Search Results for: Tenant Fees Act
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Latest property news
80% of agents say rents will rise after fees ban
Eight out of ten letting agents expect the tenant fees ban to be passed on as increased rents while reduced supply and increased demand will also contribute to upward pressure on rents, says the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA). It canvassed 917 of its members over the past two weeks and found that 53% also expected to see increased competition for rental property during 2017 and 63% said there would be a drop in the number of privately rented properties available within the market. “I manage around a dozen properties for one of my clients and I spoke to her recently about the tenant fees ban,” says Brighton letting agent David Burt. “She made it clear to me that she wasn’t going to pay extra for the referencing or any of the other costs associated with acquiring tenants for her properties that tenants normally pay, so I’m going to have to consider putting up the rent so that my percentage management fee rises instead. Otherwise I’ll be working harder for less money.” ARLA says the recent increase in Stamp Duty for landlords and the reductions in personal tax and capital gains tax allowances are pushing up costs for landlords before…
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Fees complaint to ASA highlights new ‘hybrid’ landlord
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) today published a complaint about Ace Relocations, a hybrid HMO landlord that offers professional renters in London rooms within shared properties and blocks of flats and calls itself a ‘house share company’. The complaint was about an advert that the company had place on Spareroom.com, which stated that all bills were included and a cleaner provided. The ASA considered that the advert was likely to have breached its advertising code because “it does not make it clear that the cleaner, and some other costs, are not included in the monthly rent despite the main claim made in the ad”, the ASA said. Ace Relocations agreed to amend both its current website listings and any future adverts, and the ASA file case was closed. What this highlights is the emerging world of hybrid-landlords-cum-property-managers like Ace Relocations. It offers agents and indirectly landlords the opportunity to rent properties outside the traditional tenancy model. Ace Relocations says it is ‘not an estate agent’. It rents properties directly from agents via a ‘commercial contract’ and then rents them to professional tenants. The company doesn’t describe itself as a landlord but, like one, collects the rent and holds the deposit while, like an…
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Latest property news
Tenant fees ban could cover just ‘upfront’ charges, says ARLA
The Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) says it believes the government may be considering banning only ‘upfront’ fees rather than implementing a total tenant fees ban. ARLA managing director David Cox (pictured) says he has had several meetings with Department of Communities and Local Government officials and says that so far, they are talking only about upfront fees. This, he says, would enable letting agents to spread the fees for services such as referencing, contract negotiation and paperwork preparation over the first months of a tenancy instead of before or at the point that the tenant moves in. “It’s what we’ve been advocating within the Private Rented Affordability and Security (PRAS) working group since June,” says Cox. The PRAS was set up in June by Housing Minister Gavin Barwell to ‘explore options to reduce costs for tenants who access and move within the sector’. If ARLA gets its way then agents will be able to continue charging some elements of their current fees, although Cox says that even if it doesn’t and the government goes for a total ban, he believes ARLA can argue successfully for referencing fees to be excluded. “I’ve had several meetings with Shelter and they…
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Latest property news
Will Wales now copy England’s fees ban?
High-profile Labour Welsh Assembly Member (AM) Jenny Rathbone has called for a tenant fees ban in Wales, despite voting against a similar proposal by Plaid Cymru last year. Her comments follow a 2012 ban in Scotland against tenant fees as well as last week’s announcement by the Chancellor that they are to be banned in England next year, following a consultation. Rathbone (pictured) has been active in Wales campaigning against fees. In a Senedd debate earlier this year she said “it should be the landlord paying the letting agency, not the tenant” and that “letting agencies are getting away with simply not providing a service in exchange for a fee”, in particular highlighting fees for taking properties off the market while contracts are drawn up. And Rathbone is worried that Wales is now seen as protecting tenants “less than in England and Scotland”, she told the BBC. But in Wales, unlike in England and Scotland, Rathbone is one of a relatively small group of politicians to campaign for a fees ban. Welsh ministers have taken the view recently that rents would rise if landlords are asked to pay for the cost of post-tenancy property cleaning, inventories, credit checks and references.…
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Latest property news
Autumn Statement: Hammond confirms letting fees ban
As expected Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond has announced this lunchtime in his Autumn Statement that letting fees for tenants are to be banned outright “to improve competition in the private rental market and give renters greater clarity and control over what they will pay,” he said. David Cox, MD of ARLA, disagrees: “A ban on letting agent fees is a draconian measure, and will have a profoundly negative impact on the rental market. It will be the fourth assault on the sector in just over a year, and do little to help cash-poor renters save enough to get on the housing ladder. This decision is a crowd-pleaser, which will not help renters in the long-term. All of the implications need to be taken into account. A ban on letting agent fees is a draconian measure, and will have a profoundly negative impact on the rental market.’ “Most letting agents do not profit from fees. Our research shows that the average fee charged by ARLA licenced agents is £202 per tenant, which we think is fair, reasonable and far from exploitative for the service tenants receive.” The ban that been on the cards for months and according to Isobel…
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Latest property news
BBC says 76% of tenants want lettings reform
The BBC has waded into the lettings reform debate after Victoria Derbyshire’s show on BBC 2 revealed that 76% of the 1,000+ people it polled want the government to regulate how homes are let and that 74% want caps set on private rents. Those interviewed by public policy research firm ComRes during early October on the show’s behalf this year were asked whether they supported the government regulating the ‘terms of lettings’ including agency fees, the drawing up of contracts and deposits, and it is this area of reform that garnered the greatest support. But there was less backing for two other suggestions. Only 69% supported rent rises being capped at the point of renewal and just 63% liked the idea of increasing the standard minimum letting period from six to 12 months. The show interviewed several unhappy tenants including a 28-year-old who said she paid agency fees of £500 when moving into her current one-bedroom flat in London, and who has moved home eight times at a cost of £5,000 over the past decade. The BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire website also quoted Alan Ward, chairman of the Residential Landlords Association (pictured), who said rent controls would be a “disaster” and that…
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Latest property news
TPO to report agents who don’t display letting fees
Agents who cannot provide photographic evidence that they are displaying their letting fees both in their branch and on their company website will be referred to Trading Standards for further action by The Property Ombudsman (TPO), it has been revealed. The initiative has been launched jointly by TPO and the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) both to improve industry compliance with the 2015 Consumer Rights Act, and also raise awareness among tenants and landlords about fees and create competition between agents. TPO members, who make up 85% of all UK letting agents, are bound to comply with its CTSI-approved lettings Code of Practice, which clearly states that agents must display their fees in accordance with the act. The joint campaign is to kick off in Dorset and Swansea before being rolled out across the UK and to enforce compliance, Property Ombudsman Katrina Sporle (pictured, above) says she will be working closely with Trading Standards Officers. Those found not to be displaying their fees can be fined up to £5,000. “Any agent that has failed to display their fees up until now must act,” says Adrian Simpson from the CTSI. “We are aware of Trading Standards Officers taking serious action against those…
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Regulation & Law
Local tragedy sparks campaign against letting fees
A councillor in Southend, Essex has vowed to do battle with local agents who charge tenants high letting fees after his son killed himself over the cost of renting a flat. Southend independent councillor Tino Callaghan says the council has supported his motion to ‘name and shame’ local agents charging tenants high administration costs. Mr Callaghan, who launched the initiative with fellow councillor Laurence Davis, says his son was worried because he couldn’t afford the cost of a deposit for a flat to house his family. “Registration fees can be astronomical and we have spoken to many tenants who been caught out with fees,” Mr Davis told the Halstead Gazette. “The council can’t enforce anything but they can name and shame those who are not acting in the best interests of the public.” This tragedy played out in Southend is the latest development in a growing campaign by several media outlets, councils and politicians to highlight what they see as the excessive administration fees charged by some agents. This includes The Guardian newspaper which recently called fees a ‘great letting agency rip-off’ while in May this year the London Borough of Tower Hamlets gave six local agents 28 days to display…
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Latest property news
Shelter calls for ban on letting agent fees in Wales
Mystery shop of 85 letting agencies shows "widespread disregard for the law".
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Latest property news
Fees to tenants should be banned
LibDems demand that all letting agency fees to tenants should be outlawed.
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