Draft Bill now published detailing Letting Agent fee ban.
06 November 2017
The Government has now published the draft Bill to deal with the abolition of Letting Agent fees which are currently charged to Tenants.
The new Bill, to be called the Tenants’ Fees Bill, is intended to help Tenants. The Government agenda at present is clearly one to bring in more and more protections for Tenants, leaving thousands of Landlords feeling the sting of greater costs and an ever increasing legislative burden.
Tenants will no longer be able to be charged anything other than their monthly rent and a refundable deposit. This follows a manifesto pledge to stop surprise fees that Tenants struggle to afford and comes alongside other measures “to make renting fairer… for renters”.
Holding deposits charged to Tenants are to be capped at no more than one week’s rent, with the refundable security deposit capped at no more than 6 weeks’ rent.
The new Bill will have real teeth, with fines of £5,000 for agents who still charge these banned fees and higher fines and criminal prosecutions for repeat offenders.
Iain Blundell, Solicitor leading our Landlord and Tenant department, comments “this has been on the Government agenda for a while now, but comes at a time when Landlords are being hit hard by a number of regulatory and tax changes. We also have a compulsory Tenant redress scheme / Ombudsman on the horizon, which will again add a financial cost to Landlords”.
Here at Curtis Law Solicitors we have expertise in advising Landlords across Lancashire and Greater Manchester, and our expert team are on hand to assist whatever changes the Government throws at you.
Are you a landlord or a Letting Agent? Do you need advice about how to deal with the deluge of recent changes? Do you need advice on problem tenants, tenancy agreements or any other property matters? Please contact Iain Blundell or our team of experts at Curtis Law Solicitors. We would be happy to help with any enquiries regarding the recent changes.
We can assist with a wide range of Landlord and Tenant enquiries – please contact us direct on 01254 297130.