http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2012/sep...ts-shelter

By Shelter, expect lots of Bias.

I have to say though, the fees that MOST agents charge are a Rip Off !!!! Its a money earner and agents are persuaded to pro-long not signing a tenancy to continue taking Fees from perspective Tenants.

This needs to be changed by The Landlord, as when they go to sign with an Agent they should be asking what fees a perspective tenant would be charged. If they charge too much, use a different letting agent as if they are going to Rip Off Tenant expect Rip Of Charges for Landlord Too.

The fees your proposed agent charges should be part of your due diligence when selecting one. If a tenant is put of your agents fees on application or on going fees then this will result in the tenant not applying, pro-longed voids or tenant moving on because they are dis-satisfied. It should also be part of the tenants due diligence when selecting a property.

As a Letting Agent I suppose I must be brave or foolish to try to defend the sector as a whole- or to even dare post on this thread!
I agree with the sentiments that there must be tighter regulation within the sector and as a SAFE agent with NALS and TPO membership, for me, the sooner it happens the better.
I confess we do charge tenants admin fees but am reliably informed they are about half the price of our local competitors.
I often find tenants (and if I'm honest landlords) that we did a tenant find only service for the landlord, often then use us a reference point throughout the tenancy asking for advice which we happily do for free, bear in mind they didn't want to pay the extra few % of having a fully-managed service - which is fine. Often this is just a 5 minute call, but can interrupt the day and work flow.
All I would like to say is that agents do a lot of work for free but this goes unmentioned- such as second and third viewings so tenants can measure up for furniture once a contract has been agreed or of course marketing properties as dual agents and not always getting the business.
I'm not moaning - it is all about offering a little bit more than your competitors but I do sometimes feel there is an expectation to give advice or one's time for free (a solicitor or plumber wouldn't). I attended a property on Saturday because the boiler wasn't working, rather than call out a plumber and load a call out charge on the landlord we visited ourselves to find the meter had run out of credit. Did we charge the tenant for this? Of course not but I know other agents would, which is perhaps the real issue here.
Overall I am saying I think admin and refernecing fees are rightly charged by agent (as long as they are reasonable) to the tenant. With this in mind we then make sure they get what they pay for, a safe house with a fair tenancy agreement and look after them!

Great post Glenn, thank you!

I personally do not mind paying for good service and lettings agents should be recompensed for their time.

I think it is finding that fine balance of great service with reasonable costs.

Also, ensuring the LL & tenant know in advance of what costs may be incurred, rather than springing them on later down the line.

There are good lettings agents and bad lettings agents, just like any other sector of business.

The good guys will get recommended and repeat business, the bad guys will fail over the long term.

Well done for being a SAFEagent and not being afraid to engage in robust debate!!

See Glenn in our Guildford location guide .... and here he is, talking about the importance of being a SAFEagent with client money protection.