£125 to review my contract on my flat?! What the fuck?!

[RestingFuckFace]

Is this real?!

Ive lived in many properties, but never had this.

My agency just called me, said Ive lived here a year, do I want to renew for 6 or 12 months? I said 6. He said thats fine but I will have to pay the fee twice in a year.

What fee?

£125.

What for a piece of paper and black ink?

Yes, that's correct.

I told them Id get the paper and black ink. He said I was paying for a lawyer.

WHAT?! What are they on about, is this correct? I don't remember anything about this in my contract, but I supposed I must have fucking missed it. Im going to look after DC's lunch.

You don't have to pay this. Call their bluff. Your tenancy will automatically go on to become a periodic tenancy and you do not need a new contract.

Apparently it's now commonplace for agents to charge tenants for renewal. I wonder whether the landlord knows. Money making scheme if you ask me.

Just tell him you've thought about it and would prefer to go on to a statutory periodic tenancy instead. You do not need to do anything or sign anything for this to happen. The landlord would have to give you two months' notice in order to end the tenancy. You just have to give one month. All other terms of the original AST remain the same.

Do find your original paperwork from the agents and see whether there is reference to renewal fees.

This is worth a small admin fee only imo, which should be payable by the LL not the tenant.

Assuming you have an AST, If they have served you with VALID notice and ended your current tenancy then you'll have to pay the fee. We avoided this by removing the clause from our original contract (ours is £250 but that's London!) and going directly to our Landlord 3 months before the end of our tenancy I.e before they could serve notice.

Just say, "no thanks, we're happy for it to roll over to a periodic", if you're at all worried the landlord might get arsey, do it after the last 2 months so a section 21 would be beyond the date and the landlord would then be stuck in limbo not knowing if you were going to leave on the last date or not.

It's a common tactic by letting agents to get more cash, you do not need to renew, and the swings and roundabouts of benefits for most people suggest it's worth more to the landlord to renew than you. So if they want it (ie would serve you notice without) then make them pay.

www.landlordlawblog.co.uk/2010/09/27/tenants-legal-help-do-you-have-to-sign-a-new-tenancy-agreement/

I'm on a rolling contract and my landlord doesn't use an agent so I've never re-signed or paid a fee. This link explains it all clearly. I'd check your agreement to see if it mentions further fees in there. And they don't need a lawyer, they clearly just want the money.

YANBU - it's a new thing that some (unscrupulous) agents are trying on now. I'm a landlady and inadvertantly fell foul of this when my old agency was taken over by a new one - but I was expected to pay rather than the tennant.

Is it in your contract? Can you ask to be put onto a 1 month rolling contract (you need to give 1 month's notice, landlord needs to give you 2) - this was free with my shyster agency?

Personally, I changed letting agents but obviously that's not so easy for you. Do you know your landlord at all?

What a laugh! Call SHELTER to check your legal rights OP.

Good point JustMarried. OP check whether a s.21 notice was with your original tenancy agreement or has been sent to you at least two months before the last day of the original 6 month tenancy.

I hate the way some agents do this to tenants.

Can't find anything about renewal fees in my contract?

I can't find anything about renewal fees in my contract??

Well, that's good. Stick to periodic with what you have. Don't agree to sign a new one with that clause.

they'll be charging you and the landlord, all for putting a new date into a pre existing template. can you contact the LL direct?

Also do contact your landlord! Ours was completely in 5he dark re the massive fees the agents were charging us... As well charging her loads too!

I have the landladies address, she is really lovely. She lives up the road.

Im just on hold to Shelter.

I will just repeat what others have told you, it makes no difference whatsoever if you renew your tenancy agreement, it just kind of rolls on and you have the same rights and responsibilities as on the original one.
Call their bluff and say no thanks and listen to them huff and puff.

as a landlord I have to pay this too, so the agent gets twice the fee. Not impressed but they all do it. (before anyone suggests the marvels of the Scottish reforms, all that happened there was that the extra fees went to the landlords and so guess what the effect was?)

I did offer the tenant a rolling tenancy but tenant wanted a new lease.

this isn't a new thing, I've been a landlord on and off for 10 years!

Well I've been a landlady for 15 years and I didn't come across it until 18 months ago. Guess I just got lucky with agents before then. Having said which, my current agency doesn't do this either.

Oh God, Im cringing about how much I just arsed licked the agency but I seem to have wormed my way out of things, thanks to everyone's advise on here!

Spoke to Shelter, they said legally theres nothing they can do to stop the, charging me .

BUT, if I just don't sign the contract it can become a rolling contract, as you posters mentioned above.

So I call the agency, I told them the above, said I really want to stay long term, I see myself here in 5 years, that the landlord is lovely (she is) and the agency are great (they're ok) but could I just not sign the contract and keep it rolling?

He said he would reduce the fee to £50, I said Id prefer rolling and he said he'd ask the landlady but thinks it will be fine.

nice one!

the agencies in my town all charge similar fees (surprise...) although I am impressed with the one I use.

I could do it all myself..but I prefer the agency guidance and services. It also gives the tenant an alternative point of contact.

Ours is 70 agents reduced it to 40 on the understanding we give dd a fiver of it for her birthday

My agency tried to charge me 60, I said I wouldn't be paying to renew so they put it onto a rolling contract where I just go month by month, I need to give them one months notice to leave and they need to give me 2 months notice if they want me to leave.

It's bollox. You don't have to pay it, just go onto a rolling contract :-)

Ah x-posted! Good result :-)

We had to do this as well. £50 per tenant, so £100 for both of us - EVEN THOUGH IT'S THE SAME CONTRACT FOR BOTH OF US!!

the more people that say no and that they will have the rolling contract, the better.