Aibu re high letting agent fees?

[Shambambolista]

This is how much they want - single parent moving with 2 kids-

As discussed, to reserve the property and have it removed from the market we need the fee that was agreed of £513 to be paid into the account below.

This amount consists of:

Referencing fees: £288 (one tenant moving in)

Holding Fee: 225

TOTAL: £513

These are non refundable- just seems an awful lot ?

What's a holding fee? I've never heard of that before. Is it a reputable (i.e. high street) agent or a private firm?

Yet according to the NIHE, we should all be merrily skipping down to letting agents to rent properties, most of which according to the same source come furnished. total bollocks

Holding Fees apply pretty much across the board now. Stops the property going to the next poor bugger who comes along.

OP, that does seem like a huge amount for the referencing fee though.

That's what I think- it gives me the colly wobbles

Its a private firm

All non refundable

Needs to be a law against it! Is there such a thing as a tenant's union?

YANBU.

It would not be unfair to say that all letting agents are total crooks.

Charge a fortune to both tenants and landlords.

Yep, it's an absolute joke now. I'm back renting after having had a mortgage and I swear it was harder arranging a rental than borrowing hundreds of thousands of pounds. We also had to pay per tenant, for DP and me.

Congrats on your move though!

It is an awful lot but you have no choice if you want the house. They are a bunch of theiving arseholes.

Holding fee may be non refundable but is returnable, first or last months rent or as part of deposit, or it should be.

Check the small print, or ask them to clarify.

I was always able to negotiate the fees either down or to zero. We were quite desirable tenants so that's how we had leverage but if you feel you come across as a good tenant with good paperwork it would be worth negotiating maybe?

I paid £250 agency fees this summer, for a one bed flat with me as the sole tennant. Paying that secured the flat for me, then I paid deposit and first month rent when I moved in.

I just think its too much, and it doesn't give me confidence in letting the property from them. To be honest they strike me as opportunistic and as they are managing it as well, I don't think it's a good start- what if the boiler goes, will they make cost savings there? So I won't be taking it. Thanks for advice

holding fees are not charged by my agent: referencing, tenancy set up (which I also pay), plus deposit (tenant's money).

gas safe cert? Age of boiler? maintenance arrangements? deposit protection? Money ring-fenced if agent goes bust?

remember agents are TOTALLY unregulated.

Thanks special- hadn't even thought about deposit protection. Will avoid them and make sure I'm at least with a high st agency

So called 'key money' is illegal in the UK.

In a residential setting it's sometimes applied to an illegal payment that a landlord might demand from a tenant before he's allowed to move into a property.

A holding deposit which is deducted from the first month rent may be legal but not if it is just a fee payable to the agent.

The cost of doing the referencing is far too high. Use another agent.

great stuff - I thought this might be the case but couldn't find the evidence.

I'm a landlord and hate agencies. Proper scum. I wish I could find that charged tenants and landlords a reasonable amount. Say £100 each inc credit checks etc

Are you in Scotland? Those kind of fees are illegal in Scotland, unsure about the rest of the UK.