Agent changing my contract to a 12-month rolling period post Renter's Act
I'm renting out a property in England and my agent sent me a new T&Cs doc just before the new Renters act kicked in. They're introducing a "12-month rolling period", for their services, which from my understanding means that I have to re-sign with them for 12 months at a time, which seems absolutely crazy to me. Especially because of the fact that fixed-term tenancies are no longer allowed.
Our old terms for exit fees (agreement termination with the agent):
Termination Fee: Equal to the balance of Management fees due for the remainder of the Fixed Term Tenancy period, subject to a minimum 3 month notice period. A fee of £300 + VAT is payable to the agent to facilitate the required administration to correctly transfer legal and contractual obligation from the Agent to the Landlord.
New terms:
The Landlord shall pay a Termination Fee equal to:
(a) the balance of Management or Part Management Fees that would have been payable for the remainder of the Agreement Period, subject to a maximum of twelve (12) months’ Management Fees, plus
(b) one (1) month’s Rent plus VAT.
Is this just me or does it seem insane? Has anyone else received anything similar from your agent?
Can they actually enforce it? Is there anything I can do?
I haven't signed anything - and in their email they said that I didn't even need to. I have sent multiple complaints though, but no response yet.