Letting agents charge £100s but provide a ‘poor service’ to renters: Should landlords pay instead?
Some letting agents charges as much as £700 in administration fees to tenants
LETTING agents fees have gone up by 60% over the last five years, from £125 to an average of £200, according to Citizens Advice.
The charity said today renters are often charged hundreds of pounds by letting agents who provide a “poor or minimal service”.
It thinks that landlords should have to pay fees instead of those looking to rent.
Over the last two years the number of people who’ve contacted the charity over problems with letting agents has doubled.
The biggest rise was among 17-24 year-olds, it said.
Letting agents charge renters for administration tasks such as sorting out a tenancy agreement, checking references and doing credit checks.
Some ask for a “holding deposit” from renters to secure a property while the contracts are sorted out.
The fees are non-refundable and charged on top of advertised rent prices and deposits.
While the cost of fees to letting agents has risen Citizens Advice also found that some renters are paying way above the odds.
Many pay £337 for their services and some agents are charging as much as £700.
READ MORE
Rent prices at an all time high forcing hard-up tenants to seek help from charities
The clever way Google can help you dodge queues and miss crowds forever
The cities where it’s CHEAPER to take a plane than a train revealed – is yours on the list?
There are no legal caps on the amount that lettings can charge to renters.
At present they charge both landlords and tenants for their services. Citizens Advice thinks that tenants should no longer have to pay.
Gillian Guy, chief executive of Citizens Advice, said: “With fees rising year on year for letting agents, many tenants will rightly be wondering why they are paying hundreds of pounds for a simple contract renewal or for management services that leave them waiting months for essential repairs.
“Landlords are better able to choose agencies based on performance and cost and it should therefore be landlords paying letting agent fees, not tenants picking up these rising costs."
Richard Lambert, chief executive officer at the National Landlords Association (NLA), said: “We charity’s concerns that renters are sometimes unfairly charged excessive letting agency fees.
“However, we do not support a complete ban on these fees, as tenants should still be charged for services that benefit them directly. The most important of these is referencing, which helps prevent bad practice as well as dishonest applications.
“The important thing is to ensure that agent fees are transparent to all, so that everyone knows what they are responsible for and what level of service they should receive.”
Are you a renter? How much do you pay in fees to letting agents? Tell us: [email protected]