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TODAY'S OTHER NEWS

Tenant Fees Act 2019: Guidance for landlords and agents

New guidance for landlords and letting agents has been released by the government.

The Tenant Fees Act 2019, which applies to England only, will come into play from 1 June 2019 and applies to fees paid in connection with a tenancy of housing.

The act means that from 1 June 2019, landlords and agents will no longer be able to charge fees to set up or renew a tenancy in the private rented sector.

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The new law will not just mean a ban on letting fees, but also the majority of other upfront fees payable by tenants to rent a property in England.

There will also be a cap on the amount of refundable security deposit a tenant would be required to pay to the value of five weeks’ rent as well as a cap on the amount of holding deposit a tenant will be required to put down to secure a property to the value of one week’s rent.

The government believes that the Bill will make renting properties in England fairer and more affordable for tenants by reducing the costs at the outset of a tenancy, at the same time as improving transparency and competition in the private rental market.

Click to read: Tenant Fees Act 2019: Guidance for landlords and agents

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    Would be useful of the same prohibition applied for agent's charges to landlords ! I guess thst as there are more tenants than landlords this government has decided to target
    " evil landlords" who do of course exist. But as a diversion ftom its own wasteful incompetence.

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    I think the point is that Letting Agents work for landlords so it follows that the fees for the letting agents work should land back with the landlord, rather than the tenant.

     
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    I have messaged my agent, who has suddenly become unusually silent on the future after Tenant Fees Act?

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    Hi Barry.
    But we pay our share of the fees (almost a months rent with VAT) for what the agent does anyway.
    It is like saying that if you applied for a mortgage, then the company providing it should pay all the fees associated with setting it up?
    The rents where I am, are not sufficient to fund both sides of the process.

     
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    • 13 May 2019 10:09 AM

    I bet the silent treatment is something that lots of other LL are getting from their LA!!!
    The TFB is the LA S24!!!
    Now they know what S24 feels like to LL!
    Many LL will terminate LA contracts.
    They simply will not be affordable and many LL will turn to self-management to survive.
    It only takes a certain straw to destroy a business model.
    S24 for LL and the TFB for LA.
    There will be a winnowing process at the end of which there will be fewer LL and LA and far fewer rental properties.
    This might be a good thing as I consider there are too many of all three.
    A retrenchment is required.
    It can only result in one thing...................vastly increased rents................which is a very good thing for those remaining LL!!!!
    As there are now fairly significant barriers to entry there will be fewer competitors entering the market.
    That means that the far fewer rental properties remaining become a more valuable asset to generate profit with by increasing rents.
    In an ideal market there should always be more buyers than sellers.
    That way the sellers achieve far better income.
    Well Govt is managing this with its bonkers anti-LL polices.
    I yearn for the day when tenants start complaining that there are no rental properties around; rents are so high and where have all the bloody LL gone!!!!????
    I hope this happens sooner rather than later.

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    House of Lords select committee now come to conclusion rents are too expensive & something needs to be done about it. The Authorities that be have spent last 12 years making rules / regulations each one adding to the cost of the let, now they turn around and say rents are too expensive after they caused it, are those people for real. Sir George needs to wake them up.

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    • 13 May 2019 10:43 AM

    These people unfortunately are very real.
    Every day they turn up they receive £300
    Wouldn't you spout hot air all day for £300??
    I know I would!!


    These idiots will be the final nail in the coffin for leveraged LL returning the PRS to cash rich LL.
    Where all the tenants are supposed to live in the absence of 2 million social homes which used to exist before RTB disposed of them beats me!?

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    Hi Paul.
    I use agents for 'tenant find' purposes only and then self manage.
    However, as you are suggesting, I will probably have to handle the process myself, with regard to all the paperwork that the agent previously did.
    I doubt if there is any way that the agents can survive without putting the cost on to landlords.
    This debacle could result in costing almost two months rent for me if I continue to use them.
    On a six month tenancy, this would just not be viable.
    What the government fail to realise is that the meeting of prospective tenants and subsuquent checking and preparing agreements, all cost money.
    Why do they expect the agents to carry out this task for free?
    Sometimes, it takes long enough to inform the utilities after the end of a tenancy, therefore, it is evident that the government obviously don't count ours or the agent's time when carrying out the necessary checking procedures.

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    6 month tenancy? Go for 12 months/long term and you will get value for money provided the status enquiries are good. Long term tenants make a home and short term describe it as 'only a renter'.

     
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    • 13 May 2019 10:55 AM

    I believe there is an expectation that LL should self-manage and not price their administration.
    Essentially it is a sunk cost for being a LL with the rent being the only recompense.
    Those LL choosing to use LA must expect lower income and now even less when LA pass onto LL the tenant fees that they will no longer be permitted to charge.
    Many LL will refuse to pay these costs and will stop using the LA.
    There are I believe many savvy LA that are managing to absorb the tenant fees loss by attaining additional income streams such that their LL offer remains roughly the same.
    That being the case fewer LL would terminate contracts though S24 is still there bearing down.
    I believe that with fewer LA there would be a better service and a more cost effective one offered by those LA to LL.
    We will see Darwinism writ large as it starts to affect those LA who are not of as fleet of foot as others!!

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    10p to print off TA, take Passport and Driving Licence copy, bank Statements and wage slips proof of employer.last address and LL reference. Hasn't failed yet in 30 plus years. If use TF through agent pay £200 max, if the dont like dont deal, deposit protect through trusted agent. Keep it simple. 2 or 3 month inspections. Inventory photos dated and timed, Legionnaires fact fine plys damp and mould.

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    Where can you print out a TA for 10 pence?

     
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