Property rental question.

[John]

So I have a colleague at work who rents a place.

He had a year contract and this is coming to an end.

The agency are requesting a new contract and are charging an admin fee of £200 with an additional rent price of £25 per month on top of the existing rent.

I would guess this is a situation of "take it or leave it i.e. move if you don't like it" but is this the case or is there anything else he could do?

 

[John Jones Jr]

Admin fees, talk about money for old rope. There's not a thing he can do bar find other
accommodation and very possibly be no better off.

 

[NDFR]

So I have a colleague at work who rents a place.

He had a year contract and this is coming to an end.

The agency are requesting a new contract and are charging an admin fee of £200 with an additional rent price of £25 per month on top of the existing rent.

I would guess this is a situation of "take it or leave it i.e. move if you don't like it" but is this the case or is there anything else he could do?

Not Atlantis in Reading by any chance is it? If so they are a terrible company in my view.

 

[kid-jensen]

Yes, not all Letting Agents are sharks, just most of them...

Time to shop around..

They are even-handed though, in that they screw both sides. I was saddled with a £750 "Admin Fee" (for letting) and I ignored it...

Long story short, it cost me 4 grand.....

Never did money go to such an unbdeserving "profession"

 

[moonloops]

Admin fee should be around £20 to £30 max to cover labour to update paperwork. £200 is a con

 

[Mrhanky]

Administration fee is common for renewal but normally the agent charges the fee to the owner not the Tennant. I suspect the agents are charging both parties.

 

[Piff]

When I used an agent, I discovered that the agent was charging the tenant admin fees which I wasn't aware of. I thought the agent was well overpaid with his 10% cut of the monthly rent, especially when I discovered that they were not correcly vetting the tenants in the first place

 

[AMGeed]

So I have a colleague at work who rents a place.

He had a year contract and this is coming to an end.

The agency are requesting a new contract and are charging an admin fee of £200 with an additional rent price of £25 per month on top of the existing rent.

I would guess this is a situation of "take it or leave it i.e. move if you don't like it" but is this the case or is there anything else he could do?

I can empathise with your colleague's situation as something very similar just happened to my eldest daughter.
She decided to move to another flat on the same agent's books but a higher monthly rent. The agent wanted to charge £500 for a new contract to cover "admin fees and a credit search.
I blew a gasket and paid the agent a visit asking how they justified taking what amounted to two weeks of her wages for a 10 minute job. A credit search costs £6. I got the charge reduced to £300 and still left really angry.

Your colleague unfortunately has the choice of paying his current agent, or bending over and paying another equally dishonest agent a ridiculously silly amount for very little. I hate the rental market with a vengeance

 

[John]

It's not Atlantis in Reading as it happens.

OK - seems like he is stuffed.

Thanks chaps.

 

[flat6buster]

Yes, not all Letting Agents are sharks, just most of them...

Time to shop around..

They are even-handed though, in that they screw both sides. I was saddled with a £750 "Admin Fee" (for letting) and I ignored it...

Long story short, it cost me 4 grand.....

Never did money go to such an unbdeserving "profession"

Anyone ever read terms and conditions before they sign a contract?

 

[davidjpowell]

Couple of things....

They don't have to renew the tenancy - they can just go onto a statutory periodic, which is what happens if they do nothing. LL can serve 2 months notice, T can serve 1, both to expire on a rent day.

Secondly the increase.... It's a cheeky try on. How long would it take the landlord to recoup that rent increase if the property was empty for 2 - 4 weeks.

Downside is that the agency would no doubt be happy to see it empty again, as then they can get another letting fee.

Estate Agents have a bad reputation, but nothing on letting agents imo.

 

[Deleted member 6183]

Letting agents, preying on the gullible since forever.

 

[developer]

A couple of things:

Does the tenant know the landlord/have the landlord's details? If so a conversation would be in order. If the tenant is a good tenant/reliable payer the landlord will be keen to keep the tenant - voids are expensive and new tenants an unknown quantity.

If the tenant does nothing, then the tenancy moves from a fixed term tenancy to a periodic tenancy, where everything is the same (notice periods etc).
The only way a tenancy can be ended is with the appropriate notice and a court order, so if the tenant refused to pay the fee for a new contract then the agent/landlord may commence eviction using the above process.

However, in my experience, and if the tenant is a good tenant, as above, I'd suggest this is unlikely without a considerable amount of dialogue first.

This dialogue may produce a compromise.

Agents make up the figures as they go along - I regularly negotiate a better deal than the "standard" packages listed by agents.

 

[Meldrew2]

FWIW I have 20 or so apartments and mobile homes I haven't used an agent for almost 10 years. The contracts are available on line, and an occasional classified advert finds more than enough tenants.

 

[Codger49]

A couple of things:

Does the tenant know the landlord/have the landlord's details?

If so a conversation would be in order. If the tenant is a good tenant/reliable payer the landlord will be keen to keep the tenant - voids are expensive and new tenants an unknown quantity.

I believe tenants now have to be provided with the landlord's name, address and telephone number.

 

[John]

A couple of things:

Does the tenant know the landlord/have the landlord's details? If so a conversation would be in order. If the tenant is a good tenant/reliable payer the landlord will be keen to keep the tenant - voids are expensive and new tenants an unknown quantity.

He'd already considered that and when he said he had the address and it is not far away - I thought that might be the way to go.

Thanks again all.

I will pass on your comments!