Lettings Agent charging for contract renewal

[DancingLola]

Just wanted to check if this was usual practice?

We rent & have just renewed for the third time. No changes to the contract apart from the date.

Today I got an invoice through for £75 stating contract renewal fee. We've never had to pay this before when we have renewed contracts, and we've rented through this agency for 6 years (2 separate properties, the first for 2 years & current one since)

Seems a bit steep, esp considering we digitally sign the contract, so I don't even get a paper copy for that fee!

it is probably small consolation that your landlord would be paying this too! So contact him/her and ask him to deal with the agent, explain you've not paid this before and are not happy to do so.

they are buggers for this, all of them!

It is fairly standard I am afraid.

It's bollocks isn't it.

One of the many ways they are allowed to scam people.

We just had to pay £85 quid. Same thing as you with the digital signing. It's an absolute pisstake but letting agents know they've got you by the short and curlies.

Ours sent us one the first time we renewed. We ignored it. That was 3 years ago and nothing has happened since.

I did the same as Absy. No-one followed it up.

I'm quite tempted to ignore it, esp as we already have a digital copy of the completed tenancy agreement. I don't see how they can force us to pay it really, I'm sure there was no mention of it when we came to renew.

I'll have a chat with my LL, they are probably charging him too. The agents aren't involved in managing the property or anything, they just collect the rent so I might suggest that if he's happy to renew again next year he considers doing it privately between us to save on all these fees.