UK Landlord Forum / Life

Has anyone come across best ways to challenge high street agents simply passing on huge fee increases to landlords with simple advice of increase your letting feed to cover it?

You what?

Agents are passing on fees they used to charge Tenants to Landlords? Fair enough. Agents are suggesting Landlords raise the rent to offset those extra costs? Fair enough, right? What has this got to do with Student Lets? Either increase your rents or absorb the new costs... what other choices do you have? No-one was surprised by this turn of events, right?

Whoa - you're missing the point. What right do agents have to pass on these fees to landlords with a simple "just raise your rents"? I do not want to pass it on to my student tenants so why can't the agent absorb this cost? It was principally due to agents levying unfair charges to tenants that led to Parliament passing new legislation.
Get up to speed with the bigger picture mate and raise your eyes off the floor.

They have a right to charge what they want, just as you have a right to take your custom elsewhere. In the long term, they'll end up charging what the market will bear. Likewise, if you raise your rents beyond what the market will bear, your potential tenants will go elsewhere. Everyone takes as small a slice of the turd pie as he can get away with and hands on the rest.

Bear in mind also that your tenants would have paid the same previously: it's just that you wouldn't have seen it or had to trouble your conscience over it. With student tenants all you're doing by adding it to the rent is breaking it down into a twelve twelve installment payment plan for them, as they seldom sign up for more than a year.

If anything, it's the longer tenancies that are trickier to gauge but, again, it just boils down to what the market will bear. At least the cost of the property will be evident in the advertised monthly rent figure, and not partially obscured in the small print.

Quote from: tiswas52 on September 26, 2019, 05:58:35 PMWhoa - you're missing the point. What right do agents have to pass on these fees to landlords with a simple "just raise your rents"? I do not want to pass it on to my student tenants so why can't the agent absorb this cost? It was principally due to agents levying unfair charges to tenants that led to Parliament passing new legislation.
Get up to speed with the bigger picture mate and raise your eyes off the floor.

What right? Do you live in a dream world?

Previously Agents got money from Tenants and Landlords for providing their 'service'. One of those was taken away from them, they don't wish to lose-out (why would anyone?) for providing the same 'service'. So they lump it on the next best thing... the Landlord. It's then completely up to you what you do... you can either get your knickers in a twist - and moan about it ineffectively on a forum with strangers - or you can have an approach - tactics or strategy.

The fact you seem surprised by this is the most surprising thing... maybe you've not had your own eyes on the bigger picture? You're like "aw, crap, say what?"

Quote from: tiswas52 on September 26, 2019, 05:58:35 PM
Whoa - you're missing the point. What right do agents have to pass on these fees to landlords with a simple "just raise your rents"? I do not want to pass it on to my student tenants so why can't the agent absorb this cost? It was principally due to agents levying unfair charges to tenants that led to Parliament passing new legislation.
Get up to speed with the bigger picture mate and raise your eyes off the floor.

They are just passing those fees to Landlords - correct.

You can either pay or go somewhere else... or nowhere.

The Agent is trying to help you out by offering one potential solution - raise your rents. You can either take that advice, or not. But you can't combine the two things into one single thing... the charges now hitting you and the raising of rents are not inextricably linked. If you have deep pockets you might just absorb this... easy. You might just raise your rents anyway... who knows, everyone is different.

Easy to say but you're missing the point.
You conveniently side step the reason behind new laws which were greedy agents charging landlords AND tenants a set of fees for setting up a Tenancy.
Perhaps you have not yet had the call from your local agent saying we are now doubling your fees beccase we can't rip off tenants any more.
Thanks for the wider picture advice about spreading the fees over 12 months which is one outcome, but will probably seek other options / agents before committing to sourcing new tenants for next year.
Is that a tactic / strategy?

I don't use Agents. But, then again, I haven't for a long time... I didn't just get surprised by this turn of events. You need to keep up with things. Pay attention!