tenant fees ban
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Latest property news
Tenant Fees Bill – MPs unanimously vote through second reading
Letting agents hoping for a miracle defeat for the Tenant Fees Bill last night in the Commons during its second reading were disappointed when it was passed unanimously by MPs following a three-hour debate. Although 123 MPs are landlords, only two pointed out any failings in the legislation that might have given letting agents hope. These were Labour’s Andrew Lewer and Conservative Alex Chalk, both of whom asked that not all agents should be tarred with the same ‘rogue’ brush and that the bill could prompt higher rents. “There are hard-working people in this sector and we shouldn’t punish the unscrupulous at the expense of the far more numerous hard-working ones,” said Lewer (pictured, right). Default fees But all of the dozen or more other speakers were in support of the bill’s aims, many on both sides of the political divide calling for it to be tightened up particularly in relation to ‘default fees’. “Rogue letting agents have for too many years been able to profit from unsecure tenancies,” said Dr Paul Williams. Default fees are one of the few fees agents will be able charge soon and will be permissible only when a tenant prompts work, for example if…
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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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Latest property news
It’s war! ARLA urges agents to take tenant fees ban battle to MPs’ constituencies
After failing to persuade the government that the tenant fees ban will lead to a rise in rents, poorer quality properties and fewer jobs within the property industry, the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) has taken its war direct to MPs in their constituencies. This is somewhat of a U-turn compared to the organisation’s position earlier this month when David Cox, ARLA’s Chief Executive, (pictured, above) appeared to throw in the towel and told members following the Bill’s Introduction to parliament that they “must start preparing for when it comes into force”. The trade association, which says the fees ban is not the “black and white” issue portrayed by the government, has emailed all its members urging them to contact their local MPs ahead of the Tenant Fees Bill’s passage through parliament, which was announced earlier this month. Agents are being asked to both book face-to-face meetings at MPs’ surgeries and send letters. The ARLA tenant fees ban campaign includes a briefing paper for agents to use when they contact their local MP, and a toolkit that includes a letter ready to send to the politicians. As well as urging MPs to consider the impact on their local property…
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Guest Blogs
AGENT’S VIEW: tenant fees ban is unpopular, but it WILL weed out rogue operators
Lettings Manager Ashley Clements of West London agency Horton and Garton reveals what he thinks the looming tenant fees ban means for his business, and the wider industry.
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Agent behind tenant fees ban e-petition reveals what he thinks of government response
Firstly, thanks to everyone who has supported our campaign so far. It shows the strength in our views and in my opinion outweighs the 4,700 [consultation process] responses on which the draft [Tenant Fees Bill] was based on. Do you think they made the 4,700 people who offered their feedback aware that their rents will be dramatically rising come 2019 (which has been widely acknowledged and wholly ignored)? Perhaps the government should take some feedback from the people who will be losing their jobs/businesses? And perhaps they should take some feedback from the people that will no longer be able to pass references because their affordability no longer meets the higher rents threshold which would you believe, has been acknowledged…and ignored. To say I am disappointed with the response would be a huge understatement and to be honest is a mockery to the hours committed to raising awareness and acquiring signatures. Tenant fees ban At no point does this response consider that a fee cap would be a fair and just solution nor do they make any attempt to explain as to why it would not be a fair and just solution – instead admitting that enforcing a complete ban…
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Government rejects agent’s petition calling for tenant fees cap
The Government has rejected a petition signed by nearly 10,400 agents that proposed a tenant fees cap instead of an outright ban. Started by 29-year-old letting agent Rob Farrelly (pictured, below) who began his own business Friend & Farrelly Property Services eight years ago, e-petition 206569 was signed by agents all over the UK. In its response to the e-petition, the Government has revealed its determination to plough on with its draft Tenant Fees Bill published on 1st November, saying it wants to see a rental market in which landlords and not tenants are the primary customer of agents. As well as reiterating its belief that a fees ban will improve transparency and affordability for renters, and that fees are still not clear or explained, it claims that “many letting agents and landlords acknowledge that fees charged to tenants are currently not at a level that is justifiable and agree that intervention is necessary”. “The Government does not believe that a cap would be effective and is likely to lead to a race to the top in terms of fees charged. A ban is easier to understand and enforce.” Agents are also able to see a glimpse of the future…
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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).…
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Latest property news
Exclusive: Opposition to fees ban strongest in rural, Conservative constituencies
SIGN THE PETITION AGAINST THE LETTINGS FEE BAN HERE Opposition among agents to the government’s tenant fees ban is strongest in rural, Conservative-voting area of the country, The Negotiator can reveal. Analysis of the 8,500 people who have so far signed an e-petition calling on the government to do a U-turn on the policy and instead bring in a fees cap reveals that the areas with the most signatures are all rural and semi-urban areas with Conservative MPs. The only exceptions to this rule are Coventry, six of London’s inner boroughs including Battersea, Bermondsey, Limehouse, West Ham, Ealing and Finchley, plus, Brighton and Hove, Bournemouth and Bristol West. The areas where most people have signed the petition are in parts of Hampshire, Somerset, Wiltshire, East Sussex, Kent, Essex, East Anglia, Oxfordshire, Northamptonshire and Lincolnshire. Opposition to a ban is weaker in the north although there are hotspots of people signing the petition in North Lincolnshire and Lancashire. Within housing minister Dominic Raab’s constituency of Esher & Walton in Surrey, 17 people have signed the petition, while in Sajid Javid’s constituency of Bromsgrove in the West Midlands, 15 people have. The constituency with the highest number of signatures is in Kettering,…
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Latest property news
Tenant fees ban WILL drive up rents and lower property standards, MPs are told
MPs put the new housing minister Sajid Javid’s tenant fees ban legislation under scrutiny last night, and it was proven to be lacking on several fronts. Landlords are likely to increase their rents across the tenancy to pay the extra costs of running a tenancy, something the new law can’t stop, and that there is a substantial risk local councils will impose unjustifiably high fines on agents and landlords to finance enforcement, in the absence of government support, it was claimed. The other key criticism made during the session was that the draft bill is likely to be self-defeating – lower fees will mean letting agents are less incentivised to help landlords run their properties professionally. These views were all the more surprising given they came from experts from the policy end of the sector, not agents. The two-hour long session was held by the parliamentary committee that oversees Sajid’s department, the Select Committee that oversees the newly renamed Department for Housing, Communities and Local Government. Tenant fees ban Headed up by MP Clive Betts plus 11 other MPs, it quizzed three experts in the field about how effective the bill will be. These were Shelter’s Head of Policy Kate…
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Many rental properties not affected by letting fees ban, study reveals
The letting fees ban may not impact agents as much as many feared it would, a survey of 30,000 agents has found. Three quarters of those who responded to the survey by The Negotiator in partnership with Spark Energy said between 10% and 25% of their properties under management would be affected by the tenant fees ban, and that only 2% said that ‘most or all’ would be affected. But the issue continues to worry agents, 68% of whom said it still remains their biggest worry for 2018, the survey – which is published in full within the latest issue (pictured) of The Negotiator magazine – found. Among the agents who responded 86% had 500 properties or fewer under management, 8% had between 501 and 1000 and 6% managed more than 1001 properties. But on the ground, agents currently have more pressing operational issues to worry about than the fees ban. Nearly a half of the agents said their biggest issues were damage to properties by tenants while 36% said problems with rental payments came second. Some agents are also becoming irked by what they see as ‘over regulation’ of the rental sector. Among them, 45% said there was too…
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