Does anyone know what the situation is before signing the tenancy agreement?
The contract we’ve been sent (our first time seeing it in full) includes a section stating that if we would like to hang something on the wall we need to seek the landlord’s permission and pay the agent £50 to amend the contract.
The former part seems perfectly reasonable, but prior to signing the agent can’t really call this a ‘change’ of contract, can he?
Online I seem to only be able to find information about agreements that have already been signed…
If anyone has an idea it would be much appreciated!
Thanks everyone. Gladly it turned out that this section was all set up by the agent, and the landlord had nothing to do with it. Before signing we pestered the agent to confirm if we actually understood this section completely, and we got it in writing that the fee would not apply after all.
I just moved into a new property and I have requested a proof of address/rental agreement letter signed by the landlord. They are charging me £30 for this… Is this allowed?
Hi There,
I am exiting my 12 month lease 2 months early (with one tenant staying and resigning a new lease) and I understand within reason that my landlord can charge me for early termination. Does within reason count for an inventory check out fee of £135? I thought it was only things like unpaid rent (which a new person has taken over from the day I move out - found by my current housemate so no cost to landlord) and new referencing? Is there anything else that could be charged?
Cheers
You’re correct, they cannot charge you for inventory check out. They also need to demonstrate costs of the referencing and admin incurred by your early termination.
In these circumstances, the landlord can charge you their actual costs, which I would have thought would include checkout fee and new tenancy fee if they have to pay them. They can’t charge more than it actually costs them. If an agency are involved, there may be an argument for limiting the fee to £50.
There has only been one test case in court to my knowledge and the result was a bit odd so I wouldn’t count on that being repeated.
I signed a lease for 12 month agreement, payed a deposit of 2800 equaling to 2 months rent. Landlord informed me that rent will be increasing which was totally okay. however landlord is requesting an additional 400.00 security deposit to equal to 2 months rent for new rental amount. I’ve spoken to several people, no one was able to provide information about this situation. am i obligated to pay additional fees for security deposit upon renewal of new lease before rent is increasing ?
If the original deposit was taken before 21 June 2019 then it was lawful at the time and there is no legal obligation to refund the difference between the 2 months taken and the new 5 week cap. If it was taken after that date then it was already unlawful. In any case, taking a further deposit now that is above the cap would be unlawful. You should maybe send a link to the Act to the landlord and ask whether it makes a difference.
Hi,
I’m renting a shared house with all bills included. The landlord says there’s been a spike in water usage and wants to charge due to if being an unreasonable amount. The contract doesn’t give an estimation of the amount of water usage that would be appropriate and I know that I haven’t been using the water recklessly. We’ve asked for a plumber to check for leaks but the landlord insists it’s misuse. Is this allowed? Thank you in advance.
It depends what your contract says. If it says utilities are included then he has no basis to charge more now. If there is a cap on included utilities then it depends…
Hi - I had a query related to the prohibited fee under the TFA 2019. I entered a whole new tenancy agreement in 2019 where the tenancy commenced on 28 June 2019 (post 01 June 2019 after TFA kicked in) but the agreement was signed on 17th May 2019 (pre 01 June 2019 i.e. before TFA 2019 kicked in). The letting agent charged me and my wife £240 each (£480 in total) and that payment was made in May 2019 even though the actual tenancy commenced from 28 June 2019 and even the deposit was paid on 21 June 2019 ( a week before the tenancy commenced). The tenancy was renewed for another 24 months on 28 June 2020 and no new fees was charged then. Now the letting agent has served us a Section 21 no fault eviction notice and I wanted to get your advice if that section 21 notice is invalid considering that the letting agent did charge us £480 fee in May 2019 (when we signed the contract) even though the actual tenancy commenced on 28 June 2019.
Sadly for you I think the fee you paid was not prohited by the Act as I believe its the date that the tenancy was granted that counts, not the date it begins, (unless these are the same).
I am looking to rent a property and my letting agent is charging 450£ in application fees. I am new to the country, just wanted to check if this is allowed.
They are also charging 400£ as the holding deposit which I know is not allowed as the rent is 650£ per month, and they are only allowed to charge 1 weeks rent as holding deposit
This sounds like a scam. No agent would be that ignorant of the law or risk breaching it so blatantly. Its possible that they dont own or have a right to let out this property and once you pay you will never hear from them again. Walk away and report them to Openrent and the local authority.
