COMMENT

This year a bright and harsh light has been shone onto the letting industry. Agents now face compulsory redress scheme registration and there’s a voluntary code for property management. And model tenancies are in the pipeline too. These all pale into insignificance compared to lettings fees. Agents, of course, have been charging registration and application fees for decades and most feel that they are a legitimate charge for the paperwork, reference checks and deposit chasing that tenancies require. But in recent months a well co-ordinated campaign to abolish these fees has been underway, led by housing charity Shelter, which has persuaded Labour to pledge to abolish lettings fees for tenants in the private rented sector if it forms a government after the next election. Unless the industry comes up with a solution the criticism will not go away.” It is not difficult to see why Ed Milliband wants to join in. Campaign organisations such as Generation Rent have painted a national picture of low paid tenants, high rents and young tenants being ‘ripped off’ by landlords and agents – all natural territory for Labour. The response of the industry thus far has been defence and it’s been a successful tactic…