Thanks for all your responses. We won't be using this agency, but it does make me sad to miss out on this beautiful home! Hopefully something else will come up, with an agency with more reasonable fees.

Hi all; thanks for taking the time to read this. We are looking to move to a new town, and by reasons of luck and chance, we've never rented with an agency before. We've found a home we like, but it's with an agency and they are requiring a £200 credit check before advancing our application. My husband is baulking at the cost. Is there any way to get a credit check independently and hand it over to them, or is that pointless? Is an expensive credit check something we just have to accept? Thanks.