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Growing fears over ‘scale and speed’ of tenant fees ban impact

Rents are rising by between four and five per cent on new lets, claims leading Yorkshire letting agency Linley & Simpson

Sheila Manchester

tenant fees ban

There is mounting evidence that the “unintended consequences” of the Government’s tenant fees ban are fast becoming reality, new research by Yorkshire’s largest letting agent has found.

Linley & Simpson, an independent agency with 16 branches across North and West Yorkshire, has told The Negotiator that the first three months of the legislation triggered an average rent increase of 4-5% on new lets.

While the rise was no surprise to Chief Executive and founder, Will Linley (picture, above), the scale and speed of the increase certainly did, “The fee ban is in its infancy but our data, which mirrors research by Belvoir and others, exposes the shortcomings in the Government’s thinking,” he said.

“We now see a picture, rapidly emerging across England that, for evidences the scale and pace of the impact on tenants’ pockets. After 30 years in the sector, I’d say this uplift is unprecedented.

“Agents like us warned the Government about the unintended consequences of its approach, yet our voice and suggested alternatives were ignored.

“Our fears are now being borne out with tenants facing higher rents almost overnight. With rising demand and a shortage of new buy-to-let activity – another far-reaching result of the ban – the upward trend in monthly rents is only going to accelerate.”

tenant fees ban

“The Government’s anti-landlord tax regime is supressing supply as some landlords off-load their portfolios.

“Supply and demand is increasingly out of kilter, we are striving hard to redress this imbalance. Meanwhile, there is added pressure on landlords to increase returns, in the face of rising tax liabilities and higher agency costs post the fee ban.

“These complex dynamics look set to deliver a poor deal for tenants. Like many agencies, I look forward to our sector sharing its collective concerns about this impact of the ban with Number 10, MPs, the Treasury and the Ministry of Justice.”

Read more about rising rents and the tenant fees ban.

September 6, 2019

One comment

  1. I predicted it along with others; I even had an official meeting with the Housing Minister and handed over my letter stating such. Totally ignored….as usual. Just told “we’d monitor it.”

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