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[Mr Skrunts]

Girlfriends Daughter is looking into getting themselves (with boyfriend) a house for them selves.  Found one that suits them, standard setup, £500 bond plus a months rent in advance.  She mentioned the bond being a bit high and the agent made a call and said she could pay half the bond and a months rent in advance but stipulated she would have to top the bond up the the full £500, for the sake of getting them sorted I offered to help out if they couldnt raise the full ammount in time. (as you do)

Now here's were they need advice, once they agreed they wanted to go for it, the agent started going through the costs.

£95 per person living there for a CRB check, allthough the rental agreement wont have the boyfriends name on it.
£90 insurance to secure the full return of the bond when they leave.

My better half is putting her name on the agreement with her daughter (then if we fall out she has her own roof to live under)(plus she allready spends a couple of nights a week there any way as the boyfriend works away ocasionally)

So 2 xCRB checks + Insurance = £280 + £500 bond + ?rent (not sure on that firgure (£400/£500) how are the younguns expected to get started these days.

Did a check online last night, an employers CRB check can be done online for £3, most companies hide thier charges.

But are all these charges neccessary and are they ripping the tennent off?

[Plomien]

it sounds to me like they are ripping the off with the additional charges. ask if you can supply the CRB yourself

[cam2502]

I've rented a 3 houses in the last 4 years, every time it was a months rent and the equivalent bond, so £450&450 each time I have received the full £450 bond back on my leaving the property.
Never  heard of any checks being carried out although I assume they must be, but I haven't been asked to pay.
I am in Scotland though so maybe the rules are different?
Does sound like they're being ripped off to me.

[horsecow]

I've rented a few houses for work purposes in scotland and england. Its normally months rent as a deposit and 1st month in advance. Some of the houses I've had have had 8-10 men living in them and I've only ever paid out for 1 crb check on each house. The crb check is only needed for the person who's name is on the lease afaik. Hth

[Kevin Wood]

Basic CRB check is £26 (enhanced £44) so they are charging way over the top for that! In addition, surely if they decide they want to CRB check potential tenants it's a cost of to them of renting out the place?

.. and surely if you pay the £450 bond and vacate the property some way down the line, leaving it as you find it, you're legally entitled to your money back under your tenancy agreement?

Should you want to insure against that money not being paid back (presumably if you burnt the place to the ground or landlord goes bankrupt) then it's at your option, and you should receive terms and conditions associated with that policy from whoever it's underwritten by? (and don't tell me it's underwritten by the landlord? )

Sound like the landlord or management agency are taking the ssip to me.

[geoffr70]

The £90 to insure the full return of the bond sounds like a rip off to me. But if people pay they'll just keep taking the money.

I'm not sure of the exact law but there are rules surrounding bonds for private residential lets where the landlord is legally required to be signed upto an independent body who holds the bond money for the duration of the tenancy, then at the end of the tenancy they mediate in any dispute. This to me would seem to negate the need for this insurance charge.

As already said, some of these costs, they should bear as part of letting/running their business. Rip off Britain.

[Taxi_Driver]

I rented a house in Bristol a few years ago.....i was only asked to pay rent in advance + 1 month rent as deposit, which then, was £1300 (£650+£650). It was managed by a letting agent.....who visited twice in the 6 months i was there and sorted a plumber to fix the washing machine. I got sent a cheque for £650 by the letting agent when i left.

No other charges......not quite sure why they want a CRB check tho.....and i believe the letting agent would hold the deposit unless its not fully managed by them.

[feeutfo]

Yes they are being ripped off. But that's normal when dealing with agents.

Might be worth approaching the land lord directly if at all possible. It will save both sides a deal of cash if you can cut the agent out of it altogether, as the agent will be shafting the landlord for charges as well.

We refuse to deal with agents for exactly this reason. And if push comes to shove for what ever issue, they will have get out clauses for everything. Everyone else pays them, no matter what. Fe@k em.

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

I'm going slightly off thread here, Skruntie........but.

Has the couple considered buying.......or part buying?

The trouble with renting is you're always going to spend a lot of "dead money". I rented for six years before finally buying and it was money down the drain.

As they are a couple, who presumably are both employed, it might be worth them looking into ownership or one or the the 50% ownership  schemes that are currently available.

That's if the banks will lend....


P.S. Tunnie bought a London shag pad on his own.........apparently he's loaded.

[Elite Pete]

The deposit should be kept by someone like the tenants deposit scheme which was is designed to stop landlords ripping people off. If the tenant and landlord aren't happy at the end of the term the tenants deposit scheme mediate. If the deposit isn't placed with a scheme the tenant can sue the landlord for 8 times the deposit IIRC. The CRB check is normal these days because there are so many people wanting to rent the landlord can pick and choose the best. 

[Sir Tigger KC]

Yes , charging £90 to insure the deposit is a rip off.  If your daughter looks after the property and dosn't owe the landlord any money at the end of the tenancy, then any reputable landlord will return the deposit.

As mentioned deposits have to be 'protected' by law and it is illegal for landlords or letting agents to hold the deposits themselves.  I suspect the reason that the agents use an insurance scheme is that they collect a commission from the insurance company. 

I'm a landlord myself and lodge my tenants deposits with 'The Deposit Protection Service', it's free, easy and transparent. I pay the deposit into my DPS account and they then write to the tenant with their unique ID number, I then cannot touch that money without the tenants agreement.  So for example, I have a tenant leaving and I find that a bedroom door has had a hole kicked through it, and I deduct £100 to fix it, if the tenant dosn't agree, the DPS will mediate and I believe will even send out an inspector to check the damage. 

http://www.depositprotection.com/

It's a good system and provides protection for both the landlord and tenant.  You could try to get the agent to use the DPS instead of the insurance scheme, but as said I expect they are getting commission from the insurance company..... 

 

[Mr Skrunts]

Appologies, I got the CRB check cost wrong, apparently it's £55 per person living there.

The bond and rent in advance are common and I wouldnt expect to put up any less myself.

It's just the £90 insurance and 2 x CRB checks, it's an additional £200 the kids hadnt expected to pay to rent a house.

Pete, thanks for the info, I was aware of the tennent/lanlord bond scheme, just didnt expect there was the £90 insurance fee.