UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hi There,

During the tax period 2019/2020 my tenant of eight years moved out. (A v sad day)

I have just done the maths.  With Letting Agent fees (finding new tenants - new agreement etc 4,182), maintenance/garden/painting/deep clean/repairs (3,000), electrical work (1,500) certificates  , three new beds(and mattress), new table chairs, new sofas (1,300)
It cost me just over 10K. (I did none of the work myself)

I have a question - am I mad in the head?

No but seriously - has anyone else ever had fees like that when a tenant changes? The property (3 beds) is in London.

Ta.

I know London is more expensive than my area Warwickshire,but over 4,000 for just finding a tenant and drawing up a lease? Jesus.The man I use charges half of the first month's rent for that,and includes credit checks, all documents and check-in.Where is this place-Belgravia?
If the tenant was supposed to care for the garden and leave the place clean (assuming it was when they moved in) you could deduct such charges from the deposit.After eight years you would expect to replace carpets and some furniture,and paint throughout.It sounds as if you have been catching up with things that needed doing earlier in the tenancy?

thanks for getting back to me.  Out in Zone 3 land . London.

I should have said that that estate agent amount  included fees for 18 months.  Not managment fees just collect the money fees.

More than the estate agent , it was the 3,000 fee was that really stuck in my craw.  I could have done the majority of jobs myself.  Cleaning/Painting/garden/deep clean. I could not have repaired the ceiling in one of the bed rooms.

I guess there comes a time in every rental where perhaps it makes sense to gut the place and start from scratch - but in London I have no idea how much that would cost - I'm thinking 100k (which I'd be scared about doing).  A small 3 bed mid terrace house.

Quote from: user1010 on July 05, 2020, 01:03:46 PM
More than the estate agent , it was the 3,000 fee was that really stuck in my craw.  I could have done the majority of jobs myself.  Cleaning/Painting/garden/deep clean.

Try looking at the costs over the periods they relate to, rather than just when they arise. Just as the estate agent's fee is eighteen months' worth, the maintenance and decorating is eight year's worth, assuming you hadn't done a lot to the place while your previous tenant was in there. Four hundred quid a year is pretty reasonable when you think about it. I budget a grand a year for maintenance, albeit without working every cost individually.

You could have done the jobs yourself, but could you have done them as well, as cheaply (when you put a realistic value on your time) or as quickly? If your property is out of action for a month or more while you're doing bits and pieces at weekends then how much rent have you lost?

Sell it and do something else. None of this feels right to me. You don't get charged £4,000 for a print off of a document with some new names and dates, plus 18x Faster Payments transfers. Didn't a portion of the £3,000 come out of the Deposit you held? I would try to err away from furnished properties... there are special types of lets that require it - mostly foreign student lets I'd say... maybe other high-end apartments - your typical 3 bedroom house is generally better off being let unfurnished. It's [much] less of a headache for you. I am talking from experience... I started off with furnished lets - I had 3 - now I have 1, I'm gradually moving them away, but I cannot do it with the last one as it's a apartment I let to foreign students who turn up with a suitcase. Tenant changeover costs a real, but this feels more like a dream / nightmare.

Also... you may not have intended to intimate this, but I'm in infer-mode, you comment about gutting it... thinking of £100,000, saying it's scary (but not saying it's out of the question) so maybe you're one of those Landlords who likes to spend and reduce their profits? They exist! It's a tendency... rather than a tenancy.

Quote from: user1010 on July 05, 2020, 01:03:46 PM
I should have said that that estate agent amount  included fees for 18 months.  Not managment fees just collect the money fees.

In the future, don't agree to pay management fees up front to the letting agent. If they want to charge X% of rent collected, let them take that out every month before passing it on. That way if the tenant stops paying rent or tenancy ends early for whatever other reason, you haven't paid management fees out of your own pocket in advance.