Agency Fees When Renting?

Ivan Drago

Ivan Drago

Ivan Drago

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I'm looking to rent a flat in London on Gumtree and just want to know what the agencies charge if you go through one of their listings.

Do they charge you a one-off finders fee? How much are the fees generally for a circa £500/month rent property.
 
renting my house for £495 a month cost me £250 setting up fee and 10% a month management fee. which is a waste of time. Just get them to find someone and you do the rest. Ive found mostly they are useless. Tenent moved into my house 16th june and i didnt get paid until 2nd august. Mine ( petty ) also charged my tenents £75 each signing fee. You'll also pay tax on it too. luckly i dont pay tax in the UK anymore.

oops are you renting or letting ?
 
Not in london, but weve just moved into a new place and the average rate for the agency fees seemed to be around £200+VAT on a £450pm property, with some then charging extra for each person you want to add to the contract
 
Ivan Drago said:
I will be a renter, not a letter. Do they charge the renter fees too?
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Rent wise you will pay the amount advertised, the fee is already built into the price (if the agnecy is managing the property and not just marketing it).

You will also have to put down a deposit, which is usualy a month and a half's rent this should be refunded at the end of the let.

There will also be a one off admin charge, in Gloucestershire I found this to vary between about £100 and £400 (often VAT will be added, check this). Even if you go through a private landlord you often have to pay a fee since many landlords get a solicitor to draw up the tenancy agreedment and they'll expect you to pay for it.
 
Ivan Drago said:
I'm looking to rent a flat in London on Gumtree and just want to know what the agencies charge if you go through one of their listings.

Do they charge you a one-off finders fee? How much are the fees generally for a circa £500/month rent property.
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Just remember that they cannot charge you until they have found you somewhere so ask before you enter into agreement with them. There is no up front fee.
 
Me and the mrs are looking for a new house and a local business (hamlets in loughborough :D) wanted a massive amount of money up front.

The house was perfect, we really wanted it. So we asked for the paperwork.

£100 to hold the house until the paperwork is done.
£75 per person referencing fee.
first months rent up front £550
security deposit of first months rent, plus another £200 on top because the rent bracket is £500-700pcm
then £100 as a preparation fee.

£1650 up front! What a nightmare.

Turns out it's run by two silly women in an office in a really rough part of loughborough.
 
krisboats said:
£100 to hold the house until the paperwork is done. (normall, usually subtracted from either deposit or reverencing fees, so usually is not an added cost)
£75 per person referencing fee. (very normall)
first months rent up front £550 (standard)
security deposit of first months rent, plus another £200 on top because the rent bracket is £500-700pcm (standard, deposit is usually anywhere between 1-2months rent)
then £100 as a preparation fee. (not standard, never heard of that)
.
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In other words you would pay an extra £100-200 depending if holding fee is subtracted, compared to anywhere else for you perfect house, is it worth turning it down for that and you can sometimes negotiate agency fees, depending how likely they think they can shift the house.
 
Me and the mrs are looking for a new house and a local business (hamlets in loughborough ) wanted a massive amount of money up front.

The house was perfect, we really wanted it. So we asked for the paperwork.

£100 to hold the house until the paperwork is done.
£75 per person referencing fee.
first months rent up front £550
security deposit of first months rent, plus another £200 on top because the rent bracket is £500-700pcm
then £100 as a preparation fee.

£1650 up front! What a nightmare.

Turns out it's run by two silly women in an office in a really rough part of loughborough.
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This is exactly why i needed to take a loan from the bank to make the move from a house share to a one bed room. They even went and charged me £5 for paying with a debit card...

But you can get lucky, my most recent place i rent directly from the landlord who is a solicitor and he did all the paper work, so i only had to pay deposit.
 
I asked a few Estate Agents in SW15 and the answer i got, on average, was £350 or so to organise and sort out all the paperwork on a 1 bedroom flat. We're going private instead. :p
 
SideWinder said:
I asked a few Estate Agents in SW15 and the answer i got, on average, was £350 or so to organise and sort out all the paperwork on a 1 bedroom flat. We're going private instead. :p
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Often best way. But it's really hard to find private places these days. 6 years ago papers where full of private listings.
Now there appears to be next to nothing. Or are people advertising somewhere I don't know about.
 
AcidHell2 said:
Often best way. But it's really hard to find private places these days. 6 years ago papers where full of private listings.
Now there appears to be next to nothing. Or are people advertising somewhere I don't know about.
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Gumtree is proving to be successful. Obviously i am being cautious and there are a few properties on there that are too good to be true, ie. 1 bedroom flat next door to South Kensington tube with a large balcony, new kitchen and only £170 a week. :p
 
SideWinder said:
Gumtree is proving to be successful. Obviously i am being cautious and there are a few properties on there that are too good to be true, ie. 1 bedroom flat next door to South Kensington tube with a large balcony, new kitchen and only £170 a week. :p
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Tried there, last time I moved.

Wonder if it is just recession and lanlords going for the protected income route from some agencies. Or maybe lanlords just can;t be bothered to do the work themselfs these days.
 
Yea you have to watch out for the fake ones. My sisters friend lost over £800 deposit, then even had the keys to the flat and signed paper work. They were just unreachable after taking the deposit and the owner of the flat apparently new nothing about it.

But the estate agents are ruthless, they fill the internet with fake listings. It is very frustrating because every property you find on property websites, you phone them up, they always say it is no longer available, every time. They just keep the best properties listed so you phone, then if they ever bother to phone you back you will be lucky.

I like how gumtree has the option to hide all the estate agents but they can offer a level of security. Especially when you are renting for large amounts, what is £250 when you just put down £1600 deposit. You get the government protected deposit schemes etc.
 
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