£192 for someone to move in!

danielson81 · Aug 7, 2013

Hello,

I don't usually post or rant on here, but my housemate is moving out and we have found a replacement. Our current agency has outsourced their referencing to another agency. Normally new people pay about £45 for a credit check and £45 between us for a new tenancy agreement.

However the new cheeky sods want £160+vat for the new persons checks etc. Its what they normally charge for new properties etc, but they dont have to do a check in/out, inventory plus current agent deals with tenancy agreement.

But looking around other agencies websites these fees seem normal! :wrong:

JCL - the new kid in town · Aug 7, 2013

It would be cheaper to change the new housemates name by deed poll, about £20.

How well do you know the new person? If you can trust them then could you not tell the agency?

Friends of mine had to pay £50-100 to renew their contract to stay in the same flat for another year which is a con as no work is needed except a new date.

Robdinho · Aug 7, 2013

Letting agency fees are absolutely outrageous. Have been looking for a a new place recently (in Sheffield so would expect to be a bit cheaper), the biggest estate agent fee I was quoted was £360. Each, for two of us! Another was £240 each.

I can kind of understand them charging a fee because they must spend a lot of time doing viewings which don't lead to anything, but these were completely ridiculous.

Ended up finding something through Gumtree so the only fee was £50 for a credit check / references (which they didn't check) which by then seemed fairly reasonable although obviously is anything but.

danielson81 · Aug 7, 2013

New person is ok to pay it, but obvioulsy was expecting a £50ish fee.

Met the person a few times, they have a full time job and appeared ok. But I know this is no guarantee.

nyseagull · Aug 7, 2013

You got off quite lightly. My Gf just moved over from Canada and got stung for six months rent in advance because income earned overseas doesn't count. Six weeks as a deposit. Despite having had to pay all of the rent in advance and having no uk credit history, £360 for a credit check and then a fee for handing over the keys. The agents were Leaders in Brighton. All told, in excess of £6000 up front. Absolute vermin.

danielson81 · Aug 7, 2013

RE: nyseagull

That sounds awful, I've heard those sort of things about Leaders.

Our current agent is Jonathan Rolls who manage 100s of properties, but they have outsourced referencing etc to Tanat & Jones.

Wilka · Aug 7, 2013

Is that Parson Son and Basley per chance?

They charged about the same for me a while back. When we first moved into a flat with them they were ok but after a while we had to sign up to new 6 month contacts rather than just a rolling contact and each time we did they charge a fee of about £50 per tenent just to re print it with a different set of dates. Bunch of jokers.

TSB · Aug 7, 2013

It's £230 with Home Leasing. Bunch of c**ts

saafend_seagull · Aug 7, 2013

Wilka said:
Is that Parson Son and Basley per chance?

They charged about the same for me a while back. When we first moved into a flat with them they were ok but after a while we had to sign up to new 6 month contacts rather than just a rolling contact and each time we did they charge a fee of about £50 per tenent just to re print it with a different set of dates. Bunch of jokers.

Lol really? That's a disgrace.

Bought my flat with the Brighton branch of them and seemed like a good bunch.

Billy the Fish · Aug 7, 2013

Loads of threads on here about letting agents. Robbing, lying b**tards the lot of them. Leaders are the worst, utter, utter c**ts.

BUTTERBALL · Aug 7, 2013

Disgraceful fees charged by (most of) them. They make enough commission out of landlords.

LamieRobertson · Aug 7, 2013

i'll be renting by the end of year ..so looking forward to it...not

Notters · Aug 7, 2013

JCL - the new kid in town said:
It would be cheaper to change the new housemates name by deed poll, about £20.

How well do you know the new person? If you can trust them then could you not tell the agency?

Friends of mine had to pay £50-100 to renew their contract to stay in the same flat for another year which is a con as no work is needed except a new date.

Mine are asking £150 to stay for anothey year! It's ridiculous. And we have to spend hours cleaning mould off the walls. Any idea how we can get out of it??

yxee · Aug 7, 2013

Gumtree + short term contract available online = never dealing with those con artists again.

turienzo's lovechild · Aug 8, 2013

i wish they'd just have the balls to admit that they're robbing you rather than try and justify it...

one letting agent (in newcastle) tried to explain that the money they were charging us (£150 each for a 6 bed house) was so that they 'could afford to have a nice office in the area (all their lettings were in a fairly small area)'...well, a) that's lovely for you, why are you telling this and b) please explain to me why, when your office is round the corner, it took your 4 months to replace our back fence?

Pevenseagull · Aug 8, 2013

About 10 years ago I fixed a dozen downlights in a friends flat that had been incorrectly installed (transformers not correctly located, incorrect insulation, shit wiring etc.... ). He took me for a curry and a couple of pints as thanks .... which was nice.

My friend was looking to rent the place out and the agents wanted them fixed before they rented it out. They wanted their approved electrician to do the work and demanded that he inspected my work (for a fee £180 + VAT!!!) before they would market the property. When the bloke turned up my friend recognised him as having done a shit job fitting them in the first place. (My work had been certificated).

Then there was an incidence where flat I rented in Hove and the first time I used the washing machine it leaked into the flat below. I checked the plumbing and there was a jay-cloth holding the waste in place. I repaired it over the weekend and informed the agents. They sent a plumber round a week or so later who had one look at what I'd done confirmed it was fine, had a cup of tea and a ciggie ............ 2 days later they billed me £150 + VAT for the 'emergency call out' and 'penalty clause'. I showed them pictures of the 'jay-cloth fix' explained that I knew what I was doing and that I had paid for the materials and done the job myself. I had the plumbers number because he seemed a decent bloke and it's always handy to know someone with the right tools. Plumber confirmed he'd charged the agent NOTHING for the visit and that I'd connected things properly.

Had the carpets professionally cleaned when moving out of another flat, cost me £180. Agents demanded that they instruct the carpet cleaners at a cost of £400 + vat. Guess what ....... same carpet cleaning company.

BTW the agents never got a 'googling' penny. On each occasion I had the property owners' telephone number and at the end of my tenancy contacted them. Didn't pay the last months rent in lieu of anticipated retention of deposit. The property owners ditched the letting agents services and on the two properties where the agents had tried to screw me over the owners of the property ended up paying me to do work on their other properties, set them up with private assured short term tenancy agreements and remortgaging their property portfolios.

Oh, and I believe they typically charge £90 + VAT to do a credit check which costs about £3 and takes 5 minutes.

And they wear shit suits.

nwgull · Aug 8, 2013

Notters said:
Mine are asking £150 to stay for anothey year! It's ridiculous. And we have to spend hours cleaning mould off the walls. Any idea how we can get out of it??

Don't pay it. I'm assuming that you have a 12 month Assured Shorthold Tenancy (AST)? In which case this automatically becomes a periodic tenancy whereby the landlord still has to give you 2 months notice and you still have to give 1 month notice (from the rent date).

For the OP, that charge to do a reference and credit check is a rip-off. You can do a comprehensive tenant check with a company called Tenant Verify (www.tenantverify.co.uk/) for £31. In fact the letting agents probably use this site to do their checks.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk 2

The Wookiee · Aug 8, 2013

yxee said:
Gumtree + short term contract available online = never dealing with those con artists again.

Very much this !! Place your own advert on gum tree say looking for 1 bed flat in hove max 750 PCM no agencies. You will get tons of landlords contacting you, normally no referencing fees just a month upfront and months deposit !

Notters · Aug 8, 2013

nwgull said:
Don't pay it. I'm assuming that you have a 12 month Assured Shorthold Tenancy (AST)? In which case this automatically becomes a periodic tenancy whereby the landlord still has to give you 2 months notice and you still have to give 1 month notice (from the rent date).

For the OP, that charge to do a reference and credit check is a rip-off. You can do a comprehensive tenant check with a company called Tenant Verify (www.tenantverify.co.uk/) for £31. In fact the letting agents probably use this site to do their checks.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk 2

thanks. That's what we've done previously but it wasn't given as an option for this place. We're already paying £800/month for a one bed flat in Brighton. When two reasonably paid professionals are struggling to rent a one bed flat you wonder where it's going to end.

TWOCHOICEStom · Aug 8, 2013

I'm moving out of my place at the end of this month. They've got nearly £900 of my money which I will no doubt have to fight to get back.

I'm with Sparks and Sons and to be fair, other than the usual crap of renewal charges, they've been pretty good.

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