4 ms·

Par for the course with letting agents in the UK. I'm surprised they didn't begin evicting the renter. Using a property for work is often prohibited in the boil

by kjjw 12y ago

Par for the course with letting agents in the UK. I'm surprised they didn't begin evicting the renter. Using a property for work is often prohibited in the boilerplate rental agreements they charge £100 a time to change the name on.

JonnieCache 12y ago
Tip: just before you pull out your card to pay the fees, look into the kid's eyes and say something like "ummmm, this seems a lot, I don't really feel comfortable paying this much, can we reduce this at all?" The guy starts sweating as he sees his commission disappearing into the sunset, replaced by the prospect of a grovelling call to the property owner. They will often knock off about 50%. Sometimes you can just refuse to pay. Depends on the market. NB for best results, start your contract at the worst time of the year for landlords, usually just after all the students have finished moving. Also, be at least a foot taller than your letting agent.
- kjjw 12y ago
  Sorry but I live in a place where supply of property, rental or otherwise, is so constrained when compared to demand that any local letting agent knows they can rent out any place within a week. You go along with whatever they say or you don't get the place. End of story.
  - JonnieCache 12y ago
    Sorry to hear that :( In the last couple of years a number of developers flooded our town with cheap student housing units so the market has kinda been upended, much to our delight.
orf 12y ago
Hardly, that is a personal project so wouldn't count as work. Renting a property for non-commercial use then running an office out of it is quite rightfully prohibited.
- kjjw 12y ago
  As if they could comprehend the difference. And anyway - quite wrongly! What if one works from home? And whatever happened to fostering entrepreneurship, innovation and asking people to take their own lives in their hands by doing things like setting up their own company, all these things that the current UK conservative government claims to want and support? The law around lettings in the UK is detrimental not just to those who rent in the UK but the country as a whole.
  - gambiting 12y ago
    The simple answer is - insurance. Let's say that you have an accident at home while doing your office work(because you stayed at home that day), and the house is on fire. Suddenly the insurance agency refuses to pay because the house was not insured for commercial purposes. Stupid, I know.
    - scott_s 12y ago
      There must be ways around this - I live in the US, and I have never heard of a renter not being able to work from home.
      - orf 12y ago
        I live in the UK and I have never heard of a renter not being able to work from home. I think any provisions in the contract are to stop commercial enterprises being run out of rented properties rather than stop people from remotely working.
- teamonkey 12y ago
  From what I understand, in the UK at least, they obviously can't stop you from working at home or running a business from home or setting up an office in your home. What they don't like is using your rented home as a warehouse or place where customers regularly visit. That kind of thing usually needs some kind of licence from the council.
DanBC 12y ago
> Using a property for work is often prohibited in the boilerplate rental agreements To be fair using the property for work changes the insurance and tax situation.
- kjjw 12y ago
  Insurance maybe. But I doubt it changes buildings insurance (which is the only insurance a landlord will take out.) Tax not really - only if one wanted to claim back the income tax one pays on a percentage of their rent, a percentage in line with the percentage of the property used for solely work. That has nothing to do with the agent / landlord.
jon-wood 12y ago
You're doing well to be charged £100. We just renewed our tenancy, and got charged £120 by the letting agents to process us signing the same agreement we signed 12 months ago, and update their records to show we're not due to do so again for another year.
- teh_klev 12y ago
  Fortunately that kind of thing has been outlawed in Scotland. Letting agents can no longer charge supplementary fees to tenants. "As a result of this consultation, we will make it crystal clear to tenants, landlords and their agents that all premium fees, over and above rent and a deposit, are unlawful." - Housing Minister, Keith Brown http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-19374452 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-1937...
- kjjw 12y ago
  To update the date on the contract (renew)! You've been had! I only paid £80 for that! Never actually saw a version of the contract with an updated date, mind you. I am trusting them that it exists.
- danparsonson 12y ago
  For anyone else in this situation who is not aware, by default an Assured Shorthold Tenancy (which you probably have if you're renting all of a self-contained dwelling) becomes a statutory periodic tenancy (i.e., usually, rolling monthly on the same terms) at the end of the initial contract period - this requires no action on the part of anyone involved so you can politely tell the agents where to stick their £100+ bill, assuming you don't mind being on a rolling monthly contract. You can of course do this next time you're due to renew even if you've paid for it before. I've done this in four out of the five places I've rented over the years (the fifth being a special case as the landlord wanted to sell) and had no problems - although I had to argue the point with one agent who initially insisted I had no choice but to cough up. Pays to know your rights :-) Sources: This guide is great and used to be on the UK government website: http://www.leeds.gov.uk/docs/Tenants%27%20Tenancy%20guide.pdf http://www.leeds.gov.uk/docs/Tenants%27%20Tenancy%20guide.pd... Since superseded by: https://www.gov.uk/private-renting https://www.gov.uk/private-renting which sadly doesn't seem to cover as much detail.

by kjjw 12y ago

JonnieCache 12y ago

Tip: just before you pull out your card to pay the fees, look into the kid's eyes and say something like "ummmm, this seems a lot, I don't really feel comfortable paying this much, can we reduce this at all?" The guy starts sweating as he sees his commission disappearing into the sunset, replaced by the prospect of a grovelling call to the property owner. They will often knock off about 50%. Sometimes you can just refuse to pay. Depends on the market. NB for best results, start your contract at the worst time of the year for landlords, usually just after all the students have finished moving. Also, be at least a foot taller than your letting agent.

kjjw 12y ago
Sorry but I live in a place where supply of property, rental or otherwise, is so constrained when compared to demand that any local letting agent knows they can rent out any place within a week. You go along with whatever they say or you don't get the place. End of story.
- JonnieCache 12y ago
  Sorry to hear that :( In the last couple of years a number of developers flooded our town with cheap student housing units so the market has kinda been upended, much to our delight.

orf 12y ago

Hardly, that is a personal project so wouldn't count as work. Renting a property for non-commercial use then running an office out of it is quite rightfully prohibited.

kjjw 12y ago
As if they could comprehend the difference. And anyway - quite wrongly! What if one works from home? And whatever happened to fostering entrepreneurship, innovation and asking people to take their own lives in their hands by doing things like setting up their own company, all these things that the current UK conservative government claims to want and support? The law around lettings in the UK is detrimental not just to those who rent in the UK but the country as a whole.
- gambiting 12y ago
  The simple answer is - insurance. Let's say that you have an accident at home while doing your office work(because you stayed at home that day), and the house is on fire. Suddenly the insurance agency refuses to pay because the house was not insured for commercial purposes. Stupid, I know.
  - scott_s 12y ago
    There must be ways around this - I live in the US, and I have never heard of a renter not being able to work from home.
    - orf 12y ago
      I live in the UK and I have never heard of a renter not being able to work from home. I think any provisions in the contract are to stop commercial enterprises being run out of rented properties rather than stop people from remotely working.
teamonkey 12y ago
From what I understand, in the UK at least, they obviously can't stop you from working at home or running a business from home or setting up an office in your home. What they don't like is using your rented home as a warehouse or place where customers regularly visit. That kind of thing usually needs some kind of licence from the council.

DanBC 12y ago

> Using a property for work is often prohibited in the boilerplate rental agreements To be fair using the property for work changes the insurance and tax situation.

kjjw 12y ago
Insurance maybe. But I doubt it changes buildings insurance (which is the only insurance a landlord will take out.) Tax not really - only if one wanted to claim back the income tax one pays on a percentage of their rent, a percentage in line with the percentage of the property used for solely work. That has nothing to do with the agent / landlord.

jon-wood 12y ago

You're doing well to be charged £100. We just renewed our tenancy, and got charged £120 by the letting agents to process us signing the same agreement we signed 12 months ago, and update their records to show we're not due to do so again for another year.

teh_klev 12y ago
Fortunately that kind of thing has been outlawed in Scotland. Letting agents can no longer charge supplementary fees to tenants. "As a result of this consultation, we will make it crystal clear to tenants, landlords and their agents that all premium fees, over and above rent and a deposit, are unlawful." - Housing Minister, Keith Brown http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-19374452 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-1937...
kjjw 12y ago
To update the date on the contract (renew)! You've been had! I only paid £80 for that! Never actually saw a version of the contract with an updated date, mind you. I am trusting them that it exists.
danparsonson 12y ago
For anyone else in this situation who is not aware, by default an Assured Shorthold Tenancy (which you probably have if you're renting all of a self-contained dwelling) becomes a statutory periodic tenancy (i.e., usually, rolling monthly on the same terms) at the end of the initial contract period - this requires no action on the part of anyone involved so you can politely tell the agents where to stick their £100+ bill, assuming you don't mind being on a rolling monthly contract. You can of course do this next time you're due to renew even if you've paid for it before. I've done this in four out of the five places I've rented over the years (the fifth being a special case as the landlord wanted to sell) and had no problems - although I had to argue the point with one agent who initially insisted I had no choice but to cough up. Pays to know your rights :-) Sources: This guide is great and used to be on the UK government website: http://www.leeds.gov.uk/docs/Tenants%27%20Tenancy%20guide.pdf http://www.leeds.gov.uk/docs/Tenants%27%20Tenancy%20guide.pd... Since superseded by: https://www.gov.uk/private-renting https://www.gov.uk/private-renting which sadly doesn't seem to cover as much detail.