At Glentree we usually charge the tenant £150-£200 for agreement costs, often work that can take many hours by the time the ‘toing and froing’ is complete. This works out at about £35 per hour and is carried out by personnel with 15-20 years worth of experience. I consider this the most reasonable cost imaginable and should be considered a gift to the consumer when compared to accountants or solicitors fees.
The work concerned with the organising and letting of a property for 10% of the first years rental is more than reasonable and represents a good deal for the consumer. All lettings businesses are far less profitable than sales and, in the main, agents work very hard for the money. Don’t forget, you could end up with an arrangement that is far worse.
Although these fees could be charged to the landlord some prospective tenants may need to enlist the help of professional advice that will cost them far more in the scheme of things.
Frankly I think the system should be left alone. We already have The Rent Act, The Estate Agents Act, money laundering procedures and data protection. There are so many regulatory hoops to jump through why meddle anymore with the system?