Page 32 - Redbrik: Property and marketing Autumn/Winter 2019

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NO LET UP FOR TENANTS
WRITTEN BY
PETER LEE
PETER.LEE@REDBRIK.CO.UK
A recent BBC news article headlined ‘Tenant fee ban brings cheer to Tenants’ raised a few eyebrows across the industry and in the Redbrik office.
The Tenant Fee Ban came into force on 1 June 2019 as part of the Tenant Fee Act – a new piece of legislation setting out the government’s approach to private sector renting. At its core, the Tenant Fee Ban is designed to place restrictions on the fees letting agents charge and it encompasses most types of private tenancies.
Certainly, in the short-term tenants will reap the benefits by not having to pay upfront fees to apply for a property, but what about the long-term consequences?
As we predicted, rents have continued to rise and the fees agents have been banned from charging are still being paid for by tenants – however it’s now through their rent, rather than upfront costs.
Already, in just the few months since the introduction of the fee ban, latest figures from ARLA (Association of Residential Letting Agents) show the number of tenants experiencing rent rises rose to 64 per cent. Year-on- year, this figure is up from 35 per cent in August 2017, and 40 per cent in August 2018.
So, it seems the government’s solution to solving housing affordability problems is actually punishing those
it was trying to help. Unfortunately, the impact of the Tenant Fees Act
will continue to be felt by tenants. To keep their heads above water landlords will need to continue
increasing rents to cover the additional costs they now have to bear.
Clearly, something needed to be done to prevent dishonest and unscrupulous agents and landlords charging over the odds for a very basic service.
But there is a huge question mark against the Tenant Fee Ban. We would like to see far more work done to find a suitable and effective solution with proper time and resources allocated towards refining this regulation.
WHAT ELSE IS ALSO CHANGING IN THE INDUSTRY?
In times gone by, anyone could manage a lettings property – they would simply produce a standard tenancy agreement and that was that.
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LETTINGS