Moving out fee??

[Trawler]

Hi

I've 2 issues here I hope you may advise on:

1/
I've been chatting to a pal who lives in Manchester city center, in an appartment type set up, on an AST which has expired, so its now a periodic tenancy.

Her previous landlord charged what was referred to as a 'moving out fee', which was £150.00 - supposedly for administration costs.

Her new agent {Mod - name removed} has also said the same - a £150 'moving out fee'.

This fee was taken in addition to reductions from her deposit which with witheld by her last landlord, for cleaning etc (which I also think was damn cheeky as she left the place spotless) - and it appears the current landlord (RR) intend to do the same.

Is this 'moving out fee' legal??


2/
I've seen this before & I think it's bloody cheeky - but where do tenants stand??... When an AST ends and a LL requests that the tenant signs a new AST, and charges an admin fee (in this case £120.0).
Am I right in thinking the tenant is under no obligation to sign a new AST if they are content to be on a periodic?
Is it likely a landlord will serve 2 months notice if a tenant refuses to renew the AST - obviously no-one is likely to want to pay an extra 6 monthly totally unneccesary cost??

Thanks - any comments most appreciated.

Dave T

[MSaxp]

1) I have seen it and while unfair, one could argue you should have walked away when you were shown that before you signed anything. Not sure its worth the fuss. I have a 'future referencing fee' and a 'deposit return' fee when i move out. Could i challenge them in court, especially if i dont want a reference? Probably yes. Would i do it for £50? probably not

2) Tenant has no obligation to renew. I think its unlikely that a landlord would evict a good tenant because of that, but then again he is within his rights to do so. My landlord was advised from the agents to evict me and it took a while to convince him that they work for him and not the other way round.

[Darth Wookie]

It all depends what you signed up for. Whilst the fees may seem ridiculous and unfair, you may have agreed to pay them when you signed up. Even poor contracts are enforceable if you agreed to it. Read the small print next time.

[Alexlandlord]

A disgrace nothing more nothing less.

[Alexlandlord]

From a legal standpoint all contract terms are not enforceable they must not be unfair. on saying that tenants should read and not sign any contract at outset if they are not happy with terms.