# Issue with letting agents



## MagpieRH (May 27, 2014)

Hi all,

Not sure if this is the place to post, but thought I'd ask in case anyone here has experience/can help - will also be contacting citizens advice about the same thing.

Long story short, we moved in to a rented house 18 months ago, on what we were told was a 12 month contract with 6 month break clause, followed by 2 months notice after that.

All fine first year, started to look for house to buy, got an invitation to renew the rental on the same basis as before (although contact makes mention of needing to give notice 'one month before the end of the tenancy term' which we took to mean a one month period)

Anyway, we've found and bought a house, take possession end of the month but want time to get everything set up so we put in the notice last weekend to take effect end of July.

Agents came back and said no, it's a 12 month contract with no break clauses. We'll have to pay the early exit fees of £144 for marketing and £270 for start of tenancy fees.

I've checked online, and they are banned from charging these fees I new tenants so would that also apply to us? Seems pointless to ban a fee but leave it available to charge as long as it isn't a new tenant you're charging.

They also want us to pay the landlords service fee (12% of the monthly rent) until the end of the contract, even when someone else moves in and they're getting the service fee from them. That, to me, seems unreasonable.

Anyone know if they can actually charge these fees, or have any other suggestions than CAB that we can approach?


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## Rayaan (Jun 1, 2014)

MagpieRH said:


> Hi all,
> 
> Not sure if this is the place to post, but thought I'd ask in case anyone here has experience/can help - will also be contacting citizens advice about the same thing.
> 
> ...


I think its simply a case of looking at your contract and reading it through thoroughly.

If it isnt in the contract, you don't have to pay anything and ask them to show you where it states in the contract that you have to pay these fees


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## shycho (Sep 7, 2010)

As suggested, I'd have a good read of the contract. 
If you signed a new one, then it's likely you're required to either give them notice that you're planning on leaving at either the 6 or 12 month mark, and that there may be costs involved if you break that agreement.

It's been a few years since I rented, but for any future viewers of this thread you'll usually find that once your 12 months are up you can sign nothing and move on to a rolling one month contract. The risk is that the landlord may given you notice, as they want someone on a longer contract.


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