Have You Heard the News?

Buying your own home may not be an option for many people. Saving for mortgage deposits can make it difficult to buy, as can having your own business or having a low wage. Renting a property is often seen as an interim solution or a preferred option for people who are not sure where to put down roots or who need a home for a short term.

A good guide for how to buy a house can be found here.

A Minefield

Whatever the reason for renting, it can still be an expensive option, albeit a necessary one. It can be a minefield of expensive fees and administration costs, which vary from lettings agent to lettings agent.

My daughter has decided to rent a property with her partner. Both of them have their own business and are not sure if they want to commit to buying a property at the moment. They were both aware that they would need to pay for reference checks, for a deposit as well as for a month’s rent in advance and had put money aside for this. All went well and their first tenancy agreement was for 6 months.

After the initial period was up, the Tenancy Agreement needed to be renewed. My daughter and her partner were both surprised to learn that they would need to pay a three-figure contract renewal fees to the agent and that the landlord would also need to pay them.

The Government wants it changed

As this was a surprise to my daughter, I realised that she hadn’t explored the extra costs of renting or noticed these fees. The Government has decided that tenants should not be charged certain fees but it is not Law as yet and the minefield still exists.

This has led us at Bear Lettings, to plan a way in which we can help, even before the change in law takes place. At Bear, we do not wait to be pushed to be fairer as we are already doing it!

Bear Share Scheme

Firstly, we decided to make sure that all of our fees are displayed and easily found on our website www.bearlettings.co.uk

Secondly, we thought long and hard as to how we could save our tenants money whilst encouraging responsible tenancies, at the same time.

We decided that good tenants should be rewarded and we have a scheme in place which will not only pay them dividends but also save them money in the future if they meet our Bear criteria.

We don’t charge the landlord's contract renewal fees and we won’t be pushing extra charges on to them if they are part of Bear Lettings.

Have a look at our ‘Bear Share Scheme’ on our Bear Lettings website.

If, after looking at our website, you feel we could do more, please get in touch via the Bear lettings website contact page and let us know how.