Letting agents have lost fees worth £900m since Tenant Fees Act
Generation Rent claims tenants have avoided fees totalling £889 million since the act came into force six years ago.
Tenant campaigners claim renters have saved almost a billion pounds in estate agent charges since the Tenant Fees Act came into force six years ago.
Pressure group Generation Rent says £889 million has been saved in fees that became illegal under the act.
In the year before the ban came into force in 2019, the group says 45% of the 1.05 million tenants who moved home were charged fees, at an average of £269 per household.
Unfair charges
Generation Rent says that when the act was introduced in England on 1 June 2019, it ended or restricted “a number of unfair charges”, including non-refundable fees at the start, renewal and end of tenancies, and capping deposits at five weeks’ rent for most tenancies.
The group also conducted research on a total of 68 Tenant Fees Act tribunal cases since the legislation came into force.
Almost three quarters (72%) returned a positive outcome for the tenant, meaning that at least some of the contested sum (or in 62% of all cases, all of it) was returned to the tenant.
The most common dispute involved in the tenant fee rent tribunal cases surrounded the failure of landlords or letting agents to return holding deposits, typically when the tenancy did not go ahead, which accounted for 65% of all cases, it says.
Before they were banned, fees gave letting agents a licence to print money.”
Ben Twomey, CEO at Generation Rent, says: “Before they were banned, fees gave letting agents a licence to print money, with some agents charging as much as £800 to start a tenancy.
“Since it came into force, the Tenant Fees Act has saved renters nearly a billion pounds, and simplified the process of finding a home,” he says.
“But there is still much more to do to make renting more affordable and reduce unwanted moves.”
Tribunal backs letting agency following rental deposit dispute
The essential guide to the Tenant Fees Act
Einsteins at Generation Rent as usual 🙂 Letting market is much better now they saved £100 in fees and lost it per month in rent… you have to laugh.
They say there are statistics, lies and damned lies this falls into the latter. Yes there were some unfair fees around and we must accept that but the majority of my tenants have paid far more in increased rents. Most of my landlords put £15/20 pcm on the rent my average tenancy here is over four years generally round here tenant admin fees were around £250. The maths say on average each tenant has paid between £720 and £960 (some much more) to save £250. Great job guys soon you will save more millions in rent as there will be no houses to rent.
They missed out the bit where they all paying more rent now.
And more limited supply, hence more in temporary accommodation.