Advice please - tenant fees

[EBF]

My daughter has been accepted as tenant for two bed flat in Bromley. They require a deposit as we know is expected but am shocked as to how much they require and would appreciate advice. They require one months rent, 6 weeks deposit, ?200 secure fee, ?130 guarantor ref ?150. Tenant ref ?150 tenant contract ?120 guarantor contract ?120 intro fee and ?60 admin fee which adds up to a grand total of ?3500 plus!

Don't where to go for advice hope there is someone out there who can. Many thanks.

[Jeremy]

I think an introduction fee applies when an existing tenant continues to rent the proprety directly from the landlord, bypassing the original agent. So I would query why this applies to your daughter.

Also, I'm not sure what the "secure fee" is, I would ask for clarification.

[Robert Poste's Child]

Sounds excessive to me.

[SLad]

1 month's rent and deposit is normal and will have to be paid.

Fees for performing reference checks and contracts are also normal things to be charged but the rates seem incredibly high.

The ?200 secure fee, intro and admin fee seem extraordinary and extortionate.

Remember, all of things are negotiable particularly as the contracts are standard form contracts with simple data entry required by the estate agent.

Depending on how desperate your daughter is to move in, I would take a hard line in negotiations and say that you're unwilling to pay such excessive amounts and offer whatever amount you feel comfortable paying for the reference checks and contracts.

Estate agents are just massive schiesters and trying to get as much return on a single transaction as possible. Also, if any of these charges are coming from the landlord direct (which I doubt) then you'd need to question whether you want your daughter to be thrall to someone like that as they will be interested only in profiteering potentially at the expense of performing their obligations as a landlord.

[Bumpkin]

As a private landlord of one flat... I ask for 1 month rent up front and 6 weeks deposit which goes in the Government run tennancy deposit scheme, this seems pretty standard and gives some buffer to cover potential non payment of rent and damage to property.

The other actual costs involved in setting up a new tenancy are credit checks which I can get done for around ?35 per tennant, an inventory check in which cost me around ?120 for a 2 bed flat and a deep clean of the flat paying a cleaner around ?10 per hour, maybe 5 hrs. Also the cost of advertising the flat which is either free on gumtree or around ?50 to get on rightmove etc. The rest is just my time in printing out a standard tenancy agreement and changing names / addresses (10 minute job) and showing people round the flat. Anything else is just estate agent padding and they will be taking a hefty fee off the landlord too, so as SLad says, I'd be tempted to negotiate hard, however it depends on how many other potential tenants are prepared to pay those fees.. Or try to find a flat through a nice private landlord who doesn't charge the earth.

[Otta]

I think they're taking the total piss.

[Jeremy]

The reference checks are way too expensive. But TBH the contract and admin fees seem quite standard. As I said before, I think you need get them to clarify what the "secure fee" and "intro fee" are for.

[Loz]

This is the sort of letting agency charges being currently investigated by the government. Like Bumpkin (and it seems, most private landlords), we just charge 6 weeks deposit and first months rent.

[SLad]

Should also have said that all we charge is the 6 week's deposit and first month's rent. We do the credit checks reference checks (believing that Experian style credit checks are a bit of a waste of time), contracts, inventory etc ourselves so no associated fees.

If your daughter is not absolutely wedded to the flat then UPAD is a good way to find property which is being rented out privately so as to avoid all the estate agent chicanery.

[bawdy-nan]

Being a private tenant is pretty ghastly. I've been one for more than 20 years. I would heartily recommend trying to avoid letting agents and find somewhere you can deal directly with the landlord. In the main, I have found private landlords, who let directly, much better than letting agencies whose determination to extract as much cash from both landlord and tenant at every opportunity is wearying.

Ultimately, as a tenant, you have very few rights and, can be evicted easily and for no reason other than the landlord wishes to end the tenancy. Complain at your peril and try to develop a good relationship with your landlord. It makes for a much easier and cheaper way of living

That said, we have been without door handles in our home for 6 months, the windows are about to fall out and there's damp in our bedroom because our property has been neglected and we daren't complain too loudly.