rental market

42% of tenants still unhappy about “excessive fees” despite looming ban

Despite the looming fees ban due next year tenants say their number one gripe about renting a property continues to be the “excessive fees” they are charged by agents, it has been claimed. Lettings platform HomeRenter says 42% of the tenants it canvassed recently said they were unhappy about the large fees they had been charged, followed by having to chase agents and landlords about repairs (41%) and paying a security deposit (36%). HomeRenter has also made the surprising claim that 90% of landlords would prefer to rent their homes direct to tenants, and that it’s an arrangement 70% of tenants would prefer too. The surprisingly high figures are within research published today by HomeRenter, contradicting recent data from the National Landlords Association (NLA). It recently said 61% of properties were rented through lettings agents, a figure the NLA said increased last year. But HomeRenter says its research also shows that although 88% of landlords are happy with their rental arrangements, half of all landlords are frustrated by both poor service from their letting agent or poorly-behaved tenants. “There is a clear dissatisfaction from both landlords and tenants towards traditional estate agents,” says Will Handley, CEO of HomeRenter (picture, left).…