Matt Rodda

First MP to reply to ARLA’s tenant fees ban letter say industry is “perverse”

The mountain that the industry must climb to defeat the tenant fees ban has been revealed after a Labour MP replied to a letter sent to him by a local letting agent following ARLA’s recent call for action. ARLA last week asked agents to write to their local MPs, and Reading branch manager Khalil Iqbal obliged – only to receive a blunt rebuttal from Matt Rodda, his MP for Reading East and Shadow Minister for Local Transport. From his letter it’s clear that not only does ARLA have to persuade the Conservative government that the bill will damage local rental markets and employment, but also must change Labour thinking too. Khalil, who is a branch manager at Reading agency Adams Estates, received his letter on Saturday from Rodda, who in his reply dodged all the points made by Khalil about the damage the bill may wreak. Perverse Instead the MP says the industry is “perverse” because tenants are charged by agents for a service provided to landlords and that agents fees increased by 60% between 2010 and 2015, he claims. The MP also highlights in the letter how closely Conservative and Labour policy is aligned on housing. For example, Rodda…

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