Tenancy renewal fees

[ByeGermsByeWorries]

I've received an email from my letting agency to advise that my fixed term tenancy ends next month and have asked for £125 to renew it.

I don't really have the money to spare right now and have never had to renew a tenancy before so not sure how it works but am I right in thinking this letter basically says pay the renewal fee or we will evict you?

Forgot to add I'm more than happy to pay the increased rent going forward and have always paid my landlord on time. The issue is the renewal fee.

Whether they can legally charge you this fee depends on whether your existing tenancy agreement includes a clause requiring you to pay a renewal fee. Do you have a copy of it? I’m a property solicitor - PM me if you want some more specific advice.

They are only allowed to charge these fees until May 2020.
There is a third option here, your current tenancy agreement is more than likely valid even after the end of the 12 months on a 1 month rolling notice period.
I think you should talk to the agent. The landlord is unlikely to want to evict you, assuming you pay rent on time and are a good tenant. I would tell them you would like to stay but cannot pay the renewal fee. The ball is then in their court as you continue to have a valid tennancy.

Following as I thought the government had forced letting agents to stop charging unnecessary 'admin' fees earlier this year. We normally get charged £60 per year as it's in our contract but was hoping next year they wouldn't be able to do this anymore!

I thought these fees had been banned.

I can't see anything on the tenancy about fees it's about 30 pages long though.

I imagine somewhere there's a clause for this fee it's just that we recently had a change in finances and I honestly don't have the funds for this at the moment but the way the letter reads if I don't find the money they are going to evict me.

Wouldn't surprise me as then they can charge the landlord for checkout, finding another tenant etc

I did contact the agency and was told someone would get back to me. That someone simply resent the same email.

I know several people who've written back to say they want to continue the tenancy, but they are not prepared to pay the admin fee as there's no good reason for it. After a few emails went back and forth, the agent dropped the fee because they got tired of arguing. Stand your ground! Especially as these fees will become illegal in 2020 anyway, as someone mentioned above. It's already illegal for new tenancies.

You should also be aware that landlord will often agree to things that agents claim they won't, e.g. the agent will say "Your landlord would never agree to that" but if you ask them directly, they'll say yes. Especially as you already live there, so continuing a tenancy is far less stress and work than finding a new tenant.

By the way, don't say that you can't pay or that you can't afford it. Say that you won't pay. Agents tend to be sceptical about people who say they can't afford things, and will accuse people of making it up. It's better to act like an insistent and demanding person with these people. £125 for signing a document is taking the piss - that's a much better angle to take.

I had to pay a fee recently! Didn't think I had to but because o renewed in July last year or something that was the clause. I think it comes into force in May 2020 or something for existing tenants but for new tenants or new contracts it's already in place (I think)

This gives me the fucking rage. I'm on a rolling contract and they wanted to charge me £100 odd for an updated version with 3 days notice. Refused to pay, they did not pursue it.

Talk to your landlord direct. My agent tried to charge the tenant a renewal fee, totally unnecessary because you just go to a rolling tenancy, no renewal needed. Tell your landlord you want to do that. I think it’s an absolute disgrace that agents are still using this to squeeze money out of people.