Letting Agents fees

[IHavemyownLighthouseyouknow]

Wondering if someone can explain what is normal please! I had to suddenly rent my flat out when I moved away for work a couple of years ago, and managed to find fabulous tenants who took on a 3 yr lease. The letting agents however have charged me each year for their finders fees (8% of the annual rent) and I presumed it would only be the 8% on the first year's rental as it was a long let. Obviously there are further monthly charges on top of that for managing the property which is all clear.

My fault I guess for not clarifying this before (but it was all done in such a mad rush with relocating). Is this normal for every estate/letting agents? I've also heard that the agents can charge tenants fees every year as well, is this normal? (I'm starting to feel sorry for my lovely tenants if this is also the case!)

Also, when tenants leave, who is responsible for the cleaning of the flat, do I need to do it or will they? The agents have said they'll find out what the tenants want to do, but I'd like to know what is standard.

Thanks for any answers.

yes, that charge is standard. In fact quite low.

and yes, tenants pay too - not monthly as you do, but for tenancy renewals. The way out of these fees is either to sign longer tenancies or to go on to a rolling tenancy: this means they can give you 1 months notice to leave and you can give them 2 months. That said, if they are on one 3-year lease there should be nothing else for them to pay.

normal cleaning is that it is done to a professional standard and paid for by the tenants, so each lot clean up for the next. Also find out what happens about checkout and inventory.

and to confirm you have protected their deposit and (if the place has gas) have provided an annual gas safe certificate.

I disagree, I don't think this is standard practise. It definitely does happen and is reasonably common, but it is not across the board.

When we rented our flat out we probably had 3 or 4 quotes and only one company charged an annual renewal fee. When we were looking to change agents I came across another agent that did it but as soon as I gave it as a reason for not going with them they agreed to drop it.

The agent we had been using who were rubbish in lots of ways, were happy to renew the tenancy for free each year as it is literally a two minute job changing the year on the contract.

If you're happy with the tenants you could just put together the contract yourself and sack off the agent, that's what we did and it's been fine. But we only did it once the tenants had been there a year and we were happy with them.

Cleaning is the tenants responsibility. If they don't clean it themselves to a satisfactory standard then you can deduct from their deposit for a professional clean I think.

special the OP stated the 8% is on top of the monthly management fees. That's a hell of a lot of money for doing precisely nothing after the initial set up of the tenancy.

yikes - you're right, I didn't read properly. Apologies.

I would expect 10% + VAT total for tenant finding and rent collection. Bit more for full management. If they actually do anything, of course.

Yes, it's 14% let and managed, so 8% of the annual rent each year for letting the place which is taken out of the first month or two's rental income, and then 6% of the monthly rent each month to manage the place. I may look into finding another agency then when this tenancy ends if there are others which don't charge letting fees each year when the same tenants are in there on a long tenancy, I only spoke to a couple of agents when I first did this, and had no idea what to ask I have to admit. At least it sounds like my tenants won't have had to pay twice for this long let as well.

What would happen then with the fees if the tenants leave half way through the year, will the agents charge me again at the start of the 3rd year? It looks like they are going to leave after 2.5 yrs not after 3, hence me wondering about the charges! (and I have asked the agents too, but they don't seem very sure themselves and are going to get back to me.....)

We've done the gas safety certificate & electric safety every year, and the deposit is protected (checked that with the agents!!)

Thanks for the advice re the cleaning, one less thing I have to worry about then when they leave.

Check the terms of any agreement you signed which should detail fees. The tenants should clean before they leave but this is usually not to an amazing standard so worth you paying a few pounds to get it professionally done especially as they have been there so long.

If it's a 3-year lease the tenants are liable for paying rent for the full 3 years, unless there is a break clause in the contract. Knowing what letting agents are like (and yours sound like a particularly choice lot), you're probably liable for the fees for the full 3 years too.

If you do end the contract with the current tenants, you definitely need to find a better agent. And read everything carefully, so you know what you're agreeing to, as they will take any opportunity to relieve you of your money.