MP predicts letting fees ban will cut agent turnover by up to 20%

The letting fees ban will cut agent turnover by up to 20%, says Mike Freer, the Conservative MP for Finchley and Golders Green in North London (pictured). Freer, who is a buy-to-let landlord himself, says he has talked to letting agents in his constituency about the ban including Martyn Gerrard, which he describes as an ‘industry leader’ in his area. The company is unusual within the lettings sector because it does not charge tenants administration or contract fees. The MP says his research reveals that agent turnover is likely to reduce by between 10% and 20% among “agents who have been charging these spurious fees to tenants” if a ban is introduced and that this will weed out the “cut price unregulated agents” within the industry. He says agents in his area believe that such a dramatic drop in turnover will encourage agents to increase their charges to landlords, who in turn will raise rents to cover the increased costs. “In Scotland, where all but rent and refundable deposits were banned in 2012, the evidence shows that rents have risen as a direct consequence of the ban,” the MP says in his blog on website conservativehome.com. Freer then goes on…

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