Still on agents’ fees, you may like to check out Shelter’s spoof website, Dodgy Lettings.
A ‘search’ for rental properties yesterday showed properties with the warning “may not match your search criteria. For more accurate results you will need to pay our standard £50 accuracy fee”.
Dodgy Lettings lists its own fees http://dodgylettings.co.uk/fees
These include a £30 administration of administration fees fee; and a £300 change of sharer fee, with the accompanying explanation: “If a new tenant joints the tenancy we will need to redraft your contract. Photocopying isn’t cheap.”
There is also a £30 communications fee “if we bother to respond to an email”.
There is a £10 fee for “out of office” replies.
Comments (9)
Pathetic and childish
Its all out of context, some agency do charge for things they don’t need to charge for, perhaps some costs are high for “administrative works” but 6 weeks deposit.. needed! References fee… Needed, Check in and out fees…. Needed and most split between LL and tenant. It cost to move whether you buy or sell and lettings is not really a profitable business as it is, so if tenants want to move for free, rents will go up or businesses will close and how are they going to move then… and be protected!!
Buy or Rent sorry not sell
The first agent that drops all of its completely arbitrary costs is going to get some cracking coverage. All I ever see on this site is agent’s justifying the actions of their colleagues. Maybe it’s time for someone to actually say that, yes, the fees are utter b******s.
The first agent that does that is the agent that says goodbye to its business. Even the lefty london council that is wasting its ratepayers money on its own agency charges more than agencies like mine.
Just getting childish now – they aren’t getting their own way so resort to silly tactics!
Shelter lost its credibility a long time ago. Perhaps a housing charity should be providing housing.
What??? and use up the millions they have in the bank on ungrateful tenants? are you mad sir?
More childish rants from shelter. And they wonder why nobody takes them seriously.