Reissue of tenancy agreement charge

[Pootle]

I am staying in my rented apartment for another year and hence signing a new tenancy agreement the terms of which are not changing whatsoever. Savills have sent me an invoice for the eye watering amount of 86 pounds for the privilege. Can anybody advise me if this ridiculous amount is disputable? My dealings with all letting agencies, in particular Savills have not been positive and it makes me sick to write a cheque for this amount when essentially all some chump is performing is a basic admin task.

Thanks in advance

[bednobs]

they are a business and it's how they make their money i suppose. Completely undisputible in my opinion - they probbaly have the price list display, or available on request, and when you enter a contract with them ou agree to pay rheir fees

[Mr Veritas]

Sadly,it's one of those things that is probably illegal,but never gets to court.
Why?
Well, as you will realise if you dispute the sum the Letting Agent will probably serve a notice of eviction on you, when you come to renew again ,or will not renew the tenancy now.
It's called moral blackmail,and the law never sees it.
When I was younger there was a thing called "Key MOney",the agent in effect sold the tenancy to the person wishing to pay the highest "Key Money".
This was made illegal, but surprise surprise was still going on until fairly recently.
It survived because if you didn't pay the "Key Money" someone else did,and got the tenancy.
You COULD take it to court,but the agents have you over a barrel(as you know)and as bednobs so rightly says,they will fish out(from some musty drawer) their terms and conditions.
I do feel for you,but I can't see a way out.
I hope someone Legal oa AB might suggest something more positive.

[Twenty20]

If the fee for renewing the tenancy is advised to you in advance then it would be legal as you would have the option of saying no thanks and moving elsewhere.

Of course, there's no actual need legally to sign a new agreement. If no new agreement is signed and you stay on in the property then it becomes a Periodic Tenancy on the same Terms as at present except for the notice period (1 month from you, 2 months from your landlord). This obviously is poor business from the estate agents point of view though as they will make no money now or in the future from letting renewals if the tenancy simply goes Periodic.

You do have a bit of leverage if you wanted the tenancy to go Periodic. In the current climate good tenants are a bit thin on the ground and most landlords would prefer to keep a good tenant on a Periodic Tenancy rather than lose him and have a void period with no rent coming in.

You are quite at liberty to request that the tenancy goes Periodic. It would be the landlords decision at the end of the day. You can always put your case directly to the landlord as well, the agent has a legal duty to give you the landlord's address if you request it in writing, It may already be on your present agreement.