tenant fees
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Guest Blogs
The tenant fees debacle
The ban on tenant fees is, says Carl Burgess, Director at Winkworth Shepherd’s Bush, detrimental to those the Government is actually trying to help.
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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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The effect of long term tenancies and landlord fees
The looming demise of tenant fees is not your only problem, says Adam Walker, it’s time to look at the effect of long term tenancies and landlord fees.
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Features
Why the government wants to introduce a lettings fee ban
The Government has launched a consultation paper on its proposal to ban letting agent fees, but, says Sheila Manchester, it’s more a ‘done deal’ than a proposal.
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Latest property news
Total tenant fees ban will cost industry 4,000 jobs, claims ARLA research
A total tenant fee ban will cost the industry £200 million a year in turnover and 4,000 jobs according to research published today by The Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA). The research also suggests that landlords will lose £300 million in income while tenants will pay an extra £103 a year in rent on average. ARLA commissioned Capital Economics to look at the lettings industry, which it says turns over £4 billion a year and employs 58,000 people charging on average £206 per tenant or £412 for a pair of tenants. £700 million a year The research also reveals that tenant fees generate around £700 million a year for the industry or 20% of its turnover. In what ARLA describes as the “damning, unintended consequences” of a ban, it will benefit those who move house often, but push up rents for those who must or choose to stay put for long periods. “The letting fees ban favours those tenants who move more regularly, says ARLA Managing Director David Cox. “This is because both short term tenants and long term tenants – who move less frequently – will see a rise in rent equivalent to £103 per year under our…
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Features
Is the tenant fee ban the thin end of the wedge?
Adam Walker is seriously irritated by the Government’s troublemaking – with good reason!
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NALS calls for impartial report into lettings market
National Approved Letting Scheme (NALS) CEO ex Isobel Thomson (pictured) has criticised the government’s proposed ban on tenant lettings fees and called for an impartial report by the Competition and Market Authority (CMA) into the lettings market. Her comments follow the CMA’s recent recommendations for the legal services sector, which after a year-long investigation found that lawyers need to be more transparent about pricing and join a redress scheme, legal requirements that agents must already meet. “Despite the findings of the report, which calls for more transparency, the legal industry has been allowed to continue without the same level of government intervention the lettings industry will face with a ban on fees,” she says. “The proposed ban is based on limited research and anecdotal evidence, as well as a lack of understanding of the likely consumer detriment that will be caused by removing payment for the services the agent provides. “We believe more impartial information is crucial in advance of taking such a drastic measure as a ban. “Given the government’s focus on improving the experience for the consumer across a number of sectors, and the importance of the private rented sector, NALS believe the CMA is best placed to…
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Admin and contract fees ‘morally reprehensible’ says leading letting agent
A London estate agent has labelled letting agents’ administration and contract fees charged to tenants as ‘indefensible and morally reprehensible’ and says that is why his company doesn’t charge them. The comments came in an opinion piece written for North London newspaper the Ham&High by Simon Gerrard of 13-branch sales and letting agent Martyn Gerrard, which bills itself as the agent ‘where integrity counts’. “There are only two reasons why agents charge the fees. Some cut their fees to landlords to attract stock and then simply charge hazily explained admin fees to the tenants to make up the shortfall,” he says. “Alternatively, and even worse, some agents still charge the landlord the full fee and then also charge the tenants. “Either way it is estimated that a ban of these tenant fees will wipe 10-20 per cent off the turnover of agents who have been charging these spurious fees to tenants. Although this may result in fewer cut price unregulated agents, which is no bad thing, the unintended consequence is that tenants will ultimately be worse off.” Martyn Gerrard, which was established in 1964, does charge tenants a fee, albeit a much lower one than the government’s £233 national average,…
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Tenant fees ban could cover just ‘upfront’ charges, says ARLA
The Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) says it believes the government may be considering banning only ‘upfront’ fees rather than implementing a total tenant fees ban. ARLA managing director David Cox (pictured) says he has had several meetings with Department of Communities and Local Government officials and says that so far, they are talking only about upfront fees. This, he says, would enable letting agents to spread the fees for services such as referencing, contract negotiation and paperwork preparation over the first months of a tenancy instead of before or at the point that the tenant moves in. “It’s what we’ve been advocating within the Private Rented Affordability and Security (PRAS) working group since June,” says Cox. The PRAS was set up in June by Housing Minister Gavin Barwell to ‘explore options to reduce costs for tenants who access and move within the sector’. If ARLA gets its way then agents will be able to continue charging some elements of their current fees, although Cox says that even if it doesn’t and the government goes for a total ban, he believes ARLA can argue successfully for referencing fees to be excluded. “I’ve had several meetings with Shelter and they…
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Bill banning tenant fees gives Minister room to exempt
The National Approved Letting Scheme (NALS) says that the proposed total ban on fees charged by letting agents to tenants may be subject to exemptions following an amendment to the Renters’ Rights Bill currently passing through the Lords. The amendment, which was published on Friday by the legislation’s sponsor, Baroness Grender (pictured, left), said that although a total ban on fees was being sought, she had introduced an amendment to to replace the previous prescriptive list that she says would have led to “new names for charges to get round it” and enable the Secretary of State to allow certain kinds of fees. “If evidence emerges of services in respect of which there is value to the tenant in charging a particular fee, this can be done”, she said. “I do not anticipate any such fees but my new amendment allows for the possibility, if concrete evidence was indeed found that a fee for a specific service would be in the best interest of the tenant in some way”. NALS believes this is significant development because it appears to recognise the legitimate charging of reasonable fees by letting agents setting up tenancies. “This amendment is a welcome one. NALS has long campaigned…
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