Hi,
Probably an odd one. Our agent recommended we advertise our flat in SE London at £1600 per month. Today we are interviewing tenants at that price and she has just emailed to say that she visited the flat yesterday and has revised the rent to £1850 since she didn’t realise it was a two bed flat. Aside from grumbling about managing agents, we are tempted to simply not offer it to anyone we see today, take it off the market and readvertise at the market rate when some planned decorating and other works are finished at the end of September.
Is this legal under the new charter and/or would it be frowned on by Openrent as being similar to charging more than what was originally asked for? Either way we are going to be considered dodgey landlords by at least some of the people interested, as we would think if we were in their shoes.
If anyone has been in this position we’d be glad of any advice.
@Dermot1
@David122 may be able to advise but I think genuine mistakes in price advertised can be corrected (make sure mistake is documented in writing) and you havent invited rental bidding from anybody who has viewed. A higher price reflecting better facilities is also ok. Def pull the current ad and dont do new viewings till anyone viewing is aware of/been told about the new price.
Good luck
Key Rules of the Rental Bidding Ban
- Single Fixed Price: Adverts cannot use ranges (like “£1,000 to £1,200”) or “from £X” pricing; they must state one exact asking rent figure. [1, 2]
- The Asking Price is a Cap: Once listed, the advertised figure acts as a ceiling. Landlords and agents are legally barred from accepting higher bids from competing applicants. [1, 2]
- Liability: Landlords and letting agents face civil penalties and enforcement from local housing authorities if they breach these rules. Tenants and third-party hosting portals (like Rightmove or Zoopla) cannot be held liable
Thanks, I suspected that was the case.
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I would do as you suggested.
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