Tenancy renewals are great: they avoid that hideous period when the flat is empty and no rent is coming in (ie, a void). Plus, you will be familiar with your tenant, and (presumably) you are happy about having them stay on.
Plus, the Renewal Moment is a perfectly acceptable time at which to put the rent up.
However, while congratulating yourself for being the type of landlady that tenants just love to rent from, there is one snag: your agent, who has popped up out of nowhere — rather like the wicked fairy at Sleeping Beauty’s 16th birthday.
If you didn’t use the pages of Loot or the equivalent to find your tenant, the likelihood is that an agent will have done. Twelve months ago. And while you were happy(ish) to cough up the “finding fee” then — up to 11% of the annual rent — you won’t be so thrilled to repeat the donation 12 months down the line. But the agent will have slapped in a bill for “renewal fees” at the same rate as the finding fee — almost every agent ’s contract stipulates that there’s a fee to be paid even if there’s no new tenant to be found.
Some landlords, such as television presenter John Stapleton, who has a buy-to-let flat in Richmond, don’t seem mind too much. “If you don’t have to change the tenant, then you don’t have to ring the utilities and change everything, which is such a pain,” he says. “Renewals are great. Of course, the work involved in renewal for agents is nothing more than an exercise on paper. But I suppose agents have to make a living somehow.”
“Renewals are cheaper and much less risky than getting a fresh tenant,” says Oscar Lennox, who rents out a handful of new-build flats in central Leeds. “I have a broad view. There is some work for the agent to do. They have to make them sign up again and whatnot. And if the deal’s a good one, there will be enough in it for me to have what I want, and let the agent have his fees. You can’t be small-minded.”
Others, however, feel rather differently about agents charging renewal fees.
“It is ridiculous,” says Barbara Goldsmith, who owns 40 properties in Stratford East, Manchester, and in her “new hot spot”, Dagenham, on the eastern edge of London. She also runs about 50 houses and flats for other people. “I am an agent myself and I don’t charge a percentage for tenancy renewals,” she says. “For the first year, I charge 10% of the annual fee, but if there is a renewal, I charge an admin fee of £75.”
Goldsmith is succinct about the existence of renewal charges in the industry. “It’s a rip-off,” she says. How, then, have agents gotten away with it for all these years? “I think it’s because people are cowed by estate agents. Frankly, once the tenant has arrived, moved in and has been referenced, there is no more work to do. There is a fax and a form, and you sign it. I don’t think renewing a finding fee if the tenant wants to stay on another year is justifiable.”
How do agents respond to such claims? Arnaud Cheung, who runs domusnova.com, a rental agency for classy houses in Notting Hill, west London, admits that he charges for renewals. “Yes, we charge an annual percentage of the rent. Our renewal rate is maybe at a discount of 1% or 2% off the original rate.
“The point,” he continues, patiently, “is that the original relationship entered into was between the client, the tenant and the rental agent. It’s a continuing relationship. Now, the original instruction by the client, which is agreed upon by them and us, is for us to find, vet and draw up a contract for the tenant, up to and including the termination of that contract. It goes on.
“Plus, we are responsible for the collection of the rent. We still have a relationship to ensure the rent is coming in on time. And we still have to follow up and chase the rent if, for whatever reason, it stops coming in.”
Cheung does agree, though, that clarity is an issue. “The original arrangement between the client and the letting agent needs to be clear, right from the start. Is it tenant-finding only? Is it tenant-finding, plus rent collection? Is it tenant- finding, plus rent collection and, in addition, full property management throughout the tenancy?” And he does concede that: “I think the jury is still out as to whether tenant-finding on its own justifies the collection of a full renewal fee.”
Does he make any exceptions to the existing arrangement? “Good agencies with good client relationships are something I manage. I would be happy to negotiate for clients with three or more properties, naturally.”
Even outside London, letting agents slap a renewal charge on landlords with long-stay tenants. “Most of our business is full management of properties,” says Jonathan Morgan, director of the eponymous Leeds letting agency. “This includes rent collection and the running of the tenancy throughout the duration of the contract, and so for renewal we charge the same cost, which is 11%, continuing.” What happens if the landlord has used you only to get a tenant? “We charge a rate that is half the original introduction fee,” he says. “We normally charge 7.5% of the rental for a finding fee, so if a tenant stays on, our charges for the second year would be 3.75%. If you introduce a tenant to a landlord who continues the rent, we continue the fee. It’s logical and, we think, fair. Nobody complains.”
No, but perhaps this is why the classified ads do so well: if a tenant found via the pages of Loot stays on for another year, just think of all that rent you will be saving, which would otherwise be diverted to the bank account of the letting agent.
No wonder I am so lovely to my tenants.
