Tenants are being charged up to £780 by letting agents for administrative costs that are essentially standard services, new research has found.
According to Generation Rent, tenancy costs the for the typical two-person household are £386, on top of rent, deposit and moving costs.
While four agents out of the 719 researched charged nothing, the highest set of fees for two people is £780, charged by Skampi in the London borough of Tower Hamlets.
Letting agents have been required by law to publish their fees since the Consumer Rights Act 2015, but the research finds 14% of them are not doing so and could be fined £5000.
The highest average fees were in Waltham Forest at £461, followed by Croydon and Bromley both on £435. Average fees in Manchester were £307.
Recent Shelter research found that home ownership will be accessible only to people earning more than £64,000 by 2020, meaning that more people will be stuck renting.
David Cox, managing director of the Association of Residential Letting Agents, said: “Letting agent fees cover the cost of essential items during the lettings agreement such as reference checks, the drafting of the tenancy agreement, and the management of tenancy extension or renewal. All these processes cost letting agents money to carry out and providing the agent has a fair pricing structure, they will not make a noticeable profit on charging for these items. As a result, if letting agents fees are removed or reduced, these costs will most likely be passed on to the tenant through rent rises.
“There are however some rogue landlords and agents that take advantage of the cost of tenant fees. This is where better regulation is needed in the private rental sector to ensure consumers are not taken advantage of. By choosing an ARLA agent, tenants are reassured that members follow a strict code of conduct which puts the tenant first. This not only ensures a fair fee structure and client money protection – which means their deposit will be reimbursed if their agent goes bust – but also that they will be dealt with in a professional way by a qualified agent to receive the best advice when renting a property.”
Betsy Dillner, director of Generation Rent, said: “Competition for homes is fierce, so tenants aren’t in a position to avoid paying letting fees, and agents often charge what they like. If tenant fees were banned, agents could start competing properly for business, and tenants wouldn’t have to dip into their savings to be able to move home.”
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i agree that agents are taking the Psssss
with regards to there charges , but as usual the government will not help us who rent in london
its ok for them they own there houses so it dont bother them none
i think someone should make a website for people to sign up to getting
this reviewed in parliament by a member who is willing to help
probably like winning the lottery
but it does happen
anyone know how to get this done ?
I am happy to join you in this campaign and help with arranging a website. I am an agent but unlike most share your views that thing need to change. When I became an agent sales and lettings was a specialist industry and now the flood gates have opened allowing unqualified nobodies to abuse a semi non regulated industry. A good agent is worth your weight in gold but finding one is tough these days.
Estate agent administration fee’s should be regulated and not used as a way to generate an income. A credit check can be as little as £25, and providing a reference is the cost of a phone call.
Managing a lettings and estate agency with customer service paramount I would personally welcome reforms to prevent agents ripping off Tenants. It gives us all a bad name and needs to stop. Agents fees to Tenants need capping. Ours are £125 plus vat per applicant with a check in fee of £50 vat per Tenancy. We don’t really make anything off these fees as we pay a third party for referencing and have to pay staff wages but no matter how hard at times could not bring ourself to charge more. Tenants aren’t made of money and times need to change.