Property News · June 25, 2016

It’s time to end the great letting agency rip-off in England and Wales


Nothing infuriates Generation Rent more than high fees charged by agentsThe letting agency business is a highly profitable one. Each one of the agents for Foxtons who spin around London in their Vauxhall Adams (those branded Minis are very last year) rake in an average revenue for their company of £113,000 a year. The profit margin on lettings at the company is a juicy 30%. Other letting agents enjoy similarly wide margins: LSL Property Services, the UK’s biggest independent chain, with brands such as Your Move and Marsh & Parsons, saw its lettings revenue grow 12% in both 2014 and 2015, much faster than other parts of the business. And unlike the feast and famine world of house sales, revenue from lettings is far more stable.But nothing infuriates Generation Rent more than eye-watering fees charged by agents. You can be charged £60 or more for a credit check, which costs the firm doing it little more than £5. The renewal fee can be as high as £300, when it amounts to little more than printing off a contract to sign. And usually at renewal the agent pushes through a rent rise. Continue reading…

Source : theguardian.com
Read more…It’s time to end the great letting agency rip-off in England and Wales

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