Letting Agency charged Advertising Fee from Tenant who left in the 6th month

Landlord Discussion Legal
1

Hi,
One of my friends was renting a property. Property was managed by a letting agency.
Tenant had to leave the country due to health issues.
It was a 12 months contract.

She gave one month notice in the 5th month of tenancy and left the property 5 days before completing 6 months due to health problems.

During her notice period, agency arranged views and she co-operated with the agency and by the time she left agency got a new tenant.

After she left, while she was in another country agency told her to pay nearly Ā£600 for re-advertising the property. She paid the agency Ā£600. Is the agency allowed to charge tenant for re-advertising?
Thanks

2

The agent is permitted to charge a fee to the tenant, but the legislation says that the costs have to be reasonable. Iā€™m not aware of any test cases on ā€œreasonableā€ in this section of the Tenant Fees Act, but Ā£600 does sound on the high side. I would suggest your friend asks the agent to justify such a high cost in light of the legislation.

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3

To be honest the agency found a tenant even before my friend moved out.
While she was living in the property, agency arranged views and the new tenancy started immediately after she moved out.