Landlords and letting agents in England are set to be banned from charging tenants letting fees from 1st June this year.
What are the new letting fees rules in England?
At the moment, tenants can be charged admin fees – such as tenancy renewal fees, referencing fees and credit check fees – by landlords and letting agents. But landlords and their agents will no longer be able to charge the fees for tenancies signed on or after 1st June.
Any costs will now need to be met by the landlord – and some have warned landlords may up their rents to recover these costs as a result.
From 1st June, the only costs landlords and agents will be able to charge tenants for will be:
- Utilities and council tax if included within the tenancy.
- A refundable deposit, capped at six weeks’ rent. The cap will be five weeks’ rent for the vast majority of properties where the annual rent is less than £50,000.
- A refundable holding deposit to reserve the property, capped at one week’s rent.
- Changes to the tenancy requested by the tenant, capped at £50 (or “reasonable costs”).
- Early termination of the tenancy requested by the tenant.
- Defaults by the tenant, such as fines for late rent payments or lost keys. These must be “reasonable costs”, with evidence given in writing by the landlord or agent.
Any other fees will be banned, and fines of up to £5,000 can be issued by Trading Standards for first-time offenders, but those who repeatedly take banned fees can face fines of up to £30,000 and a banning order. Additionally, Landlords will also be unable to issue section 21 notices on tenants where fees have been collected and not paid back.