Online petitions don’t actually change things, do they? What a silly waste of time. Politicians don’t actually listen to…the people, right? Millennials are so naïve, look at them indulging their narcissism with online clicktivism.
Or not. After seven months of campaigning to Make Renting Fair at The Debrief, working with the likes of Lib Dem peer Baroness Olly Grender (whose Renters’ Rights Bill is in its committee stage in the House of Lords), and delivering a petition signed by a quarter of a million people to Downing Street, we’ve won in our aim: the Government has announced a ban on letting agency fees for tenants in what can only be described as a U-turn.
As part of today’s Autumn Statement, Chancellor Philip Hammond is announcing the move. Letting agents are, as you might expect, up in arms and taking serious umbrage because the gravy train that is this country’s buy-to-let private rental market is finally facing scrutiny. Foxtons shares have plummeted by 13 per cent this morning, and lettings agents are crying that a ban on fees will only drive up renting costs. Yet independent reports on the outcome of Scotland’s 2012 ban on fees demonstrate that there’s no evidence whatsoever of this. So the jig is up.
This announcement only demonstrates the power of petitions and public opinion to bring about change (let’s not forget that Shelter, the Lib Dems and Labour have long campaigned on this issue and favoured a ban). It signifies a huge step forward towards making this country’s rental market work for those who have no choice but to use it.
There are around 4.3 million households currently renting in England according to the English Housing Survey, with that figure set to rise. Indeed, a PwC report predicts that by 2025 more than half of those under 40 will be living in properties owned by private landlords. As any renter will know, when you move (which is often because your standard short-term 12-month contract is up and the rent is rising) you are hit with hundreds of pounds’ worth of upfront fees, which are used for preparing tenancy agreements, checking references and credit checks, despite an online credit check costing only £10 – £20. Letting fees also apply to landlords, so often the agents are double charging, for pure profit.
As the Times reports this morning, agents have been ‘taking advantage of the housing crisis to squeeze extra money from people desperate to secure accommodation’. Citizens Advice say these fees average £337, while Shelter have found that 1 in 7 people have paid more than £500. When I moved earlier this year I was kicked in the guts with a £580 lettings agency fee bill, on top of my deposit and one month’s rent in advance. In ten years of renting I estimate that I have spent upwards of £2,000 on fees. There is absolutely no need for these fees to be so extortionate.
For renters, who on the whole would rather own their own home than let somebody else’s, these fees were not only a barrier to moving; they forced as many as 1 in 4 renters into debt just to cover the costs of the move. A ban on fees will make it easier for renters to move when they need to, if rents go up or if their landlord decides to sell up, saving millions of people thousands of pounds. The move may also help spur competition as landlords, unlike tenants, can now shop around for the cheapest agent.
However, there’s more to be done. As more families come to rely on privately rented accommodation because they simply cannot afford to buy, it is becoming clear that an unregulated, unstable and sometimes unsafe private rental market simply isn’t working. We need longer tenancies, more affordable rents and, frankly, a serious announcement that more houses are being built in England, fast.
Successive governments have failed to acknowledge this country’s housing crisis. While they were banging on about home ownership, the number of people for whom buying a house is little more than a pipe dream was growing. There’s no silver bullet for this, but banning fees is a start, and will give more people the chance to save for a deposit. Given that home ownership is a totemic issue for the Conservative party, it is reassuring that the current Tory government has acknowledged there is a problem, which risks losing them millions of voters.
This announcement is undoubtedly a piece of much needed good news for families, people on low incomes and millennials – who have all become unlikely demographic bedfellows. You thought millennials were a bunch of apathetic layabouts? Time to think again. Today we made renting fairer for millions of people.
Vicky Spratt is features editor for The Debrief
Comments