1071 reasons you may want to buy rather than rent

There are endless stories about agencies charging extortionate amounts to tenants, and a recent story has arrived in the headlines about another incredible demand. An unnamed corporate agency sent an invoice for £1,071 to a tenant wanting to check out of a property.

Shelter’s Head of Policy, Kate Webb, who is a social housing activist, has published a picture of the invoice on Twitter. She was passed the invoice by a third party who had received it from an agent.

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Unfair Charges

The invoice has been called ‘disgusting’ and included charges such as £100 for covering ‘scuff marks’ on a wall and £5 for a light bulb. Other charges included bills for professional cleaning, whilst the inspection itself was also charged at £156.

You can see Twitter posts going viral after Kate Webb published the invoice over what should and should not be allowed to appear within the charges. Some people think scuff marks are simply wear and tear which should be expected.

Tenancy Agreements

Some landlords think the property should look exactly the same as when they let the property, whilst others allow for some wear and tear. Guidelines are not always clear, so invoices can be a shock to tenants at the end of the letting period. It is always best to go through everything to ensure full understanding of the amount of wear that is expected and what tenants need to pay for.

It is important that landlords and tenants agree on the terms of the lease and understand what is and what is not covered in the tenancy agreement. There are various useful websites that can explain more about different types of agreements.

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Useful CRM Services

Often the use of a reliable service such as CRM for property management can help to organise rental agreements. For example, people can store, search and manage property agreements, log notes and organise information, resulting in easier property letting.

For independent legal advice visit Sam Conveyancing

By keeping channels of communication open between agent and tenant, having a clear tenancy agreement in place that both parties understand can avoid sending and receiving these surprising inventory invoices.