Move Rental Agreement renewal from estate agent to Open Rent

My estate agents charge me £240 + vat every year for the renewal of my tenancy agreement and with two rental properties, it is too much money to shell out with increasing costs. I used your service once for gas certificate and it was good. Apart from getting gas and electricity done regularly through your site, I want to move the rental agreement renewal to your site. However the deposit details sits with the estate agent. How can I go about moving it to your site so I can manage it all from one place?

Also I am unable to find your app on Apple store.

Firstly, you don’t need to renew the tenancy, just let it roll over, £240 saved! Although it might cost you if you want to put the rent up.

Second thing, if you do want to leave the agent, is to check your contract. Some say you can’t leave whilst the tenant they introduced is in the property. Some have hefty exit fees.

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Exactly as Cath2 says. Don’t bother “renewing”. Its better for you to let the tenancy go periodic.

Ask the estate agent for the details of the deposit etc. Would have thought they should have given it to you anyway. Tenants have to have the details by law so why not the landlord.

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Hi I am in the same boat £200 + Vat for a single flat and it was Tenant find only service…

so they keep coming back to me with the " but have you got the facility to hold their deposit " Well with open rent I now do!

So i would like to ditch the agent and pass over to openrent… would I need to get her to renew the contract with me via open rent on say a basic £29 or £49 service as I know she pays all ok…

When I took my property back from the agent, they passed the deposit back to me and I immediately put it in My Deposits.

If the money is in a custodial scheme, then they should transfer it directly into your custodial scheme (assuming you are using one).

Agents generally use non- custodial schemes though, in which case, mine told me they had to refund the money to me. I agreed to that on the basis that they retained the insurance in their non-custodial scheme until I confirmed I’d secured the deposit - basically because they were incompetent and I couldn’t argue with them any longer!

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I didn’t bother with a new contract because they were periodic anyway, so I just let it roll on.

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And have you checked your contract with the agent to check for termination penalties?

Very useful insights, thank you Cath

Yes, no penalties fortunately

Yes agree with you, shall speak to them.

Thank you, when you say ‘go periodic’ what does that mean? Apologies if it’s a lame question. The rental agreement the agency made expires or is due for renewal on the 28th of May.

When the fixed term of a tenancy expires, the tenancy doesnt end. If the tenant remains in residence, it continues on a periodic basis, (usually monthly rolling) indefinitely on largely the same terms as before. This is usually better for all parties except the agent. There is virtually no admin to do. There are no renewal costs and if the tenancy goes bad, you can serve notice at any point.