The government announced last November that they would be imposing a ban on Letting Agents fees to Tenants as soon as possible.
Renters have been reaching out to Government to say, “We need this Tenant Fee Ban NOW” #NoFeesForKeys
These “admin fees” are supposed to cover such minor costs as reference checks, inventories and creating a Tenancy Agreement. But many Letting Agents are charging several hundred pounds plus – and that’s in addition to the big fees that they already charge to the Landlord!
Hence the Government’s promised ban which requires a new law.
But Letting Agents (who work for Landlords!) are resisting the ban to preserve this extra gravy train and they have a lot of resources to make their case.
Their primary argument is that the ban will push up rents. We reject this argument. In fact, we believe the ban will lower the cost of renting.
One only has to look to our Scottish neighbours to see what the impact of such a ban has had in Scotland - via the Housing (Scotland) Act 2006 and through the most recent Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act of 2016:
There is zero evidence to support the contention that rents in Scotland have increased as a result.
Rent growth has actually slowed over the past year.
Looking back 6 years, rents have not increased any faster than the rest of the UK.
In short, increased regulation has not meant increased rent.
Renters have a once in a lifetime opportunity to leave Government in no doubt that the proposed ban on Tenant fees should be implemented with no dilution or loopholes. Tenants should not have to pay any fees to Letting Agents who are already being paid well by their Landlord clients. #NoFeesForKeys
Landlords can shop around for the best fee. Renters cannot. In practice, Tenants have to pay whatever fee the Agent demands or they lose the property.
Your voice will carry a great deal of weight but there’s not much time left to make your feelings known to Government.
Use this Government Response Form to provide a quick response by answering a couple of short questions. It should take less than 5 minutes! Just make sure you have it completed BEFORE the 2 June deadline.
We know you’re busy and might appreciate some free help in how to quickly and effectively answer the questions posed.
So we will shortly be holding a Facebook Live Event to help you complete the form. You’ll be able to get it done in a few minutes online, even while we’re LIVE if you want to.
