Letting agent charges me £30 a year (tennant)

[Peepo]

Heya, every year my rent increases by 4% and I recieve a letter from the letting agent acting on behalf of the lady that owns the property, to let me know the rent will be increasing.
In this letter Im also asked for a cheque for £30 to cover the letting agents administration costs.
Why is this?/
I didnt hire the letting agent, the lady that owns the property did before I moved in. So surely I shouldnt be paying any of the letting agents costs?

[mutzi]

Unless its something in your tennacy agreement?

Send a letter back, charge them £30 admin costs yourself and enclose a cheque for £0.00

[alanfromderby]

Write a letter asking what the £30 is for, and can you have a copy of the signed agreement which requires you to pay it.

Im sure its a charge to renew the 1 year tennancy agreement for another term. I had to pay this too! Mine was £45 split between me and landlord

[comanche]

It's still worth asking where the agreement is that obliges you to pay this.

[nij4t2]

In a recent 'Whistleblower' TV program on Estate Agents, one agent was highlighted as purposefully obscuring the fact that they charged something like £350 just to 'sign on' as a tenant with them - even though they were arguably being employed by the landlord! (The concept was - get the potential tenant to fall in love with a flat before telling them about all the extra charges over and above rent that they would have to pay if they wanted to live there)

As for yearly admin charges, i would not be surprised if they existed... but if they are not shown in a contract you have signed I would be sceptical if they are legally enforceable.

However, in my view, the letting agent is actually a useful intermediary to have as in theory they are an 'independant arbitrator'. That is a not a legal thing, it is just how they ought to behave in my view. I would think that having an agent who handles your letting agreement well is worth a few quid per year.

[Peepo]

Originally Posted by nij4t2

I would think that having an agent who handles your letting agreement well is worth a few quid per year.

Yes to the lady who owns the property, not to me

[bankoff]

I worked in a Letting Agents, this sum is charged to the tenant and the LL for the renewal of the Lease.

One way of getting around this would be to pursuade the LL to agree to a rollover tenancy, especially if you are a good tenant, and you get on well with the LL.

This way there would be not need to renew the tenancy every 6 months. You may find however that the Agent has the LL on his side, but its worth a try.

I happen to think that the charges in some agencies are nearly as bad as that of the bank.

[celtic warrior]

Hi. I am a letting agent. My advice to you would be to check through your original and / or subsequent tenancy agreements that you have signed. You may well find a clause in the agreement somewhere which give the agents power to levy this charge. All our charges are contained within specific clauses within the agreement and are there as standard although we as partners can decide to waiver a charge if nec'. I should point out that the charge in no way appears to be un-lawful but it may be worth having a quiet & friendly word with the agent to see if the charge can be waivered.