Foxtons high street estate agent facing landmark claim for £2million from group of 55 landlords

• Foxtons high street estate agent facing landmark claim for £2million from group of 55 landlords
• Estate agents accused of hiding commission rates on contractors' work
• Dr Chris Townley took legal action when charged £616 for light fitting
• Builders had only charged Foxtons £412 to replace light at London house

Dr Chris Townley, [pictured above], took legal action against Foxtons over a replacement light he said he was charged £616 for by the estate agents at his £500,000 London property

The fee only came to light when Dr Townley had to get the 'shoddy' work redone and was told, how much Foxton had been charged by the original installer.

Solicitors Leigh Day has warned they will issue High Court proceedings unless Foxtons agrees to settlement talks.

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And the firm says the problem is widespread and they have received calls about other agents.

When Dr Townley confronted Foxtons he claimed he was told they had added £137.50 commission alongside what they described as an 'ad hoc management charge' of 10 per cent.

He said Foxtons had also charged VAT at 20 per cent.

Foxtons signage in central London,  graffiti   

The £203 added was an eye-watering mark-up of 49 per cent on the contractors original invoice.

In total the landlords are looking to claim £2.19 million.

Chris Haan, from Leigh Day, who is leading the case against Foxtons, described it as a 'landmark claim.'

He added since claimants have come forward, Foxtons have changed their website to disclose the fees.

Mr Haan said: 'It's pretty widespread. I have certainly been in contacted by people who have similar complaints about other agents.

'In the end, people can charge what they like, but Foxtons needed to disclose these fees to the landlords.

one half of the Foxtons Brixton  frontage  smashed in after the Reclaim Brixton event in April 2015

A spokesman for Foxtons said their fees 'represent good value' and are 'clearly communicated' to landlords

'Most landlords who have experienced this will be entitled to a claim so long as they were not aware of these fees.

'Foxtons have now disclosed the fees on their website. These were not disclosed before.

'I hope that this claim will bring about a change across the market.'

Dr Townley said: 'We have the chance to really change the marketplace and change a practice which has cost landlords millions of pounds.'

A spokesman for Foxtons said: '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.'

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