UK Landlord Forum / Life

One of my tenants needs to move out mid-tenancy to look after a sick relative. She has found someone else to take over her tenancy. My agent has asked me to pay nearly £400 to facilitate this (new tenant referencing, deposit handling, new tenancy agreement etc). They tell me that under the 2019 Tenancy Act I can only ask for £50 from the tenant who has requested this change. Whilst I accept that these fees are paid by me for new tenancy agreements there is clearly no incentive for me to agree to a change mid-tenancy if I'm out of pocket.

The current tenant realises this and has offered alternative ways to cover the costs (like paying for any maintenance that needs doing) but this all seems a bit underhand.

I want to help my tenant but I'm a little aggrieved about the agent costs. It seems that the Act which was designed to protect tenants is doing the opposite here - it just puts her at the mercy of the landlord's  generosity.

Does anyone have any thoughts or solutions?

This sounds like a change of tenant in a joint tenancy. The Tenant Fees Act has removed any incentive for a landlord to allow a tenant to be replaced during the fixed term of a joint tenancy.
Which probably isn't a bad thing, it's almost impossible for anyone to do it right, and the best thing is usually to end one tenancy entirely and start a new one.
That's probably a greater agency charge than the fee for assigning the contract.

However, a landlord is allowed to charge tenants for the costs they incur as a result of ending a tenancy early in the fixed term.

Otherwise, the position is that the tenant can't end the agreement that they have entered into. Which probably isn't what the Tenant Fees Act was intended to put an end to,

Thank you. That may be a better option.