Results 1 to 10 of 10

Thread: Agency increasing the rent before we've even moved in!

  1. #1
    Entangled Lee`'s Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    London
    Posts
    806
    Thanks
    13
    Thanked
    21 times in 11 posts
    • Lee`'s system
      • Motherboard:
      • Asus P6X58D
      • CPU:
      • i7 950
      • Memory:
      • 4Gb DDR3
      • Storage:
      • 250Gb SSD
      • Graphics card(s):
      • 8600GT
      • PSU:
      • 700W
      • Case:
      • Antec 300
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 7
      • Monitor(s):
      • Dell 2407fpw + samsung 205BW
      • Internet:
      • 8Mb unlimited

    Agency increasing the rent before we've even moved in!

    I'm moving to the big smoke next month to start at a Doctorate training school, so this weekend myself and 2 friends that are moving to london went flat hunting. We found a place and put down the deposit on it. I got a msg from one of my friends telling me he got a call from the agency to say that the landlord wants more money in rent. Can they legally do this after the deposit has been put down? In writing all we have is a receipt for the deposit and a breakdown from them as to what we need to pay before we move in, including months rent, deposit at the agreed rate. It's probably more hassle than it's worth to try and get the deposit back and find another flat (my mates had to travel from Scotland to go flat hunting, so just in their travelling expenses for the weekend alone) or is this the sign of more hidden fees from a dodgy agency/landlord.

  2. #2
    Mostly Me Lucio's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Tring
    Posts
    5,163
    Thanks
    443
    Thanked
    448 times in 351 posts
    • Lucio's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P
      • CPU:
      • AMD FX-6350 with Cooler Master Seldon 240
      • Memory:
      • 2x4GB Corsair DDR3 Vengeance
      • Storage:
      • 128GB Toshiba, 2.5" SSD, 1TB WD Blue WD10EZEX, 500GB Seagate Baracuda 7200.11
      • Graphics card(s):
      • Sapphire R9 270X 4GB
      • PSU:
      • 600W Silverstone Strider SST-ST60F
      • Case:
      • Cooler Master HAF XB
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 8.1 64Bit
      • Monitor(s):
      • Samsung 2032BW, 1680 x 1050
      • Internet:
      • 16Mb Plusnet

    Re: Agency increasing the rent before we've even moved in!

    It depends on whether any contracts have been signed and whether they included a clause to allow the rent in the agreement to be altered within X period of notice.

    Generally speaking, you should have paid the deposit and signed a rental agreement at that time which specified your rent, period of rental and so on. If you didn't and you've handed over your money early, then I strongly suspect this is a scam designed to get you to part with your deposit.

    (\___/) (\___/) (\___/) (\___/) (\___/) (\___/) (\___/)
    (='.'=) (='.'=) (='.'=) (='.'=) (='.'=) (='.'=) (='.'=)
    (")_(") (")_(") (")_(") (")_(") (")_(") (")_(") (")_(")


    This is bunny and friends. He is fed up waiting for everyone to help him out, and decided to help himself instead!

  3. #3
    HEXUS webmaster Steve's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2003
    Posts
    14,276
    Thanks
    292
    Thanked
    837 times in 473 posts

    Re: Agency increasing the rent before we've even moved in!

    I paid an agency (ugh) fee when I took my new place. A couple of weeks after that I signed and paid the deposit. In the contract that I signed at that time, there was a clause stating that the rent on the property could be increased by at most 5% every 12 months.

    So if my landlord wants to increase the rent, he'll have to wait until next June.

    If you have paid a deposit and signed a similar contract to mine, you can point out this fact to them. If not, and they insist on increased rent, then I would withdraw from the deal and demand your deposit back. If they refuse, contact the citizens advice bureau, as I'm sure they'll have experience in the issue.
    PHP Code:
    $s = new signature();
    $s->sarcasm()->intellect()->font('Courier New')->display(); 

  4. Received thanks from:

    Lee` (18-08-2009)

  5. #4
    Entangled Lee`'s Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    London
    Posts
    806
    Thanks
    13
    Thanked
    21 times in 11 posts
    • Lee`'s system
      • Motherboard:
      • Asus P6X58D
      • CPU:
      • i7 950
      • Memory:
      • 4Gb DDR3
      • Storage:
      • 250Gb SSD
      • Graphics card(s):
      • 8600GT
      • PSU:
      • 700W
      • Case:
      • Antec 300
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 7
      • Monitor(s):
      • Dell 2407fpw + samsung 205BW
      • Internet:
      • 8Mb unlimited

    Re: Agency increasing the rent before we've even moved in!

    Thanks for the advice guys. Just got a email from my mate to say that the landlord has decided to give the house back to the current occupants. So the hunt starts again. It seems that the deposit to guarantee that we get the house means nothing to them, we have been told that we will get the deposit back in full, but I'm so annoyed just now. I'm tempted to move to privately rent in Cambridge instead of having all the hassle of finding a place in London.

  6. #5
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Posts
    4,825
    Thanks
    161
    Thanked
    358 times in 288 posts
    • badass's system
      • Motherboard:
      • ASUS P8Z77-m pro
      • CPU:
      • Core i5 3570K
      • Memory:
      • 32GB
      • Storage:
      • 1TB Samsung 850 EVO, 2TB WD Green
      • Graphics card(s):
      • Radeon RX 580
      • PSU:
      • Corsair HX520W
      • Case:
      • Silverstone SG02-F
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 10 X64
      • Monitor(s):
      • Del U2311, LG226WTQ
      • Internet:
      • 80/20 FTTC

    Re: Agency increasing the rent before we've even moved in!

    Quote Originally Posted by Lee` View Post
    Thanks for the advice guys. Just got a email from my mate to say that the landlord has decided to give the house back to the current occupants. So the hunt starts again. It seems that the deposit to guarantee that we get the house means nothing to them, we have been told that we will get the deposit back in full, but I'm so annoyed just now. I'm tempted to move to privately rent in Cambridge instead of having all the hassle of finding a place in London.
    Sounds like a breach of contract by the agency/landlord to me. Any costs you incur as a result of the breach, provided you do your best to minimise them, they are liable for. I can pretty much guarentee you won't see anything unless you take them to court though.
    "In a perfect world... spammers would get caught, go to jail, and share a cell with many men who have enlarged their penises, taken Viagra and are looking for a new relationship."

  7. #6
    Senior Member oolon's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    London
    Posts
    2,294
    Thanks
    150
    Thanked
    302 times in 248 posts
    • oolon's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Asus P6T6
      • CPU:
      • Xeon w3680
      • Memory:
      • 3*4GB Kingston ECC
      • Storage:
      • 160GB Intel G2 SSD
      • Graphics card(s):
      • XFX HD6970 2GB
      • PSU:
      • Corsair HX850
      • Case:
      • Antec P183
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 7 Ultimate and Centos 5
      • Monitor(s):
      • Dell 2408WFP
      • Internet:
      • Be* Unlimied 6 down/1.2 up

    Re: Agency increasing the rent before we've even moved in!

    London is worth it though, I moved to London 14 years ago, and don't regret it for a moment. Landlords can be bad where ever they are, it sounds to me this was a scam to get the current people to pay more, you are better off not having that guy as your landlord. However this could have been anywhere, its a shame there are many good landlords out there too and also many bad tenants. The people who rented next door to me left the place all but destroyed, everything smashed, doors kicked in etc.

  8. #7
    Seething Cauldron of Hatred TheAnimus's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Posts
    17,164
    Thanks
    803
    Thanked
    2,152 times in 1,408 posts

    Re: Agency increasing the rent before we've even moved in!

    Landlords and Neighbours too.

    When I first moved to London, my land lady was a total hippy, not bad per say, just bloody annoying, she used this completely useless cleaning product because it was environmentally friendly, but insisted on having a calgon tablet in every wash....

    The downside was the one of neighbours, well more that the landlord didn't care who lived there and what state it was in, leaking plumbing and all!
    throw new ArgumentException (String, String, Exception)

  9. #8
    Entangled Lee`'s Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    London
    Posts
    806
    Thanks
    13
    Thanked
    21 times in 11 posts
    • Lee`'s system
      • Motherboard:
      • Asus P6X58D
      • CPU:
      • i7 950
      • Memory:
      • 4Gb DDR3
      • Storage:
      • 250Gb SSD
      • Graphics card(s):
      • 8600GT
      • PSU:
      • 700W
      • Case:
      • Antec 300
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 7
      • Monitor(s):
      • Dell 2407fpw + samsung 205BW
      • Internet:
      • 8Mb unlimited

    Re: Agency increasing the rent before we've even moved in!

    cheers for all the advice guys. Got the deposit back this week, and went into london yesterday and put down the holding fee on another flat. This one's in camden, close to the canal and about 5 mins from camden town tube, which is perfect for me, as I can cycle to UCL and to kings cross for the train to cambridge. Not a huge flat, but I've got a double bed, it's on the top floor, and decent size kitchen and lounge, and rents £540 each a month, which I never thought was too bad. Getting rather excited now!

  10. #9
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Aug 2009
    Posts
    11
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked
    0 times in 0 posts

    Re: Agency increasing the rent before we've even moved in!

    glad to hear you got all things resolved, landlords can be something else!

  11. #10
    Registered+
    Join Date
    Aug 2009
    Location
    West London
    Posts
    22
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked
    0 times in 0 posts
    • xPETEZx's system
      • Motherboard:
      • ASUS P5Q-E
      • CPU:
      • C2Q9550 @ 3.4
      • Memory:
      • Corsair Dominator PC8500
      • Storage:
      • Samsung SpinPoint F1 750GB
      • Graphics card(s):
      • ASUS ENGTX285
      • PSU:
      • Corsair HX520W
      • Operating System:
      • Vista Enterprise 64-bit
      • Monitor(s):
      • BenQ FP241W & LG L1710B
      • Internet:
      • BeThere Pro 24 down/2.5 up

    Re: Agency increasing the rent before we've even moved in!

    Sounds good. I guess £540 isnt too bad for pretty much central london.

    I have found that agencies are just bastards. Rented a student house through one for 2 years, and had nothing but problems.

    Now entering second year of renting a house direct from the land lady, and its so much less trouble. Just call her up, and shes pretty easy going, and sorts most things out same day.

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Similar Threads

  1. Sky rent there BB from BT... should I be worried?
    By Geist in forum Networking and Broadband
    Replies: 16
    Last Post: 13-12-2007, 09:31 AM
  2. Advice on Teaching agency work?
    By chriswood_7 in forum General Discussion
    Replies: 19
    Last Post: 30-05-2007, 10:18 AM
  3. Letting agency troubles
    By Million in forum General Discussion
    Replies: 7
    Last Post: 05-09-2006, 02:56 PM
  4. I need to rent a Washing Machine!!!
    By Zak33 in forum General Discussion
    Replies: 7
    Last Post: 25-03-2005, 07:12 PM
  5. rent pool table
    By Spud1 in forum General Discussion
    Replies: 3
    Last Post: 12-09-2004, 04:59 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •