My partner and I are looking for a flat in the centre of Cheltenham. With little by way of savings behind us (I admit we were not as financially responsible as we could have been in our youth...or later), there is little hope of us affording the deposit required for a mortgage right now, and so we must rent.
At present we’re renting a reasonably sized duplex above a salon, for £500 a month. It’s fine: a spacious, two bedroom flat with just enough room for us and our cat. However, between the lack of kitchen (we have an ‘open plan’ nook), the lack of suitable heating (electric storage heaters) and the lack of a level floor (suspected subsidence), we’d be happy to splash out a little more for something better.
Our problems are two-fold:
First, Monty. The overwhelming majority of landlords in the area have a No Pets policy when renting. This wasn’t a concern for us when we moved into our current flat as we were yet to be blessed with our adorable (occasionally rambunctious) little bundle of fur and whiskers (and teeth...and claws...), and wasn’t a problem when we wished to expand our little family, as long as we signed an amendment to our contract promising to cover any damage the moggy might cause. Unfortunately, we’re afforded no such allowance when looking for somewhere new.
Secondly, fees. An up-front cost is to be expected when renting: it would be silly to expect a landlord to take on a tenant without a security deposit and a month’s rent up-front. The size of the deposit can be a bone of contention, with landlords charging another month’s rent, a month’s rent +£100 or a month and half’s rent (which can be particularly jarring if one’s budget restricts them to £650 per month: £1,625 (£650 for the first month’s rent, £975 deposit) is a significant sum to put up before you’ve even moved in), but the up-side of the security deposit is it will be returned at the end of the tenancy (assuming you don’t trash the place).
Alas the same can’t be said for the fees charged to tenants by letting agents. Back in July 2014, a bill was put before parliament to prohibit these charges, but was dismissed without debate. More recently, Tom Brake MP (LibDem) sponsored the Landlord and Tenant (Reform) Bill, which seeks to cap letting agents’ fees. And tonight (3rd May 2016), Maria Caulfield MP (Con) is set to bring it up again. It remains to be seen if this will get any more than a passing glance.
As things stand, every letting agent in the area charges fees, ranging from the ‘reasonable’ (around £140) to the average (around £250) to...well £425. And these without taking into account ‘if applicable’ check-in/check-out fees, guarantor fees, or fees for Saturday or ‘Express’ moves, any of which can range from £30 to over £100.
To take the most extreme example: to rent a £425/month room in a flatshare through RA Bennett & Partners, the would-be tenant must pay - according to RAB & P’s own Tenants’ Guide - the first month’s rent (£425), a security deposit (£637.50 (or £525 when searching on rightmove: *other property search-engines are available*)) and fees for administration (“processing and storage of documentation in hardcopy and/or digital formats” (£50)), referencing (£75 per tenant), check-in (£72 (min.)) and the tenancy agreement (£300 (one can only assume each is handwritten by an expert calligrapher, on vellum, with ink procured from the sack of an elusive giant squid)).
That’s a grand total of £1,559.50.
Up front.
For a £425 per month room.
To rent at the top-end of our budget, our up-front cost ranges from £1,540 (‘reasonable’) to £1,650 (average) to £1,972 (RAB). And that’s assuming the deposit is a month’s rent +£100.
This can, of course, be avoided by going private, but this too is far from ideal. For a start, there are few properties in the area that aren’t being rented through agents, and those few generally fall between ‘have potential’ and ‘seriously?!’.
Then there are the landlords themselves. Based on my experiences as a student and beyond, the majority I’ve dealt with have been perfectly reasonable, but there has been one post-student landlord that was not so much.
My suspicions should have first been roused by his insistence on taking the first month’s rent and deposit in cash, or that wifi access (which wasn’t listed on the contract) was an extra £20/month, but I was ignorant and impatient back then, and thought nothing of it.
However, two months into my stay he claimed I’d underpaid him £5/month for the wifi (and, without prompting, jumped straight to the argument, ‘If you remember any different, you must’ve misheard’). It might seem a trivial amount, but it was then I realised he was a bit iffy. This was confirmed after a quick search on the Shelter website told me I should’ve signed a Tenancy Agreement (the one he used was a Lodger Agreement), and my deposit should have been placed with a Deposit Protection Scheme.
So I asked which DPS he’d used. He gave no answer, and instead accused me of trying to change the terms of our contract, which he took as my two weeks notice, as stipulated by said contract. My deposit would be sent to the forwarding address when I left.
I, in turn, pointed out (thanks to what I’d gleaned from Shelter) that, regardless of what was printed at the top of the contract, the fact that he didn’t live in the building made ours a Tenancy Agreement, under which he was legally obliged to give details of the DPS he’d used within 30 days of me signing, and if he wanted me out, he would have to obtain a court order. The court order would, of course, not be forthcoming if he couldn’t prove he’d secured my deposit, and even if he could, it would give me at least 2 months to leave, regardless of what it said on the contract.
After a month of back-and-forthing by text - during which he started referring to my deposit as ‘the month in advance’ (he dropped this when I pointed out I still had his text about returning my deposit) - I’d moved in with my partner (which had been the plan anyway), and received my deposit back in full.
Renters, if agents fees do force you to go private, a few things to keep in mind (incidentally, this is all unqualified advice and can be confirmed/clarified/elaborated upon by visiting Shelter and/or a qualified advisor):
At present we’re renting a reasonably sized duplex above a salon, for £500 a month. It’s fine: a spacious, two bedroom flat with just enough room for us and our cat. However, between the lack of kitchen (we have an ‘open plan’ nook), the lack of suitable heating (electric storage heaters) and the lack of a level floor (suspected subsidence), we’d be happy to splash out a little more for something better.
Our problems are two-fold:
First, Monty. The overwhelming majority of landlords in the area have a No Pets policy when renting. This wasn’t a concern for us when we moved into our current flat as we were yet to be blessed with our adorable (occasionally rambunctious) little bundle of fur and whiskers (and teeth...and claws...), and wasn’t a problem when we wished to expand our little family, as long as we signed an amendment to our contract promising to cover any damage the moggy might cause. Unfortunately, we’re afforded no such allowance when looking for somewhere new.
Secondly, fees. An up-front cost is to be expected when renting: it would be silly to expect a landlord to take on a tenant without a security deposit and a month’s rent up-front. The size of the deposit can be a bone of contention, with landlords charging another month’s rent, a month’s rent +£100 or a month and half’s rent (which can be particularly jarring if one’s budget restricts them to £650 per month: £1,625 (£650 for the first month’s rent, £975 deposit) is a significant sum to put up before you’ve even moved in), but the up-side of the security deposit is it will be returned at the end of the tenancy (assuming you don’t trash the place).
Alas the same can’t be said for the fees charged to tenants by letting agents. Back in July 2014, a bill was put before parliament to prohibit these charges, but was dismissed without debate. More recently, Tom Brake MP (LibDem) sponsored the Landlord and Tenant (Reform) Bill, which seeks to cap letting agents’ fees. And tonight (3rd May 2016), Maria Caulfield MP (Con) is set to bring it up again. It remains to be seen if this will get any more than a passing glance.
As things stand, every letting agent in the area charges fees, ranging from the ‘reasonable’ (around £140) to the average (around £250) to...well £425. And these without taking into account ‘if applicable’ check-in/check-out fees, guarantor fees, or fees for Saturday or ‘Express’ moves, any of which can range from £30 to over £100.
To take the most extreme example: to rent a £425/month room in a flatshare through RA Bennett & Partners, the would-be tenant must pay - according to RAB & P’s own Tenants’ Guide - the first month’s rent (£425), a security deposit (£637.50 (or £525 when searching on rightmove: *other property search-engines are available*)) and fees for administration (“processing and storage of documentation in hardcopy and/or digital formats” (£50)), referencing (£75 per tenant), check-in (£72 (min.)) and the tenancy agreement (£300 (one can only assume each is handwritten by an expert calligrapher, on vellum, with ink procured from the sack of an elusive giant squid)).
That’s a grand total of £1,559.50.
Up front.
For a £425 per month room.
To rent at the top-end of our budget, our up-front cost ranges from £1,540 (‘reasonable’) to £1,650 (average) to £1,972 (RAB). And that’s assuming the deposit is a month’s rent +£100.
This can, of course, be avoided by going private, but this too is far from ideal. For a start, there are few properties in the area that aren’t being rented through agents, and those few generally fall between ‘have potential’ and ‘seriously?!’.
Then there are the landlords themselves. Based on my experiences as a student and beyond, the majority I’ve dealt with have been perfectly reasonable, but there has been one post-student landlord that was not so much.
My suspicions should have first been roused by his insistence on taking the first month’s rent and deposit in cash, or that wifi access (which wasn’t listed on the contract) was an extra £20/month, but I was ignorant and impatient back then, and thought nothing of it.
However, two months into my stay he claimed I’d underpaid him £5/month for the wifi (and, without prompting, jumped straight to the argument, ‘If you remember any different, you must’ve misheard’). It might seem a trivial amount, but it was then I realised he was a bit iffy. This was confirmed after a quick search on the Shelter website told me I should’ve signed a Tenancy Agreement (the one he used was a Lodger Agreement), and my deposit should have been placed with a Deposit Protection Scheme.
So I asked which DPS he’d used. He gave no answer, and instead accused me of trying to change the terms of our contract, which he took as my two weeks notice, as stipulated by said contract. My deposit would be sent to the forwarding address when I left.
I, in turn, pointed out (thanks to what I’d gleaned from Shelter) that, regardless of what was printed at the top of the contract, the fact that he didn’t live in the building made ours a Tenancy Agreement, under which he was legally obliged to give details of the DPS he’d used within 30 days of me signing, and if he wanted me out, he would have to obtain a court order. The court order would, of course, not be forthcoming if he couldn’t prove he’d secured my deposit, and even if he could, it would give me at least 2 months to leave, regardless of what it said on the contract.
After a month of back-and-forthing by text - during which he started referring to my deposit as ‘the month in advance’ (he dropped this when I pointed out I still had his text about returning my deposit) - I’d moved in with my partner (which had been the plan anyway), and received my deposit back in full.
Renters, if agents fees do force you to go private, a few things to keep in mind (incidentally, this is all unqualified advice and can be confirmed/clarified/elaborated upon by visiting Shelter and/or a qualified advisor):
- Make sure you’re signing the right kind of contract:
- If the landlord lives in the building, and you’re renting a room with shared habitat/facilities, you’re a lodger, and the notice period is determined by the contract
- If the landlord lives elsewhere, or you’re in a self-contained flat/apartment, you’re a tenant:
- Tenant’s notice to landlord is determined by contract, but landlord must obtain a court-order to evict
- Landlord obliged by law to secure deposit in a government approved Deposit Protection Scheme, and give details to tenant within 30 days of contract being signed
- Failure to do this enables the tenant to sue the landlord for the deposit, and the same again for each month the deposit hasn’t been protected (up to three months)
- Make sure everything you’re paying for is stipulated in the contract: e.g. Council Tax, wifi, gas, electricity, etc.
- I personally wouldn’t accept the contract stating ‘All bills included’ in case of a difference of opinion as to what constitutes a bill
- Do not pay cash. There is no reason for a landlord to refuse a cheque/bank transfer, each of which is fully trackable
To landlords, a plea: if you find that you’re struggling to rent out a room/flat/house/shed through a letting agent, hold off on reducing the rent until you’ve made sure your agent of choice isn’t pricing your property out of the reach of prospective tenants with their own fees (and maybe show a little consideration towards cat lovers).
And to both renters and landlords who do choose to rent privately, remember, just because the law is skewed in the landlord’s favour, no tenant is without recourse.
And to both renters and landlords who do choose to rent privately, remember, just because the law is skewed in the landlord’s favour, no tenant is without recourse.
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