The Stoke Newington branch of Hunters (pictured) has successfully defended itself during a tribunal hearing after being accused by a tenant of charging a prohibited mid-tenancy change fee when she moved out of a shared property in London.

The fee for moving out of her shared house was £250 including £50 for referencing and £200 for setting up a new tenancy, which included drawing a revised contract, accounting work and the return of the deposit.

Unlawful

The tenant, however, said that: “The landlord and letting agent have not communicated to us an expectation of length of stay at the property, nor is this referenced in our contractual agreement.”

She also said that she had already found her replacement within the four-person household via SpareRoom.

And she claimed that: “It is both unlawful and highly inappropriate that Hunters are charging tenants a fee to leave a property where there is no fixed term in place and [therefore] they are violating the Tenants Fee Act.”

She added that she had asked for and not received a full breakdown of the costs and that under the Tenants Fee Act, any costs that are not reasonable are a prohibited payment.

In response, Hunters said it had incurred fees caused by the tenant seeking to assign her tenancy to a nominated replacement and it was therefore not liable to return any or all of the £250 fee she had paid.

(Hunters) has reasonably accounted for the fees it asserts it incurred.”

The agency also said it had provided a detailed breakdown of the costs to the tenant in a letter, which included time and resources; property management updates and accountant fees that had been incurred processing paperwork and documentation; Legal Checks and Homelet.

The tribunal agreed, concluding Hunters: “Has reasonably accounted for the fees it asserts it incurred, as a result of the applicant’s wish to assign her tenancy to another prospective tenant. Therefore, the tribunal finds that any sum in excess of £50 is not a prohibited payment.”

Read the judgement in full.