Lettings agents are cheating the private rented sector out of over £3.0 billion a year, according to Smartlandlord.co.uk, a new property services website for landlords launched today.
58 per cent of the 3.2 million homes in UK's private sector, are managed by lettings agents - with landlords paying substantial fees for services they could buy for far less elsewhere. Lettings agents will typically charge 12 per cent of rent, year-in, year-out, just to market a property to prospective tenants. This means landlords are paying lettings agents £1,550 a year for a service available for just £100 on the web. Lettings agents will also charge £200 to produce a tenancy agreement contract - which can be downloaded for free on the internet. Across the country, £3 billion is wasted on lettings agents every year. Keshav Thukaram, managing director of smartlandlord.co.uk, said: "There are more landlords in the UK than ever before, as people who can't sell their properties try to rent them out. But they're being taken to the cleaners by greedy lettings agents who are milking them for everything they're worth. In an economic environment like this one - where landlords face stagnant or falling rents, there's a rapidly growing number of landlords who can't afford to sit back and let their investments be managed by other people. They need to seize control of their property investments if they want to optimise their returns." Over 20 months, the length of an average tenancy, the average landlord wastes £2,685 on every property - or £5,681 across his or her average portfolio.
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Date: 26th, March, 2009 |
Author: Ben Wilkie |
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