Holding fee dilema

[m3shl]

I gave a holding fee to an agent last weekend to secure a property that I wanted to rent. They claim to have tried to get hold of me by phone and finally 5 days later sent me an e-mail advising the landlord had accepted another offer made through another agent.

They have offered alternative properties or my holding fee back in full BUT surely I have some more rights than this. I've advised my current landlord of the date I was due to leave and now I could be homeless.

Can I claim for this from the agent / landlord?

[MrShed]

A tenancy does not begin until you move in. You probably know this already, but this means that you cannot force them now to take you as a tenant. However, you may have a claim against them for your financial loss due to their breach of contract. Did you get a receipt for the holding fee? What does it say on it? How much was the fee in total? That said, they have attempted to mitigate your losses by offering alternative properties, and so you may not have a claim. Slightly grey area really!

[greenrizla]

Unless you have signed a tenancy contract for the property prior to the moving-in date, the offer of alternative properties or refund of holding fee, would be seen to be reasonable. It would probably not be advisable to incur any further expense in pursuing a claim, as it a very grey area and any claim is unlikely to be successful.