London tenants who stay in their property for more than a year are paying thirteen months rent a year, according to research from property-tech lettings company, Hello Neighbour.
In a survey of 300 landlords with properties in the London area, Hello Neighbour found that two in three (65%) of these landlords said that renewal fees from letting agents had impacted their decision to increase rental fees. With the average London rent at around £2,500 a month and the average renewal fee at 8%, the landlord is paying £2,550. If that gets passed on to the tenant then they are effectively paying an extra month’s rent to stay in the same property – just to account for the renewal fee.
For tenants that only sign a one-year agreement, the landlord renewal fee recurs every time they sign up for another year – with specific clauses in tenancy agreements that incur an annual renewal fee for as long as the tenant remains in the property, the cost just keeps adding up, with the tenant potentially paying the price.
To combat these unfair fees, Hello Neighbour has launched its “Stop Renewal Fees” campaign, encouraging landlords and tenants across the UK to sign up to the campaign here and pledge their support to stop renewal fees for good. Over 550 London landlords have already signed the petition.
Phil Shelley, Hello NeighbourPhil Shelley, Chairman of Hello Neighbour, says: “For too long, high street agents have taken advantage of the rental market by charging fees for things that just aren’t fair – especially renewal fees. Inevitably, these renewal fees get passed onto tenants through increased rents which many landlords need to do to make it viable for them.
“So in reality, both the landlords and tenants are the ones who suffer, while the letting agents’ revenues continue to soar.
“We are determined to put a stop to this and that’s why we have launched our “Stop Renewals Fee” campaign to educate landlords and tenants and let them know there is a better way, so we can change lettings for good.”
Hello Neighbour was founded in 2018 to combat the lack of transparency and fairness for tenants and landlords in the UK rental sector. With greater tech efficiencies and great customer service, Hello Neighbour is seamlessly combining the benefits of technology with its own experienced letting agents to make letting a property more affordable than competitors.
Hello Neighbour doesn’t charge renewal fees at all, and only charges a one off fixed fee to the landlord of £890 (including VAT) with no additional costs to find and move in a tenant. This means it saves landlords up to 73% of fees compared to traditional high street letting agents which helps stop rental costs from needlessly going up. The company is already serving over 1,200 landlords and have recently let their 2,000th property.
Hello Neighbour currently covers London and Greater London (anywhere inside the M25) Brighton, Oxford, Guildford and Reading in the UK.
