As the new semester begins, the vast majority of students will have now signed for a property to live in for their next year at University. Much to the delight of the letting agencies, this process ends with a hefty fee being paid straight into their bank accounts, for what they refer to as ‘admin.’
However, most students never stop to ask what this fee is even for, as they proceed to hand over their parents’ money. We caught up with Shithouse Properties, a major student letting agency, to get the low-down on these mysterious ‘admin fees’.
“When we first opened the agency, we were actually only charging a tenner. Then one day an intern accidentally put another ‘0’ into the card machine, and the student he was charging didn’t even bloody blink.”
While it is widely acknowledged that all the agency does is open the door and then lie about how many other groups are about to sign for the house – they still manage to get away with increasingly extortionate fees for their time.
“After that it just became a bit of a joke around the agencies, seeing who could charge the most. Gary here topped the leader boards recently – last week he got some muppet to pay 200 quid and promise him his first born.
“In all honestly though, it’s starting to get a bit too easy, and where’s the fun in that? That’s why we’ve decided to give the fee it’s new, more honest title. Because let’s be honest – we do what we fucking like.”