A leading landlord who has a newspaper column is urging others to boycott some letting agents because their fees "can be more elastic than granny's knickers".
Victoria Whitlock - a landlord, letting properties in south London - has used her online column on the website of the Evening Standard's Homes & Property section to accuse some agents of not revealing their fees.
"Let's do what the government won't and force agents to reduce or even eliminate these charges by boycotting the worst offenders" says Whitlock.
Unlike many journalists who swipe at the lettings agency industry, Whitlock has substantial direct experience of operating in the private rented sector.
Her recent article includes reference to one unnamed high street chain agency which told her that the worse off the tenant, the higher the fee charged because it allegedly took longer to reference a less affluent renter - "What rot" says Whitlock.
"One agent even had the bare-faced cheek to charge my tenant for a tenancy agreement that I had supplied" she says.
In another example, Whitlock claims that "when my partner and I rented a property in London a few years ago, a lettings agent charged us each an additional £20 for a reference because she had to email our previous landlord in France" - a charge for which there was no justification, she says.
Whitlock reveals that she was not surprised that MPs did not choose to ban agents from charging fees to tenants, adding that "the letting agents, on the other hand, are probably still sniggering into their Proseccos."
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Comments
Letting agents especially in London are not providing value for money. Lettings as always been the less profitable part of an estate agents business so less quality resources are dedicated to this sector. - less qualified and inexperienced staff, slow and often unresponsive customer service tied with high fees. Online lettings backed up with quality online and offline property management solutions is the way forward. May I dare suggest using http://www.rentdirectuk.co.uk
I can see her point of view on some of the things she says - but I doubt she sees it from an agents point of view. What she is prepared to do for a tenant for free will always have a cost factor if she asks an agent to do it for her; the majority of landlords prefer an agent to mange the property for them and are happy to pay for the service
I actually think she makes a very valid point and it is something that constantly casts a shadow over our industry. The trouble is that, as a Nationwide industry, there is no 'one size fits all' to this issue. I have always felt that London agents charge far too much to Landlords & Tenants alike for 'admin, referencing, contracts, etc.'. With the average rent in London being around 18,000 pa and and typical agent fee being around 8% that is a fee of 1440 (or over 2000 if you manage that property) which should adequately cover most of what is needed. That said, if your are earning about 500 for a let then you are going to have to subsidise this with charges to cover the 'back of house' administration costs, etc. However, big or small, London or Yorkshire borders I dont see any agent being able to viably argue why any and all fees to Landlords and Tenants alike shouldnt be made readily available to the public on websites and in all literature. We posted all our standard fees and charges on our website over 18 months ago and have actually found it simplifies matters as it is plain for all to see. After all- if your fees are valid and justifiable, what's the big secret
The point she's trying to make is sound; better regulation and codification of industry practice would probably help end working methods which might generally be deemed unfair or exploitative. It's a pity that her writing style makes her sound like an insufferable fucktard.
How utterly ridiculous. Couldn't agree more with the previous comments, Agents get a hard time and a reputation for overcharging or squandering money without delivering the work but what people like Ms Whitlock must understand is that it is a business. There are costs that need to be covered; salaries, advertising vendor's properties etc. none of which are free. We are already in constant competition with each other, not to mention having to lower our costs to compete with the lone agents, working from the back of a van. To suggest eliminating fees completely is entirely deluded and ignorant.
As I have been saying for about 10 years at least regulation of anything including lettings only works if two things are in place:-
1. It applies to everyone in the market - so self managing landlords as well (mind I have been
saying for 20 years housing is too important to be left to amateurs no matter how well
meaning they are)
2. The penalties for non compliance i.e. operating illegally, are meaningful. This translates to closure of a business for agents or for self managing landlords forfeiture of property.
Draconian - maybe, but you only have to look at the pathetic penalties applied now in what are serious fraud and dangerous property cases to see anything less will nort deter anyone with no moral compass. And there are a lot of those in our industry, agents and self managing landlords.
Unless ultimate sanctions apply you'll never get anywhere with the poor, ignorant, uncaring and illegal operators in the industry so if this this does not apply then forget it and stop wishing for yet another system that will not work
What nonsense!
Has Victoria Whitlock never heard of the cost of the LABOUR content in all activities Anything to say about Solicitors/Accountants/Banks/etc charging anything between 50 - 100 just for a standard letter
Get real!
Ms Whitlock clearly does not live in the real world. Agents have to make a living.
That said, letting agents should make their fees clear (notices on websites and in office and marketing material) and should not charge for "make work". This includes pointless tenancy renewals which only serve to generate income for the agent.
Disclosure - I run a letting agency, however our fees are transparent and reasonable.
That is a good point Sceptical. More regulation will almost certainly drive out the amateurs and small agents and as a result the large agents will then be able to charge what they want. At the moment we have to keep our fees low to compete with the office in a bedroom boys. When will these interfering busy bodies ever learn. What happened to buyer beware If you are not happy with your agent go elsewhere!
I would like to hear some more news related to the betterment of our industry, getting a bit fed up of these people that think they are an estate agent once a year (or twice if they are really not capable) and can do it all themselves.
What we need is higher barriers to entry, mandatory qualifications and compulsory regulation... then fees will go up because there won't be Tom, Dick and Harry estates working out of the back of their car from a mobile number charging a week's rent to let your flat. Educated people doing a skilled job. When will the public realise we are not just viewing monkeys
Dear Ms Whitlock,
I will happily rent your properties for you and not charge potential tenants a fee. I am sure you will not mind me charging you double to cover my lost revenue What's that You want to put the rent up 50 to cover the cost of the additional fees therefore charging the tenants an extra 600 a year and in fact costing them more than they would have paid in fees Well, that's not very fair is it...