Lawyers call for more landlords to join challenge over Foxtons' fees

The London legal firm Leigh Day - which last week announced it was leading a legal action on behalf of 55 landlords against Foxtons - is now calling for any other landlords to join the challenge.

It has left a telephone number on its website for landlords to call if they wish to be involved.

Dr Chris Townley, the landlord who a year ago first complained about Foxtons’ charging policy towards its landlord clients, on Friday made a similar appeal by leaving a comment here on Letting Agent Today. He says any landlord clients of Foxtons - “past or present” - can join the claim.

Foxtons has repeatedly denied the validity of the Leigh Day case, most recently stating: “We believe our fees represent good value and are clearly communicated to landlords and detailed within the terms of each contract. This case reflects a small minority of landlords and we believe is entirely without merit.”

The Leigh Day case dates back to 2013 when Townley became increasingly dissatisfied with Foxtons’ service and complained. His issues concerned the quality of work done by a contractor who had installed a security light at the front of the property following a request by the tenant.

Townley says he was invoiced £550 for the work but the contractor explained that they had a contract with Foxtons to pay Foxtons a commission for any work that they received through Foxtons. The contractors charged £412.50 for the work, but they had added an additional commission onto their fee for Foxtons, as they were apparently obliged to do in their Foxtons contract. 

Townley says this was not set out in the invoice.

An additional 54 landlords have now added their names to the Leigh Day case.