UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hello Everyone,

I am a foreigner based currently abroad and I intend to rent a property in England through a letting agent based in England.
I have already paid the agent for a good faith payment and administration fees.
The agent has then provided me with a tenancy agreement.
The agreement states, the tenant shall pay the equivalent of 7.5 months' rent upon the signing of the agreement.

But the agent claimed orally, he cannot sign the agreement, before he has received this 1st payment in his account.
I argued, I did not have any guaranties, the agent would sign this agreement, after his reception of this 1st payment.

Then the agent argued, I did not have to worry, since I would receive a receipt, after his reception of this 1st payment.
I argued, the receipt would not prove, the agent had to sign this version of the agreement.

Finally the agent argued, it is a common and normal practice in England to proceed in this way.

Is it indeed a common and normal practice in England,
that an agent demands from a tenant to receive his 1st payment,
before the agent signs the tenancy agreement ?

Thank you very much for your help,

XL

No

This would make me very wary indeed.

7.5 months rent is possibly normal for commercial ( 3 months rent deposit, 3 months in advance)

For domestic 2.5 is about what I would expect as max, i.e. 1.5 deposit, 1 month in advance.

Who are the Agents? What sort of size are they, do they have a company number where you can access there accounts?

The fact is you do not need any qualifications to be an Estate or Letting Agent in the UK, and as such some of them are robbing lying bastards.

Thank you very much for your clear and detailed answer.

I do have job and credit references abroad, but not in the UK.

This is the reason why the agent wants 7.5 months' rent in advance:
- 4 first months of rent,
- 1.5 month of deposit and
- 2 months to be held against non-payment of rent.

Is the amount of 7.5 month's rent acceptable in this context ?

The agent is known in the county and is a subsidiary of a known company in the UK.

Do you know any web site for checking, that an agent is serious and honest ?

To me no its not acceptable.

Sorry its not much of an answer.

But NO, it's not acceptable to me, you have to make your own mind up based on what else you can find.

XL

Agents will often ask for first month rent and deposit to be paid in advance of the move in day and this is usual however, given the amount you are outlaying, I would suggest maybe that you pay the deposit and first month of rent upfront and offer to settle the balance on the day of collecting the keys when you meet to complete the tenancy agreement.

Make sure that you have the address of the agent and check if they are registered with an ombudsman or similar, just so that you know where to go should you have an issue.

I am an agent also but I wouldn't ever ask someone for that amount of money upfront and aside from that, you wouldn't usually be asked for money to be held against arrears.  That is an odd requirement.  If they are holding additional monies on top of the deposit, they should register it with a government backed scheme that stops them from using it without your approval. At least in this instance, you know it is safe.

I would tread carefully with this agent as the process they are asking you to go through is slightly out of the ordinary in my eyes.

Laura