Almost one in three Londoners (29%) feels a letting agent has charged them unfair fees, homeless charity Shelter has revealed.
The most common concerns were fees for ‘administration’ (14%), credit checks (10%) and for renewing a contract (8%). More than half (52%) felt the fees were unfair because they were disproportionate to the cost or amount of work done by the letting agent.
Christian Harper of OliverFinn, a
lettings agent with branches in Chiswick and Notting Hill: “I completely agree with the findings - both tenants and landlords are being over charged by letting agents.
“It is outrageous to charge a landlord for tenancy agreements when they are often already paying thousands to agents to do the job. I have heard of some being billed for bank charges, admin fees, letters, maintenance calls, statements, rental collection – the list goes on.
Both landlords and tenants being duped
Shelter said some people were being charged £100 just to view a property and renters were being charged up to £540 in non-refundable ‘administration’ fees. It also said it believes some landlords are being unfairly charged by letting agents and found some agents had been double-charging landlords and tenants for the same services.
The facts remain simple says Harper: "Our job has become easier rather than harder since the transformation of how the market works. People look online via the major property sites. Corporate tenants, families and young professionals all look on the same web sites.
"These days, tenants don’t have special arrangements with a select few agents. They now explore the entire market, so if your property is on one of the major sites, you have an equal chance.”
Where is your deposit held?
Another money-spinner for unscrupulous lettings agents - is to register with a tenancy protection scheme for a small annual fee - then keep deposits earning interest in their own accounts.
"All of our Assured Shorthold Tenancies (
AST's) deposits are held by the Deposit Protection Service (DPS), which is the Governments own custodial scheme. At OliverFinn we aren't interested in making a few pennies in interest from your deposit at the expense of the protection of your money. This is not mandatory practice in our industry so be on your guard."
Always use a lettings agent that is a member of the Association of Residential Letting Agents. Jane Ingram, president of ARLA: "We have already taken steps to help inform and protect consumers by setting up our own member licensing system to guard against bad practice, and all of our members are required be clear and transparent with tenants of any charges that they will incur.
Time to make agencies more transparent
The Shelter research reveals the main reasons people think fees are unfair and the proportion of people affected:
- The fee was disproportionate to the cost or amount of work done by the letting agent, 52%
- The fee was unexpected, 17%
- The fee did not reflect the level of customer service I received, 10%
Kay Boycott, Shelter’s Director of Campaigns, Policy and Communications, said:
‘It’s scandalous that some letting agents are creaming off huge profits from the boom in private renting, by charging both tenants and landlords fees that are totally out of proportion to the service they provide.
