Estate Agents Rant!

[Danger-Mouse]

I've just started a new job and as the pay is pretty decent I'm looking to move somewhere a bit nicer than I live at the present moment. So I've been trawling through all the rental properties in my price range.

 

Plenty of quite nice properties available and I have no objection to putting down a reasonable sized bond. What is really ******* me off are the estate agent's fees. Again I don't object to a reasonable charge, but some are charging £120+ for an application, and if you don't end up getting the property, it's non-refundable. It's just daylight robbery!

 

I know this is something May has promised to crack down on if she wins the election. Can't happen soon enough imo.

 

Bunch of thieving slimeballs!

 

If we have any estate agents on here who would care to justify these charges for filling in some paperwork and arranging a look around a property I'll be all ears.

[Mice!]

How does that work, you pay for each property? I can understand if you have to pay to register with the agency so they know your genuine and not just saying I'll look at those 5,

 

Otherwise I don't think so

[Danger-Mouse]

"Note Butcher Residential charge an administration fee of £120.00 plus VAT for the first applicant and £90.00 plus VAT for the secondary applicant. If for any reason your application is unsuccessful the administration fee is non re-fundable."

 

An example.

[Lloyd90]

How does that work, you pay for each property? I can understand if you have to pay to register with the agency so they know your genuine and not just saying I'll look at those 5,

 

Otherwise I don't think so

When I rented in Bristol with my GF you paid the fees when you 'apply' to take the property, e.g. You say you'll take it, then they do reference checks etc etc

 

My gf works in security and knows the checks cost roughly £25 to get done.

 

I think we had to pay £189 each if I recall! That was the cheapest one we could find! Some of them wanted £300+ EACH and one propert we really like we told them to do one as they fees were that high! Can't see what the landlords were thinking, first thing I'd ask is what the fees would be for a tenant, £600+ of fees is obviously going to put people off!!

[Danger-Mouse]

When I rented in Bristol with my GF you paid the fees when you 'apply' to take the property, e.g. You say you'll take it, then they do reference checks etc etc

 

My gf works in security and knows the checks cost roughly £25 to get done.

 

I think we had to pay £189 each if I recall! That was the cheapest one we could find! Some of them wanted £300+ EACH and one propert we really like we told them to do one as they fees were that high! Can't see what the landlords were thinking, first thing I'd ask is what the fees would be for a tenant, £600+ of fees is obviously going to put people off!!

 

Mentioned here

 

"Currently, traditional letting agencies typically charge tenants £337 in fees to rent a home – many tenants in London are forced to pay over £400.

This has led to a great deal of criticism that costs are being ramped up rather than passed on. Credit checks, for example, can cost as little as £3 but many letting agents charge tenants in excess of £50 for them.

In other instances, tenants can be charged for admin work, such as tenancy renewals and inventories, when these should be covered by the letting and management fees already being charged to landlords."

 

The other one I've seen is where they charge a fee each time your lease is up for renewal. Completely uneccessary. I've lived in my current short term lease property for over 5 years and never re-signed the lease.

Edited May 29, 2017 by Danger-Mouse

[Rupert]

look for private landlord, facebook,gumtree, local papers/buy sell groups, openrent etc

 

Agree agents are vultures.

Edited May 29, 2017 by Rupert

[TIGHTCHOKE]

I've just started a new job and as the pay is pretty decent I'm looking to move somewhere a bit nicer than I live at the present moment. So I've been trawling through all the rental properties in my price range.

 

Plenty of quite nice properties available and I have no objection to putting down a reasonable sized bond. What is really ******* me off are the estate agent's fees. Again I don't object to a reasonable charge, but some are charging £120+ for an application, and if you don't end up getting the property, it's non-refundable. It's just daylight robbery!

 

I know this is something May has promised to crack down on if she wins the election. Can't happen soon enough imo.

 

Bunch of thieving slimeballs!

 

If we have any estate agents on here who would care to justify these charges for filling in some paperwork and arranging a look around a property I'll be all ears.

 

Simply because they can!

[iano]

I've just started a new job and as the pay is pretty decent I'm looking to move somewhere a bit nicer than I live at the present moment. So I've been trawling through all the rental properties in my price range.

 

Plenty of quite nice properties available and I have no objection to putting down a reasonable sized bond. What is really ******* me off are the estate agent's fees. Again I don't object to a reasonable charge, but some are charging £120+ for an application, and if you don't end up getting the property, it's non-refundable. It's just daylight robbery!

 

I know this is something May has promised to crack down on if she wins the election. Can't happen soon enough imo.

 

Bunch of thieving slimeballs!

 

If we have any estate agents on here who would care to justify these charges for filling in some paperwork and arranging a look around a property I'll be all ears.

 

That is a stinger - facebook has some great local groups for sourcing properties, have you checked it?

[Danger-Mouse]

 

That is a stinger - facebook has some great local groups for sourcing properties, have you checked it?

 

No, I don't really "do FB" but I might take a look now. Thanks for the tip.

[ph5172]

just a quick copy and paste of one round the corner from us.... basically cash down about £600 to move in - and a months rent as a bond - they have also stipulated a minimum income as a sole or joint applicant to pass a credit check

 

fees and charges for your tenancy are listed below:- Administration fee(s):* First applicant - £180.00 Each additional applicant - £120.00 Guarantor (if applicable) - £ 96.00 Foreign nationals in the UK for less than 6 months - £210.00 Company application - £360.00 * (The administration fees are payable immediately on deciding to secure a property, this will hold the property whilst your application is processed, and include a full comprehensive reference report with an independent reference company, including a credit check, previous landlord check (if applicable) and employment checks) Additional fee(s):** Tenancy Agreement fee - £75.00 Check out fee - £50.00 ** (tenancy agreement fee is for the preparation of the tenancy agreement and is payable prior to the signing of your tenancy agreement) ** (check out fee is for the preparation of the checkout report which is deducted from the deposit upon severance of the tenancy) You will be required to pay one months rent in advance and a damage deposits, the damage deposit is the equivalent of one month rent plus £200.00

[Wb123]

Mercifully i have yet to pay over £100 in fees. Last move was £190 but at least that was reimbursed as a relocation expense.

[iano]

just a quick copy and paste of one round the corner from us.... basically cash down about £600 to move in - and a months rent as a bond - they have also stipulated a minimum income as a sole or joint applicant to pass a credit check

 

fees and charges for your tenancy are listed below:- Administration fee(s):* First applicant - £180.00 Each additional applicant - £120.00 Guarantor (if applicable) - £ 96.00 Foreign nationals in the UK for less than 6 months - £210.00 Company application - £360.00 * (The administration fees are payable immediately on deciding to secure a property, this will hold the property whilst your application is processed, and include a full comprehensive reference report with an independent reference company, including a credit check, previous landlord check (if applicable) and employment checks) Additional fee(s):** Tenancy Agreement fee - £75.00 Check out fee - £50.00 ** (tenancy agreement fee is for the preparation of the tenancy agreement and is payable prior to the signing of your tenancy agreement) ** (check out fee is for the preparation of the checkout report which is deducted from the deposit upon severance of the tenancy) You will be required to pay one months rent in advance and a damage deposits, the damage deposit is the equivalent of one month rent plus £200.00

 

Thats insane.

 

I haven't rented for a while, but last time I rented it was 1 month rent as depo and first month down when you get the key.

[KFC]

and I do believe they can have several different people all applying for the same property at the same time but, of course, only one tenancy will be granted so they can pocket all the fees from the rest of the applications that are refused, including fees from applicants whom they knew stood no chance anyway.

 

I'd be happy to be proved wrong on that.

[Rupert]

and I do believe they can have several different people all applying for the same property at the same time but, of course, only one tenancy will be granted so they can pocket all the fees from the rest of the applications that are refused, including fees from applicants whom they knew stood no chance anyway.

 

I'd be happy to be proved wrong on that.

No this is the exact business model. its despicable

[Lloyd90]

and I do believe they can have several different people all applying for the same property at the same time but, of course, only one tenancy will be granted so they can pocket all the fees from the rest of the applications that are refused, including fees from applicants whom they knew stood no chance anyway.

 

I'd be happy to be proved wrong on that.

I was told that apply would take the property off the market so no one else applies. If ours had fallen through they'd have kept the money and put it back on the market.

 

Their references consisted of sending my employer an email asking if I worked there and how much I earn. I know because I was sat in work next to my boss when it came and he wrote the reply.

 

I thought the government had already banned estate agents fees though?

[Danger-Mouse]

 

I thought the government had already banned estate agents fees though?

 

No, it was proposed in the autumn budget but as yet nothing has been done about it.

 

Presuming May doesn't mess up the election the motion should be discussed in the next parliament.

[Mice!]

Bunch of robbing........

 

I understand you need to be checked out, but thought that would have been after you had viewed a property said we want it.

 

Scandalous

[Dougy]

I don't think that 120 is excessive for peace of mind for the landlord. They want to know that the Tennant can pay the rent. Now whether or not the Tennant needs to pay that fee I don't know. It's for the landlords benefit, if it was a fee for finding you a property and setting up the contract on completion then yes I can understand a fee would be chargeable.

And as for higher prices down in the marvellous capital, it shows me again another reason they can stick this 2nd big nothern city thing where the sun don't shine.

[Cosd]

For that fee, can you visit more than one propert?

[Danger-Mouse]

I don't think that 120 is excessive for peace of mind for the landlord. They want to know that the Tennant can pay the rent. Now whether or not the Tennant needs to pay that fee I don't know. It's for the landlords benefit, if it was a fee for finding you a property and setting up the contract on completion then yes I can understand a fee would be chargeable.

And as for higher prices down in the marvellous capital, it shows me again another reason they can stick this 2nd big nothern city thing where the sun don't shine.

 

They are already charging the landlord a fee to advertise and rent out the property.

 

They're not finding me a property, they're just setting up the deal once I contact them. I haven't looked but I'm willing to bet I could find a standard short term letting contract online, most likely for free. A credit check can be conducted in just a few minutes and shouldn't cost very much.

 

"The industry has argued that administration has a cost and has argued for stronger consumer protection through regulation of the sector, rather than a ban.

David Cox, managing director of the Association of Residential Letting Agents (Arla), said: "A ban on letting agent fees is a draconian measure, and will have a profoundly negative impact on the rental market.

"It will be the fourth assault on the sector in just over a year, and do little to help cash-poor renters save enough to get on the housing ladder. This decision is a crowd-pleaser, which will not help renters in the long-term. All of the implications need to be taken into account.

"Most letting agents do not profit from fees.""

 

Yeah right, you perform all these tasks from the goodness of your heart. Everyone knows how charitable estate agents are.

 

God forbid but the SNP do seem to have gotten something right.

 

"The ban on fees in Scotland was tightened from 2012.

A report by Shelter assessing the effect of the change in Scotland suggested that:

Rises in rent had been "small and short-lived" despite expectations that rents would increase to cover the greater burden on landlords

Landlords in Scotland were no more likely to have increased rents since 2012 than landlords elsewhere in the UK"

[Danger-Mouse]

For that fee, can you visit more than one propert?

 

Nope, that is an application fee that is charged after you have visited a property and decided you want to take it. If for any reason the deal falls through. Or, if as said by someone else, the agency just decides to rip you off and already has a client/clients that have also expressed an interest and paid a fee, then you can wave goodbye to your money. The next property you decide to apply for could have a completely different fee.

[ph5172]

I have just spoken to the family that are moving out of the property, apparently they just port across to a new property with that agent with no extra fees, the only difference is the extra portion of the rent as a deposit (as the property they are moving into is more expensive). They did point out however that the deposit (a month plus £200) is usually in addition to a months rent upfront

[SO3isme]

By far, the main income for the letting agent is the commission charged as a % of the rent and is paid by the landlord.

In order to be competitive on the commission paid by the landlord and hence get the instruction, agents have taken to charging the tenants various fees.

Should any government ever get its act together to bring more regulation to the property industry (history says - unlikely) then it is possible that landlords may be forced to foot more of the agent's costs directly themselves.

In turn; if they can, they will pass these back to the tenant in higher rents.

They don't call it the property market for nothing. There is a lot of supply but there is even more demand.

There is no sign of supply increasing any time soon so there will be upward pressure on rents.

As far as I know, if you use a reputable agent, they will only charge one applicant for a rental property.

If the let does not proceed due to no fault of the tenant then fees should be refunded.

If the tenant fails referencing or pulls out, then fees up to that point will be lost and the agent will proceed with another potential tenant.

We can all sit here imagining these agents making a daily fortune. Why not give it a go yourself? It's easy isn't it?

[Lord v]

That's rubbish.

 

Plenty of reputable estate agents charge per applicant.

 

The last credit check an estate agent did on me was copied to me via email. At the bottom of said email from the actual check company it proudly proclaimed they were offering a deal and doing checks for the low low cost of £5. That sticks somewhat when you have just had to cough up £180 (each) for the privilege.

 

The stopping of unfair charges in Scotland has not caused the **** to drop out of the market, nor has it resulted in markedly higher rents. That's just scare mongering bull.

 

Yes estate agents need to cover fees, but referencing takes a few day. At most an LL loses out on maybe a week of rent. As you point out, the market has far more demand than supply- so in reality for the majority of cases its likely to be a lot less.

 

As people rent a property through a single agent they are stuck with the fee that agent wishes to charge. Not like that can go through a different agent for that property is it? Pretty sure that's monopolising.

 

Then we get to the £200 for a renewal contract... ctrl c, ctrl v, change date and post. Liscence to print money. Telling me that doesn't generate a profit? What risk are they trying to cover with that?

 

As far as I can see the only tiring thing about being an estate agent is the amount of bull they have to come up with.

 

I'm sure good ones exist, but I ain't met one yet.

Not saying estate agents can't make a profit.

 

But don't dress it up like you are doing a public service or as a charity.

[Longbower]

Estate agents? Exactly what qualifications are they' legally required' to attain before they are allowed to 'practice'?

Seeing as they handle the most expensive item you are ever likely to own.?

I wonder if the ever escalating price of property , which after all is assessed by Estate Agents, could/may be linked/driven by their percentage cut ?

I also wonder if the financial institutions that lend the ever increasing amounts of money in mortgages, could be in favor of the 'unregulated' Estate Agency industry?

Also , how many ex 'council' properties are now being rented out at extortionate rates by private landlords ?

Just cynical old me, but everybody likes to hear their property is going up in value, maybe ,without realizing its also pricing the next generations with 'normal' incomes

right out of said markets.

Be careful what you vote for , you might just get it !