Holding Fee on rented property...

[snags]

Looking to rent a property. A month's rent and a returnable deposit of the same amount is required before moving in... fine. Inventory and agent fees of £150 on top of that... fine. Non returnable 'Holding Fee' of £250 also due... not happy.

Fair enough if I say I want a property but cannot move in for a number of days/weeks, but, for example, if I view and decide I want a property on Friday and it is available the following Monday and I can move in on that same day, should I have to pay the Holding Fee? In this particular instance it seems I'm giving them £250 for fook all.

Surely me giving them the first months rent and the same amount again for the deposit (not an insignificant amount) just two days before I move in shows that I won't back out at the last minute?

Or is it a standard additional fee all property agents charge and I just need to get over it and cough up?

[ladybirder]

Well I've been a tenant and a landlady snags and I've never heard of it unless it's a new thing. It usually takes a few days before you can move in anyway while they do checks on you. Is the lettings agency a member of ARLA because if they are they have to obey certain rules and you could check if this is allowed? Personally I wouldn't pay it but others who have rented more recently might tell you differently.

[Twenty20]

The easiest way is to go along to a different agent, see what properties they have on their books and ask about any upfront costs etc.

As a landlord, I only ask for a month in advance plus one and a half month's deposit which goes into the Tenancy Deposit Scheme. Agents, however, do make a lot of additional charges. You should also find out in advance what charges there will be when you come to the end of the rental agreement and either want to renew or to leave the property.

[snags]

Thanks for your replies.

[ChuckFickens]

I've never *had* to pay a holding fee even when I've said I won't be ready to move for a month, I've been asked for one but refused to pay it (two weeks ago) and it was left with the letting agency that once I got the referencing fee to them they would take it off the market, upto that point it's still available and I could lose it if someone enquired before I'd handed over the referencing fee.

In your case I'd tell them (polity) to stick it, I'm sure they won't risk losing a tenant over it.

[cathfromsaron]

go to another agency. its just another of life's cons.

[cazzz1975]

you are lucky, a holding fee I was asked to pay was £650! add to the 3 months deposit made the whole transaction about 3 thousand, just to rent a property! not a palatial one at that...

[snags]

''upto that point it's still available and I could lose it if someone enquired before I'd handed over the referencing fee''

Fair enough in that instance, but we were in the situation where we viewed a property on Thursday afternoon and 'if' we'd decided to take it there and then, could have given the month up front, the full deposit and the agency fees the next morning, to move in the following Monday.

[snags]

Hard lines cazzz. We are fortunate that we don't 'have' to move immediately so can look around without pressure...

[ladybirder]

Well in that case snags absolutely no reason to take a holding fee. Honestly - some people.

[China Doll]

So holding fees can be refused as long as we gamble the property might get taken by someone else? (That other property that had 'loads of interest' is still on the market I noticed today!) I thought it was completely non-negotiable... Doh!

[snags]

ladybirder... I fully realise that thanks... my original question was asking if the Holding Fee was now a standard agency fee...

[ChuckFickens]

Yes, CD, that's how I've had it in the past (like I said, in the last couple of weeks)

If they letting agency argue I'd counter the argument by saying "but you are not holding anything for me"

And everything is negotiable, the agency may not give this impression but it's only their procedures, it's nothing that is set in law, if they want your business enough they will negotiate.

(incidentally, I'm glad I didn't pay the holding fee as I got a extension on my current house so am not having to move now, If I'd paid the holding fee I would have lost it)

[ChuckFickens]

There is no such thing as a "standard agency fee" they all charge pretty much what they want and say it's for whatever they want.

[milly143]

We had to pay a holding fee of £100 on our current rented house but this came off of the deposit we left when we paid up the rest of it, so in theory we weren't actually paying it in the end. If we had decided not to move in they would have kept it. She informed me it would cover the cost of re-listing house on the market.

[237SJ]

Is the holding fee not for reserving the property but for holding onto your deposit for the duration of the tenancy? I don`t think the landlord is allowed to personally hold onto the deposit. It has to be deposited in a safe account somewhere and the holding fee is for that.

[China Doll]

Govement scheme for putting deposits in now. The holding fee was to stop others viewing the property.

[snags]

''Is the holding fee not for reserving the property but for holding onto your deposit for the duration of the tenancy?''

No. It was definitely to prevent other viewings/offers until we moved in. Which is my point: there would have been no delay between us agreeing to move in and actually moving in and handing over the first month's rent and full deposit... therefore no 'hold' was required.

[ChuckFickens]

Off topic.... but...

A previous place I rented made me pay a non refundable admin fee of £150 (on top of inventory and normal agents fees) when I rented one property. they then kindly sent me my tenancy agreement so I could print out two copies of it and bring it into the office with me for signing day.

They were very kind though and sent me the agreement as a word document, so I simply changed the section that said this fee was non-refundable to read it was fully refundable on termination of the tenancy and took the modified version with me which the nice lady in the office signed without reading.

Boy were they peed off with me when I moved out of that place and pointed out to them they had signed documents saying they had to refund me that fee :)