are these estate agent fees ludicrous?

[skyofdiamonds]

This is to rent a 1 bed flat, not in or near london.

Rent is £650

For 2 people

£500 to reserve plus referencing.

Before moving in

£100 'check in fee'
£900 deposit
£650 up front

I think the check in fee seems absurb and those admin fees seem well OTT.

We l8ve the flst, what can we do?

The fees seem a bit high, a reference check is about £75 per person, the rest is for administration and their costs. Our LA charges £150pp over the age of 18 applying. This just about covers their costs and paperwork.

A months rent upfront and a month and a half rent is standard for deposit.

6 weeks deposit and one month rent upfront is pretty standard.

Check in fee is pretty standard.

Reserve and referencing fee is outrageous - its a while since I rented and these reserve fees were just coming in at the time, they seem to be everywhere now.

Sadly there doesn't seem to be any room for negotiation on them. I stopped using letting agents when I was renting and did everything privately through Gumtree - it worked out a hell of a lot cheaper for everyone.

We pay the £60 it costs to register the deposit with the dps as it cuts their costs down

Here is the Shelter advice on what they are allowed to charge you....

england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/private_renting/costs_of_renting/letting_agent_fees_and_charges