I rent my flat out as a bit of a future pension thingy, the estate agents put a charge on a couple of months ago for a “deposit registration” fee, which on enquiry turns out to be the fee they pay to register the tenant’s deposit with the TDS. Now, it’s not a big charge but I had no idea it was coming (current estate agents took over the previous ones, who didn’t charge such a thing), and on having a quick browse around t’internet, there seem t be places that offer it free, so am I obliged to accept that fee without prior notice, and are they having a laugh charging me for something that can be done free?

I stopped using agents years ago – their fees are money for old rope. They’ll be going up soon too, with the up-front fees previously charged to the tenant being passed to the landlord now.

Free advert on Gumtree, interview the tenants yourself, standard tenancy template. Boom, you’ve saved yourself a grand or so for the sake of a couple of hours’ work. The tenant’s saved about £500 too. Win-win.