A warning has been issued to lettings agents to review tenancy agreements to see if they are fit for purpose when the fees ban takes effect in June - and in particular to minimise any impact on Section 21 notices.
The call comes from Andrew Turner, chief executive at specialist buy to let broker Commercial Trust Limited, who says that while the ban will initially apply only to renewals of tenancies and new tenancies and will exclude statutory and contractual periodic tenancies that arise after June 1 it appears the fee ban will be applicable to pre-existing tenancies from June 2020.
“From that date, any clauses in the agreement that permitted subsequently outlawed charges, will become ineffective. In the context of Section 21, this is essential information” says Turner.
“After that date, if a landlord or agent makes a charge that relates to a banned fee, they must return this within 28 days, or it will be considered unlawful and will render a Section 21 ineffective” he cautions.
“It should also be noted that the new rules only apply to assured shorthold tenancies, student accommodation and licenses.
“It is important for landlords and letting agents to fully understand the implications of the Tenant Fees Bill in the context of affected tenancy agreements and Section 21. It’s worth spending some time to review existing tenancy agreements and templates to ensure that these will remain fit for purpose after June 1 this year.”
From June 1 2019 a wide range of issues that landlords and letting agents currently charge for, will become unlawful.
Among the fees that will be banned are:
- Charges for a guarantor form;
- Credit checking;
- Inventory checks;
- For domestic cleaning;
- For taking up references;
- Professional cleaning;
- Having the property de-flead as a condition of allowing pets in the property;
- Administration costs;
- Requirements to have specific insurance providers;
- Gardening provisions.
There are a few charges which will be exempt from the ban, namely holding deposits, rent, deposits and charges related to contractual defaults.
Turner says: “So, moving forwards, it would make sense for landlords or letting agents to ensure that future tenancy agreements do not mention any of the above banned charges. Of course there may be potential issues for tenancy agreements already in effect, which may include clauses allowing some of the above events to be chargeable.”
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I have always thought some of the legal fees were a bit unreasonable but when it comes to cleaning et al it is the tenant that dirtied the place. They have the choice to clean up themselves or pay for someone to do it for them. If the landlord does it for them it is hardly a fee.
Personally I think if you live in an HMO or block of flats then being dirty is showing that you have contempt for your neighbours and you deserve all you get no matter who charges you.
"deserve all you get" ?
Are you some kind of gangster?
Not quite sure how professional cleaning can be considered a fee. If the property was professionally cleaned at the commencement of the tenancy then you would expect it to be professionally cleaned at the end of the tenancy. If not then this would normally be a proposed deduction from the damages deposit as opposed to a fee and if the tenant doesn't agree with it they can dispute it. The same would apply for gardening and possibly treatment for fleas. A fee would normally be a specific cost whereas cleaning, gardening etc would vary from property to property.
And if the tenant does not pay rent for a while the deposit is swallowed up in rent arrears and the cleaning costs would then be a .................'fee'? Don't think so somehow as this could clearly be shown as something other than said fee, it would of course be a cost with a definitive calculation of time and effort per hour at £?
A Professional Clean at a cost has to be paid for by the tenant as a charge/fee/invoice/bill or ca it something else!!!?how can it be banned. Are we the landlord expected to pay for a professional clean if the tenant has left it dirty, yet another stupid rule put in by a stupid person.
Oh dear you the landlord expected to do something! NEVER!
I have always thought Landlords are tight when it comes to keeping thier properties up to scratch and for once the law is in favour of the tenant and not the rip off merchants! After all, the rent tenants pay the landlord they never get rich on and buy other properties to add to thier portfolios!!! Playing my violin for you paying for a full house clean to rent it out rather than having a empty dirty property just sitting there.
S T below should try sitting on what she is talking out of.
Sheralee Taylor, yes, if a Landlord has made sure that the property is professionally cleaned when the Tenant moves in, it should be to the same standard when they leave!
I know one Landlord who has newer appliances in the property they rent out than in their own house.
And also, would YOU like to move in to a house you have to thoroughly clean first? No. So why would someone else, and why should the Landlord have to pay for someone else's bad housekeeping?
No pets in my properties in future.
Yes quite right Ms Taylor a good descent professional operating landlord who runs his portfolio as a profitable business in order that he can employ professionals to maintain his property to maintain its value and hopefully increase his asset value and at the same time pays tax but also providing good warm dampfree and rodent free homes for his tenant and any tenant on leaving when his contract finishes or is terminated does not leave it in a Clean and Tidy condition,as it was when they moved in and as shown in the Inventory which is handed to the tenant for sibning on Move In, will have to pay for a Professional Clean, simple good busieness logic, don't you agree?
Some tenants are not put in clean free from damp,rodents,heated,hot running water places so why should they pay for a cleaning service when they leave regardless of reason for leaving. In part there are shameful landlords that know how to play the system and letting agents charging fees for all sorts just to show person(s) around a property and shuffle a few bits of paper cash in. I am not against people making a living but I am against greedy people getting even more rich at the misery of others.
S T tenants have a choice. If it's dirty, damp, infested with rats etc, has no heating, no hot water why oh why would they move in? Please sit down so that your backside can stop talking.
Uneducated comments making blanket assumptions .. silly talk
Ms Taylor,
There are rogue agents, rogue landlords and a great many rogue tenants.
I have had experience of them all, alas! When my son was seeking a shared flat with his student friends, competition was so high in London that the shark agent could demand what they wished. The so-called professional cleaning prior to move in must have been conducted by a blind person, since there was dust on all the skirting boards and electrical sockets, and neither the oven, the fridge freezer nor the toilet, a disgusting shade of dark brown, had been cleaned at all. These were just some of the things I noticed when I fetched the keys for my son. I was appalled that a flat in such a disgusting condition could even have been shown for letting never mind having been successfully let. Being both a responsible landlord and a hovercraft Mum, I put my own team of cleaners and maintenance people in, who took three days of scrubbing the loo to get it white again and also carried out maintenance jobs, like fitting a fire alarm that didn't spring into action at the first sniff of burnt toast, and blocking a large hole in the bathroom where the service pipes were, which was the rodent motorway in the block, and even treating one external damp wall with mould proof plaster, so that neither my son nor his friend would suffer the ill-effects of mould spores. That little house-warming gift to my son cost about £600. When they left, I had to have it done nearly again, because the group had been so neglectful that the loo once again was in a disgusting condition, and the well-intentioned efforts of one of the other mothers who came to help her son clean barely touched the surface. They were not a bad bunch of students but their cleaning roster left much to be desired. So I got my team in again, in order to protect all the students deposits, which were returned in full.
What really angered me was that the agent was renting out this flat without the proper safety requirements like fire alarms, carbon monoxide alarms and wanted to charge the students for doing his own job of inspection of the flat. I refused him that since it was his legal duty to inspect the flat which was returned to him in far better condition than the students had received it from him.
For my own rental properties, I have them professionally cleaned on at least a weekly basis. My rents are of course higher for this and other services and it takes longer to find tenants but, we always do in the end.
Trying to reclaim such costs after the relationship between tenant and landlord has ended, possibly on a sour note, is a fool's errand. better to charge a higher rent for continuous cleaning during the tenancy. You have far fewer surprises that way and maintain the quality of your property because tenants are often reluctant to report faults, especially if they think that they'll bare the blame for that fault and possibly the cost. better to fix the fault quickly before it causes even more damage.
however, what in your opinion should be done about rogue tenants, who deliberately don't pay their rent which is stealing and can cause terrible damage to the property before they leave? A national rogue tenants' register would be good, if they don't change their names by deed poll every few years.
On the continent all householders are required to register their address with the police. You would be surprised to learn how much responsibility this encourages amongst all house-holders whether tenants or owners. i think that would be a fruitful change for Britain, if we could ever persuade the civil liberties warriors to see the general benefits to society such registration introduces.
At what point do you consider a LL is greedy?
Are you to decide.
If so who are you to make such a determination!???
Where I would agred with you is that rental properties must be of a decent standard.
Trouble is Councils refuse to enforce EXISTING regulations.
There is no need for stupid licensing.
Just enforce existing regulations which are more than adequate to deal with sub-standard properties.
Government is looking at any angle possible to stop landlords getting possession now .. this one is a bit far fetched shows how desperate they are
That is because they are looking at PRS as social housing answers!!!
I can't believe that all anyone is taking about is cleaning
To rent a £700 house in spalding will cost the new tenant Inc first months rent is £3050 it's about time this law came in it costs £7 to credit check not as much as £120 per tenant
So we have roughly £1,750 for the Deposit and first months rent, call it £240 (I'm assuming that is including VAT) gives us £1,990. What is the other £1,060 for? Pet deposit and Guarantor fee are the only two justifiable costs I can see there.
And as a Letting Agent, we do more than just a bog-standard £7 credit check btw. But depending on what costs are included in the price you mentioned above, Agents like that are the problem, not the ones like myself who don't charge extra fees for everything we can dream up! For example, that £700 house you mentioned, for 2 people to rent it off me, with no pets or guarantors would be £1,990 including VAT, Deposit first rent and contributions towards the inventory and administration. Only £240 (inc vat) of that would come to me, and a chunk of that goes towards the cost of the referencing and inventory. I think I clear about £30. Hardly gouging the masses I feel!
A cap would have been better than a ban.
Tony Dean,
Please let me have the name of your credit checking agency? Please send details to suzyoshea@hotmail.com? Many thanks, Suzy
Hi tony, appreciate if you could forward your credit checking agency to me too. thanks. theresa3968@gmail.com
Our credit checking agency are far more higher than what yours. worth swopping to yours. thanks.
You are one clueless idiot mate.
You have simply no idea how much it costs to reference a tenant.
Idiots like you are causing massive detriment to the PRS.
I can assure you that for a tenant like you to obtain their Tenant Referencing Passport will cost about £60.
LL like me will require tenants like you to provide and pay for your own refetencing.
I require a TRP.
Of course it is your prerogative not to obtain a TRP.
That would mean I simply would NOT consider you.
Your choice.
You are deluding yourself if you think LL will pay for your referencing.
Far less pets and vulnerable tenants are going to be accommodated.
Yes there were minority of Agents charging over the odds, but there is a market place so any savvy tenant only has to shop around ( like you do for everything else )
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