paying the last month. As it is a deposit you will get it back at the end of the tenancy anyway, and that is where the inventory comes in. I'm suprised that you are being asked to pay for this, we include it as part of our managed service for landlords, although we would charge either a landlord or a tenant that wanted one prepared privately, or on an unmanaged property.
I'd definitely recommend that you have a proper inventory though, even if you do have to pay for it. It's taken very heavily into account by the Deposit Registration schemes in the event of a dispute over the deposit at the end of the tenancy - but I'd also look for a flat with a different agent if I were you!