A new government ban on tenant fees comes into play from 1st June 2019. This impacts all new tenancies and any tenancy renewals.

This ban will apply to all existing tenancies from 1st June 2020.

What does the tenant fees ban mean?

It means that tenants will no longer pay an administration fee when they apply for a property.

Please note they will continue to pay a deposit when they move into the property - find out more about deposits here.

Previously, tenants paid an admin fee of £200 (inclusive of VAT) to cover the time it takes us to do referencing, deal with applications, write up contracts, take inventories, credit checks etc but this cost will no longer apply after the 1st of June 2019.

Why has the government banned agents from charging an administration fee?

Many agents would charge multiple potential tenants high charges and not refund the ones who were unsuccessful making thousands of pounds off people applying for properties.

However, we made sure we did things fairly and properly and we refunded any administration fees to those who were unsuccessful. We would only charge the tenant who moved into the property.

How does the ban impact landlords?

The level of administration hasn’t changed now that the ban is in place, so unfortunately for landlords that fee now falls in their lap. The charge to landlords is £150 inclusive of VAT - this charge is slightly lower than the admin fee tenants had to pay because admin time has marginally reduced due to not having to deal with refunding fees to unsuccessful applicants.

Are there any new charges tenants should be aware of?

If a tenant requires a change to their tenancy agreement such as moving in a partner or extending the fixed period of their tenancy, we now apply an administration fee of £40 + VAT.

Do you have any questions about the tenant fees ban or want to find out more? Give our team a call on 01482 562562 and we’ll be happy to chat things over.