Transparent Explanation of Tenants Costs

From the 1st June 2019 it is illegal to charge tenants fees to rent a property . We pride ourselves in offering tenants a completely transparent, fair and competitive fee structure. We start by explaining how we reserve you the property, outline the referencing procedure and sign up the tenancy. Every cost is fully explained to you before you pay it. We want you to enjoy your new home and not feel you have been taken to the cleaners. It's not fair to suddenly find you have hidden costs to pay even after you have moved out.

We know that some agents have their costs carefully hidden in small print by the agent. We feel it is essential that you know what you are and may have to pay up front.

Crafty, unfair and hidden costs some letting agents charge.

  • Check in fees on top of administration and referencing fees already paid.
  • Check out fees on top of all fees paid during the tenancy.
  • Fees based on confusing multiple daily rent amounts.
  • Fees to send references to new landlords after you have moved out.
  • Extension/renewal fees.
  • Standing Order Cancellation fees.
  • Exorbitant lock change fees if you lose the keys.
  • Huge additional charges on top of contractors fees for works.
  • Signing up on a weekend charges

Cooke & Co will not charge you unfair costs.

Please check before you commit to another letting agent. To be clear we don't charge for the following

  • Inventory fee for check in.
  • Express or weekend check in fees.
  • Inventory check in/out fees.
  • Extending your tenancy fees.
  • End of tenancy referencing request fees.

Cooke and Co's =charges are outlined below and we hope you find them refreshingly easy to understand and extremely competitive. They are also inclusive of VAT to save confusion.

Cooke & Co's charges.

If you have any questions about our charges, as outlined below, please feel free to ask and we will fully explain them to you.

Charges in tenancy

The following charges may apply to you but only if you get into rent arrears, miss pre-arranged contractor visits or lose your keys.

Missing a pre-arranged appointment.

If you miss a prearranged appointment with a contractor and have not given at least 24 hours cancellation then they will charge a call out fee. This will be £50.00 including VAT and will be payable by you.

Calling a contractor out for an item that is the tenants responsibility

When you report a fault on-line or over the telephone you will be advised if the repair, is, in our opinion, your responsibility as the tenant or it is the responsibility of the landlord. Examples of things that are tenants responsibilities are, condensation, changing a light bulb or something which is caused by one of your appliances such as power failure. Please understand that if this is found to be the case you may be charged a £50 including VAT call out charge as well as the cost for any works completed by the contractor. Please ask first to avoid a charge. This charge could also come into play if you use or abuse the emergency call out facility in this way.

Arrears of rent

If you are getting into arrears or cannot pay your rent please let us know and we will try and help. If the rent is over 7 days late from the due date you will incur a late payment fee of 3% above the Bank Of England's base rate on the total amount due.