Wurzel Of Highbridge Posted May 8, 2014 Share Posted May 8, 2014 Last time you moved home, how much did you pay in letting agent fees? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John The Pessimist Posted May 8, 2014 Share Posted May 8, 2014 It's now £75 every six months to renew, b******s! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doomed Posted May 8, 2014 Share Posted May 8, 2014 Just paid £198 between 2 for a 12 month tenancy, which is a joke as it must cost about £20 tops to do the reference checks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bland Unsight Posted May 8, 2014 Share Posted May 8, 2014 Current tenancy was about £70 for referencing, £160 for "Legal and Administration Costs" and they'll be a £60 charge to me when I leave, referred to as a "Check out cost". I spoke with three different local agents at the time regarding different properties - these costs were representative, (slightly cheaper than the others IIRC). Previous place I had to pay £60 every six months for a new AST - non-trivial income stream for a letting agent with a decent book of managed properties on assumes. All routine clerical work you could train a monkey to do in 15 minutes. Mind you that place was both cheap and horrid. A proper hpc hovel. Many a happy hour angrily battering the keyboard, typing out anti-HPI bile whilst feasting on tinned tuna - I'm joking, of course... OK, I'm joking about the tuna, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cybernoid Posted May 8, 2014 Share Posted May 8, 2014 It's now £75 every six months to renew, b******s! Previous place I had to pay £60 every six months for a new AST No need to renew, stay put to go onto periodic. Refuse to pay and refuse to sign a new tenancy, they can do nothing about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Knimbies who say No Posted May 8, 2014 Share Posted May 8, 2014 Current place stacks up at £380 over 2 years, but it was reflected in the rent offered so swings&roundabouts to an extent. £17/month or thereabouts(2% of rent costs). Way OTT but small beer compared to other stuff. That said I hope the bill next week gathers plenty of publicity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
19 year mortgage 8itch Posted May 8, 2014 Share Posted May 8, 2014 Current place stacks up at £380 over 2 years, but it was reflected in the rent offered so swings&roundabouts to an extent. £17/month or thereabouts(2% of rent costs). Way OTT but small beer compared to other stuff. That said I hope the bill next week gathers plenty of publicity. It's peanuts compared to buying.I think this place cost about £200 and we've been here 3 year. Previous place was under £150 for the year we were there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Knimbies who say No Posted May 8, 2014 Share Posted May 8, 2014 It's peanuts compared to buying. I think this place cost about £200 and we've been here 3 year. Previous place was under £150 for the year we were there. Yes, even if rents/prices were in some sort of parity overall, accounting for maintenance etc, the costs of buying and selling again would run to a few grand at least, enough for many moves in rentals. That said it is a ripoff which should be curtailed. Will be good to see lettings agent driving cars commensurate with their 'profession' again- shitboxes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
credo Posted May 8, 2014 Share Posted May 8, 2014 £265 for a room in a shared house on a six month tenancy. Room in a shared house. Sorry I meant to say living room converted into a bedroom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BudoBear Posted May 8, 2014 Share Posted May 8, 2014 £380 + key fee (there were other add-ons, but fortunately they didn't aply to my situation) - and looking at the other data I'm pretty close to naming and shaming right here, right now. It's nowt shy of extortion, and for what? During the recent EA debacle, I actually decided not to go with a particular agent because they found humour in not being able to extract further cash from me (ie a fee per person, as opposed to for the tenancy) - and their fees were greater than that stated! I've had enough and will be looking for private landlords so as not to incur yet further charges in six months when they insist on re-referencing me. How do we relieve society of these parasites? Feeling ripped, Bb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
okaycuckoo Posted May 8, 2014 Share Posted May 8, 2014 £265 for a room in a shared house on a six month tenancy. Room in a shared house. Sorry I meant to say living room converted into a bedroom. Ugh. Hope things get better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slacker Posted May 9, 2014 Share Posted May 9, 2014 Fees are trivial compared to what you *will* lose on deposit when you move next time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bomberbrown Posted May 9, 2014 Share Posted May 9, 2014 I'm not gloating (much) but where's the "I have a Social Housing secure tenancy from a professional landlord that doesn't require Letting Agent fees" option? There's a few of us in this category on here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bristolhunter Posted May 9, 2014 Share Posted May 9, 2014 Last time you moved home, how much did you pay in letting agent fees? About £240 to do references & credit check "and take it off the market". All I can imagine is their delete button is golden. But I was there for 2 years, went onto rolling periodic and never paid for renewal or anything so at least it was just the once. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quicken Posted May 9, 2014 Share Posted May 9, 2014 (edited) Fees are trivial compared to what you *will* lose on deposit when you move next time. I've rented plenty of places and never lost a penny on the deposit. It's all about inventory pickiness in the first week IME. I have been subject to plenty of unjustified letting agency fees over the years, including check-out fees (e.g. forced to use contract cleaners approved by the agent). At the moment though, I'm renting direct from a landlord (gumtree deal), so I avoided the leeches this time. Banning agents from charging nonsense fees will be an unambiguously good thing, and about bloody time. They are agents of the landlord. EDIT to add: If the landlord wants to run credit checks on tenants, they can pay for them. Frankly, the fact I've never missed a rent payment (references...) should be enough. Edited May 9, 2014 by Quicken Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cybernoid Posted May 9, 2014 Share Posted May 9, 2014 But I was there for 2 years, went onto rolling periodic and never paid for renewal or anything so at least it was just the once. I just think of it as part of the overall cost. If its a 6 month AST I divide the fees by 6 and add it to the rent and if thats a number I'm comfortable with I go ahead. If Im there beyond the 6 months then obviously the cost reduces marginally over time, but until you get there you don't know they won't evict you. When searching some properties have become unattractive at this new calculated rental price, so I move to the next one. Its the landlords loss, they should choose their agent with care. In many circumstances I would expect the landlord to ultimately pay for it, when tenants are put off by the fees their property stays empty for longer or they have to reduce the rent. I pay what its worth to me, not what they want. Works for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattW Posted May 9, 2014 Share Posted May 9, 2014 I was very lucky, I paid no fees for my current place. Although my landlord is a Housing Association (they do private tenancies too!), they still could have charged me if they wanted. However, common sense prevailed and as they had about 3 empty flats in the block I didn't have to pay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acer Posted May 9, 2014 Share Posted May 9, 2014 Mine was £300 exactly, so I had to pick <£350 rather than <£300. It's a twelve month AST. I'll also have to pay £75 + VAT for the renewal at the end of the term. I haven't included the interest I'll lose on the £1,000 deposit they're sitting on. I was chatting to my last landlord - who I got on reasonably well with - a week or so after I'd handed in my notice. I moved in to that place just over 4 years ago, and his letting agent charged me £120 and charged him £150. To get new tenants in to replace me, they wanted to charge him £300, so it's doubled in 4 years. It seemed odd to stand next to my landlord with both of us feeling like we were being shafted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
credo Posted May 10, 2014 Share Posted May 10, 2014 To be honest I should have put roughly £1300 as thats roughly how much it would have cost had they charged the same fee for the other rooms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2buyornot2buy Posted May 10, 2014 Share Posted May 10, 2014 Zero. In Northern Ireland where LLs in the vast majority of cases (99.9%) pay the fees. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
credo Posted May 10, 2014 Share Posted May 10, 2014 No you won't. Just go periodic tenancy. I don't understand people (not a dig at this poster) who thinks long letting terms are any more 'secure' or are 'better' than getting six months and then going periodic. Unlikely a landlord will want you out if you're a solid tenant and they give you much more freedom. Isn't it the case though that landlords worry a statutory periodic will turn into a regulated tenancy and they'll end up with a sitting tenant? Besides the fact that the landlord could evict the tenant very easily under periodic, without having to give a reason, effectively meaning they can evict them if they refuse to pay the fee? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acer Posted May 10, 2014 Share Posted May 10, 2014 No you won't. Just go periodic tenancy. I don't understand people (not a dig at this poster) who thinks long letting terms are any more 'secure' or are 'better' than getting six months and then going periodic. Unlikely a landlord will want you out if you're a solid tenant and they give you much more freedom. I will go periodic if I get the choice, but I get the impression that they'll want to renew, probably with a rent review. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
credo Posted May 10, 2014 Share Posted May 10, 2014 including check-out fees (e.g. forced to use contract cleaners approved by the agent) If I had a penny each time an agent tried that bulshit on I'd be a multimillionaire by now. It was deemed an unfair term by the OFT. Don't put up with that crap. By law you only have to leave a property in the condition you found it in plus fair wear and tear for which the landlord claims a reduction in tax for anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrea Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 £150 per person. For credit checks and a bog-standard tenancy agreement. I thought that was an absolute rip-off at the time, so I'm shocked at what some of you have paid. Fuuuuuck. I don't know what they charged my landlady, but she decided they weren't worth the money, gave them the heave-ho and now manages the property herself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dances with sheeple Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 Zero, and I dropped my rent 50 p.m Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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