Tenant Fees Act – four years on
On this day in 2019, letting agents in England were banned from charging tenants fees for starting, renewing or ending a tenancy. The Tenant Fees Act followed years of campaigning […]
Slowly, but surely, a letting fees ban is coming
Almost a year after Phillip Hammond announced the Government’s intention to banning letting fees, we now have a draft bill before parliament.
Since that announcement, we have had a consultation on the ban, and of course a new government, but it has remained on the legislative agenda thanks to the concerted campaigning of renters across the country.
MPs to vote on ban letting agent fees
On Tuesday 13th May MPs will be voting on an amendment to the Consumer Rights Bill that will ban letting agent fees to tenants.
Please sign up to our campaign here and use the form below to write to your MP asking them to back this amendment. You can edit the text of the draft letter below if you like. Just click on it to edit.
Many thanks,
Alex Hilton
Lords send ministers away to fix fees ban
The letting fees ban has inched closer to being law. Yesterday a Grand Committee of the House of Lords went through most of the Tenant Fees Bill, line by line. There are still potential loopholes that could leave tenants vulnerable to exploitation.
Following lobbying by ourselves, Shelter and Citizens Advice, and amendments by peers including Baroness Grender and Lord Kennedy, the government has now agreed to examine them before the Report Stage.
MPs vote to ban fees
The Tenant Fees Bill had its second reading in Parliament on Monday evening, where it was debated at length by MPs before being passed unanimously through to committee stage. All the issues that we’ve raised as a concern – default fees, the deposit cap, enforcement of the ban on letting fees – were brought up by MPs in the course of the debate.
Letting fees ban moves closer – but loophole remains
Good news for hard-pressed private renters facing rip off fees from letting agents.
The Government has introduced the Tenant Fees Bill into Parliament, which aims to ban the fees commonly charged by letting agents for new tenancy agreements. This is part of the Government’s promise to make private renting cheaper and fairer and it’s a much-needed piece of legislation, especially as a quarter of us in the UK will rent privately by 2021.
Save £404 when you move after fees ban
Tomorrow is the final chance to respond to the government’s consultation on their proposals to ban letting fees.
Ahead of this we have published our latest research from lettingfees.co.uk, which features in today’s Times (£), Guardian and i. We have also published an update to last year’s report.
Our main findings are that the government’s proposals will save the average tenants £404 when they move, and an average £117 every 6 or 12 months to renew the tenancy.
Celebrating ingenuity in the property industry
The steam train. The vaccine. The television. The World Wide Web. The tenancy renewal fee.
What connects them all? Each one is an incredibly successful British invention.
Yes, we may no longer have the manufacturing prowess that once sustained all corners of the country, but a certain group of entrepreneurs have exerted their creative minds to produce the £250 photocopy, and are currently raking it in.