Ministers do not look much inclined to act on Shelter’s call for letting agents’ fees to tenants to be abolished.
Baroness Hanham, in the Lords, said the Government does not support a blanket ban, as it would drive up the cost of rents.
She was replying to a question from Lib Dem peer Lord Greaves.
The full exchange is as follows:
Lord Greaves: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the Shelter report, Letting agencies: the price you pay.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government (Baroness Hanham): We welcome Shelter’s contribution to the debate. But remain unconvinced that increased regulation is the answer. So we do not support a blanket ban on fees to tenants, especially as this is likely to drive up the cost of rents.
However, it is agreed that we need to take action to drive up standards in the private rented sector. We are already changing the law to require all letting and managing agents to belong to an approved redress scheme which will give tenants an effective way to address complaints.
Whilst landlords and letting agents are free to set their own charges, they are prohibited from setting unfair terms or fees under existing consumer protection legislation. Where a consumer believes that agents are in breach of this legislation, it is open to them to draw this to the attention of their local trading standards officer.
Comments
Thanks Baroness Hanham!
Thanks Andy
Hi Mark, petition signed. Good luck.......
This is a good start and is promising
What is also promising is that many, many agents, landlords and tenants have signed this petition
http://www.lettingagentsupportklub.co.uk/petition.html
Please can you all do the same!
Arnie from Newington I find myself agreeing with you again. Let's hope that this time common sense and sound decision making prevails. Somehow…………
What agent do you work for out of interest?
I wouldn't read too much into this article. In Scotland the plan was for letting agents to be able to charge fees up to £50 for referencing.
For some reason a last minute U turn was announced and all letting agent fees were banned.
I do not know the reason for this U turn but would suspect that whatever happened was because of Shelter.
Good to see the government talking sense.
If you look at the Shelter report it says agents are not going bust in Scotland since the ban on fees. That may be the case, but we're so tired of the growing bureaucracy in Scotland and the local authorities' terrible, dictatorial towards the PRS, that we are no longer accepting any new business in Scotland. As exisiting tenancies come to an end we're asking landlords to find another agent. We will concentrate our efforts on England where it is much easier for responsible agents to do business.
You see, Shelter? Even the Government don't agree with you.
Dear too early to tell.
Do you really think Shelter can be bothered getting too close to people who know what they are talking about?
There is nothing for them here at all, in olden days there would be a warning 'Ere be Dragons' warding of hapless visitors in attempt to save them hearing comment counter to their own distorted view of the world of Agency.
They are on a very healthy gravy train of grants and support all in the name of the Homeless. Champagne socialists are too smart to engage with anyone capable of halting the train and exposing what amounts to moral corruption.
Don't bother with them, content yourself with not giving them a penny, eventually one of the right thinking trustees will question the Charity name being dragged unarguably into disrepute and why support and goodwill from a whole industry has evaporated.
...as Confuscius once said...
Isn't is just plain common sense for all parties to wait and see how the ban on tenant fees, or legal clarification thereof, will pan out in Scotland?
@shelter fair to assume this forum is being read by your representatives. do you have a credible counter argument to this point?