james1982

Thanks for the replies, I'll give my LL a call at the weekend and have a chat with him.

As I said I'm just gathering info to weigh up all the options. It's more to do with the number of nice 2-3 bed's that are currently available in the area we're looking for rather than the physical dimensions of a baby though.

Hi There. We have been renting a one bedroom house since 2011 through a letting agency and sign a yearly tenancy. We do know the landlord though and have a decent relationship with them. The tenancy expires in August but in October we found out we are expecting a baby. This was a big (but pleasant) surprise as we didn't think we were able to for reasons I won't go into. I'm now weighing up my options of what to do regarding housing and was wondring if anybody would be able to explain if/how I could end my current tenancy early? I'm assuming there would be an early cancellation fine? Could this be avoided if I simply spoke to my landlord explaining the situation and them releasing us early? Would they be allwed to do this with a letting agent on board? It really wouldn't be the end of the world if we stayed where we are for now but as I say, I'm just gathering up all the info I can to explore all options. Thanks in advance.

This is something I have to take into consideration. I live very close to a busy RAF base and houses are snapped up almost the instant they are on the market so I don't want to appear to be being awkward as that genuinely isn't my intention. If i have to pay a fee then so be it but not if it's an unreasonable amount which i believe £156 to be. I spoke to my LL briefly over the weekend and its clear to both of us that this dispute is between myself and the LA. I don't know for sure but i get the feeling that this is also the first time my LL has used a LA. I have still not had a reply to my email from the LA which is a bit frustrating as i'd like to get this cleared up sooner rather than later.

Thanks for the advice. I called several estate agents in my area this morning and asked them how much they charged for a renewal fee. The prices varied but the cheapest was £48, the most expensive was £100, still £58 cheaper than the invoice i received! I get the feeling that my LL wants a secured tenancy so i'll respect that, its her house. What i have done though is email my LA informing them of their competitors prices for the same fee and asked them to waive it or offer us a decent discount to put it inline with the other agents in the area. I don't mind paying something as long as it's reasonable and i don't deem £156 to be acceptable.

Hi. We moved into a house in August last year on a 1 year lease. We received an email about a month ago from the agent asking us if we'd like to stay on in the house for another year which we agreed to and the agent said they'd send out a new tenancy agreement for us to sign. The tenancy agreement arrived in the post yesterday along with an invoice for £156 for a "tenancy renewal fee". We were never informed we would be charged this fee and went through all the paperwork we have to do with the house last night and found no mention of it any where. I called the agent yesterday afternoon and asked them to provide me with a breakdown of the cost of this fee, their reply was "thats just what we charge" This is our first house so we have no previous renting experience but this fee seems to be ridiculous and excessive to me, how can they possibly justify charging that amount? Does anybody have any advice on how to deal with this? I really feel like we shouldn't be paying them. Thanks in advance.