Helen Nugent

Don’t be too quick to applaud the Chancellor’s ban on letting fees

If there’s one thing sure to get estate agents’ knickers in a twist, it’s a threat to their income.

And so the news that Philip Hammond will use the Autumn Statement to announce a ban on letting fees has sparked a tirade of protestations and a bumper crop of press releases lamenting their lot.

But letting agent fees have been a thorn in the side of renters for some time. Young people in particular complain that charges, such as £420 to change the name on a tenancy agreement and £330 to set up a tenancy, hamper their efforts to save for house deposit. But it’s not just the young who feel that these fees are unjust: last month more than a quarter of a million people signed a petition that was delivered to Downing Street demanding that the charges be banned.

In an age when financial services companies are being urged to make transactions as transparent as possible, the lettings industry remains frustratingly opaque. Renters often find themselves with a slew of unexpected charges after they’ve signed on the dotted line.

A recent survey by Urban.co.uk found that letting fees can top £1,000 and include a range of nefarious charges, not least £90 extra to move in on a Saturday and £5 for a photocopy of the tenancy agreement, regardless of whether the tenant requests a copy. Just picking up the keys can cost £7.50.

Nevertheless, the doom-mongering from the lettings industry has already begun. ‘Experience shows that any savings to the tenant will likely be passed on to the landlord who in turn could then pass them back on to the tenant through increased rent as they seek to cover their costs,’ says Jackson-Stops & Staff, a – you’ve guessed it – property agent.

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