Are Lettings Agents still misleading tenants with their fee structure?

For tenants one of the biggest bug bears with letting agents are the horrendous fees that are commonly charged, predominately, by high street vendors, but now we are seeing a simlair trend with online agents too.

As you've probably heard, the Government are looking to clamp down on Lettings Agents fees, and the details of which will hopefully be published later this year.

It doesn’t help, and it REALLY frustrates me, when I see some of the larger, well known, agencies advertising 'No Tenant Fees’ — for many tenants this is a blessing in disguise.

You trawl through the property listings, find somewhere you like and apply, knowing that all you need to budget for will be moving costs. WRONG!!!

I was browsing over the weekend at my local competitors and one well known local (franchised) lettings agency, *** no names needed ***, advertise 'No Fees to apply’. I thought to myself

wow, how can they do that?

Well, as always with marketing, it’s simply a play on terminology; a way to capture new tenants either by (a) getting them to pre-register or uping property viewing figures and to (b) entice new landlords with a view that they can bring a higher level of viewings to their properties.

I thought there must be a fee at somepoint, and on further reading - once you make an application for a new tenancy, they infer to not charge you for credit checks - this is free — all very well and good.

However, once your application is succesful (accepted), surely the costs that the agencies have had to ‘absorb’ are recovered?

Whilst I can’t say Yes to this, a tenancy fee is charged — although they don’t say that the fee you will eventually pay for is for any credit checks already completed.

The statement they make, I think, is rather misleading to the disconcerted public, especially if you are renting for the first time — although, at least they did advertise their fees! There were 4 agents that didn’t!! 😠

According to their website, they charge you for drawing up contracts, inventory packs, legal checks etc... and it’s not a cheap fee either… when I last checked it was around £250.00 - although this was regardless of how many tenants were applying.

Whilst not the worst marketing I have seen, it was disappointing to see.

Why can’t we just have transparency? Is this misleading advertising? You draw tenants in…. then WHACK. A fee paid by a tenant is a tenancy fee no matter how you define it!

Yes, they mentioned that there is a fee to pay in order to complete your tenancy application, but their strapline could be initially interpreted as misleading.

Hey, they are not the only agency to do this..... apparently it’s common practise.

Tenants should ALWAYS ask upfront what the fees are; after-all, whats the point in setting your heart on a property if you know that the tenancy fees may make it unaffordable, let alone if they also charge for renewals every 6 or 12 months!

There are some independent lettings agents in Telford, like Easy Lettings Telford, that do offer very affordable low tenancy fees with absolutely NO renewal fees.

OK, rant and rave over.

Just be careful who you rent your property from; be open-minded and always ask plenty of questions.

Just because you are dealing with a high street leader or a well-known online agency, it doesn't mean that they are doing the best by you or offering the best deals. Shop around.

More than likely is that dream home of yours is being marketed by several agencies.

So find out!