Letting agency fees "out of control"

22/05/2009

A revealing new report on lettings agent fees has been released by a charity.

Citizens Advice said that the extra costs had got "out of control" and often bore little relation to services actually rendered by the professionals.

Almost all (94 per cent) of agents were found to be charging up to seven additional payments to tenants - many of whom are struggling financially in the credit crunch.

In extreme cases, these extras added up to over £600 per tenant.

Wild variations were found in the costs, with checking references being charged for between £10 and £275 - and renewing a tenancy costing between £12 and £200.

Citizens Advice chief executive David Harker said: "There are so few controls over who can set themselves up as a letting agent and the charges they can make that it is tantamount to a licence to print money.

"The charges often bear little or no relation to the cost of the work involved and in some cases letting agents appear to make them up as they go along."

A study from the National Landlords Association revealed recently that one in three tenants had fallen behind on their rental payments.

Tags; Budgeting Advice, Credit Card Lifestyle, Recent Graduate Debt,

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