Lettings Fees Ban - now Welsh Government jumps on the bandwagon

The Welsh Government is now kicking off a similar consultation process to that conducted by the Department for Communities and Local Government, regarding the proposed introduction of bans on letting fees levied on tenants.

The government, based in Cardiff, says it is consulting “on the nature and level of fees being charged to determine which fees, if any, are justifiably being charged to tenants, fees paid by landlords to agents [and the] possible consequences of banning fees.”

The consultation is open until September 27 and follows a similar process to that of the DCLG exercise, which applied to a fee ban proposed in England - although during the course of that consultation, Theresa May’s administration went ahead and confirmed the ban would be introduced anyway, irrespective of the results of the consultation.

The Welsh consultation runs to 31 questions and follows an introduction that contains this statement:

“The Welsh Government believes many of the fees charged to tenants to be unjustified and arbitrary. Fees can act as a barrier to privately-rented housing. In the long run, a failure to address this issue risks making the Private Rented Sector unaffordable for some people. Together with a ban on letting agents’ fees, we propose to include a ban on fees charged to tenants by landlords and third parties.”

You can see the full Welsh consultation document here.