Tenant Fees Bill
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Regulation & Law
There’s no going back: Tenant Fees Bill receives Royal Assent
The Queen has signed the Tenant Fees Bill, which will come into effect on June 1st this year, although guidance on how it is to be implemented is expected to be published before that.
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Latest property news
Tenant fees bill passes 2nd Lords reading without amendment
Read how attempts to tighten up holding deposits and how much tenants can be charged when they leave a tenancy early were defeated in the Lords.
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Latest property news
Tenant Fees Bill: Lords hail OpenRent as future of industry
Two peers in the Lords yesterday recommended online-only letting agency OpenRent as the future of the industry during Tenant Fees Bill debate.
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Latest property news
Tenant Fees Bill is too loosely framed, claims Citizens Advice
Citizens Advice is urging peers to support a tightening of the 'default fees' clause within the Tenant Fees Bill going through the Lords today.
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Latest property news
Government to stop agents billing tenants too much for property damage
The government is to ban landlords and estate agents from being billed excessive amounts for minor damage to their rental properties.
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Latest property news
Mayor of London claims Tenant Fees Bill has been ‘watered down’ by government
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan now claims that the Tenant Fees Bill has been watered down by the government and should be tightened up.
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Latest property news
Landlords planning rent rises BEFORE tenants fees bill kicks in
ARLA’s prediction that landlords will implement rent rises rather than pay the government-imposed additional costs of running their rental properties is already turning out to be true, it has been claimed. As the Tenant Fees Bill makes its way through parliament agent MakeUrMove reckons renters will pay an extra £23 a month ahead of the new law kicking in next year as 40% of landlords are forced to raise rents. The landlords affected are mainly those with a single property and who are running the tenancy on tight margins, the agent says. Additional costs As well as landlords soon being expected to pay the additional costs of referencing, inventory checks and contract renewals, many are planning to increase rents to cover the recent extra income tax and Stamp Duty burdens forced on them by the government. These rises will impact some two million tenants this year, it is claimed. But the impact will be heaviest in London, where half of the landlords MakeUrMove canvassed said they were planning to increase their rents. But it’s not much better outside the capital. The research also shows that, for example, in the North East 46% of tenants will see rent rises this year,…
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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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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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