Campaign group Generation Rent has provided material to The Guardian newspaper suggesting that a typical two-adult household is being charged letting agents’ fees of up to £813.
The group claims that tenants in England are still paying an average of £404 every time they move. In the material published by The Guardian, the group says there can also be additional charges for tenants on low incomes and needing rent guarantors at an average cost £152, or needing to move in on a Saturday involving an extra payment of £62.
Generation Rent is quoted as saying that agents are also charging for tenancy renewals, at an average price of £117 every six or 12 months.
Check-out fees at the end of a tenancy are charged at £120, and references for the next tenancy average £60 for two people.
The group claims that it found Romans’ Wokingham branch charged £813 in total while other agents - including Piper Property in Bristol and East & Co in Waltham Forest, east London - not charging tenants any fees at all.
The official consultation into the government’s proposed ban on letting agents’ fees levied on tenants in England closes today.
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Whilst the headline was frustrating (however that is the aim of a title right) the article was actually pretty well balanced and factual including no fee agents in there. The fact is, we could (as an industry) disapated this by the agents over-charging (and you all know who you are) reeling in costs to a reasonable level. They havent and so we still get headlines like this. No agent can justify charging tenants £800 (with some even charging more). Most agents I know sit around £150-250 and that would not have been much of a headline. As an industry we really are our own worst enemy at times. If the ban goes ahead, and I will be amazed if it doesn't, it will be those agents that will suffer the most and they will only have themselves to blame for that.
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