A group that has campaigned fervently in favour of a tenant fees ban in England will appear today to give evidence to MPs who are inquiring into the private rented sector.
Generation Rent, which in 2016 made a call for fees to be abolished in their entirety, will be joined by the two main landlord associations and the boss of a firm that designs, builds and rents homes.
Those appearing before the Communities and Local Government Committee which is inquiring into the private rented sector this afternoon include Adrian Jeakings, chairman of the National Landlords Association, and David Smith, policy director of the Residential Landlords Association.
They will be joined by Dan Wilson Craw, director of Generation Rent, and Mette Isaksen, policy researcher at Citizens Advice, which has called for ‘rip off’ letting agent fees to be abolished.
It’s the second set of such hearings by the Communities and Local Government Committee this year as the inquiry into the PRS continues.
Comments (21)
I think ARLA are attending on Wednesday.
Perhaps a representative of ARLA would advise members via PIE why they are not represented at this meeting? Of course they may not have been invited in which case the membership needs to know why. In my view to not be attending what appears to be a very important debate affecting the livelihoods of thousands of letting agents across the land is nothing short of disgraceful.
Oh dear. There does always seem to be a reason to knock ARLA. Could it be that they are going on another day? I am sure that the committee is meeting more than once!
RentBoy, but surely they should be there at every stage?
I think you will find that you have to be in front of a select committee you have to be invited.
I was of the impression that there is normally help for those that self-harm. Apparently not for Craw and Isaksen though. I wouldn’t want to be in their shoes when tenants realise they can’t find anywhere to live because of these two jokers.
Perfect point, JMK! They see the surface issue only, and none of the consequences because that doesn’t suit their narrative. I too disagree with truly extortionate fees, but the thing tenants forget is that they are taking on ‘an estate in land’ in English law. If they were to buy that same property it would cost them hundreds of thousands of pounds – AND there’d be considerable fees! Why SHOULDN’T a tenant pay a few hundred for taking on such an estate, and all the associated processes?! It’s a serious undertaking (or should be) and those working in the industry are not charities nor should they be. There is a presumption these days that housing should be free and ‘on demand’ when it is massively expensive to provide. Nothing else in law is free. (The courts want £355 to receive an N5B form!). Why should this be?
I met a Reeds Rains (LSL) tenant last week whose total moving in charges were £800
Enough said
And that’s why a fee cap rather than a fee ban is a better idea.
For two people to move in, I charge £167 +vat (£200 total). Of that £167, £50ish is paid for referencing, so that’s £117 left to cover 1-2hours for the inventory, creating the file and contract, arranging for contracts to be signed etc.
To me, that isn’t a rip off.
If there is an extra tenant or a guarantor needed, then I will need to charge a bit more, because my referencing fees will increase.
£50 for referencing, Really? Suggest you shop around…
That’s for the top-notch reference and includes vat. We’re tied in to a contract at the moment I think, but we will probably be looking round….
London Bubble.
Where is ARLA?
Don’t you mean “what is arla”?
jeremy1960. Stupid comment!
They probably haven’t invited ARLA because they don’t want to understand the truth behind what’s happening out there. Instead they want to hear minority isolated incidents. This meeting is a waste of time as they all have their own agenda and won’t listen to reason.
Let’s help tenants by saving the money upfront and then sticking the knife in even deeper when I really need help. Genius. Thank you generation rent and shelter, your shortsightedness is going to create the Wild West!!!
Citizens advice bureau are Fantastic at offering advice like “withhold your rent” or “stay put and wait for a court order for possession”
Unfortunately when they ban fees to tenants I shall no longer be able to advise tenants on their agreements or complaints they have with their landlords. The landlord will be the paying customer so unfortunately my time will be spent trying to make up lost income to stop my business from closing.
Solicitors will do well because tenants can now go to them for advice at £150 per hour. Plus the rise in possession cases and court orders will be a fantastic revenue stream for the courts.
There is no positive outcome of the tenant Fee ban!!!
So you are seriously suggesting you won’t offer advice to tenants because they aren’t paying customers?
Your business is doomed to fail if that’s the way you honestly approach advice in the first place.
‘There is no positive outcome of the tenant fee ban’. Not sure I agree with that – hopefully scum agents won’t be able to survive the one to two year hit the industry as a whole will suffer before the inevitable rent increases kick in. That alone has got be worth it, surely?
‘scum agents’
Is that comment aimed at an undesirable section of the industry or the industry as a whole?
Sorry, very much aimed at the Undesirables, unfortunately of whom there are many…..
Usual stats from people like citizens advice and rent a mob collected from the tiny minority who complain presented as every tenant. I remember when the kids were young and they wanted something because “everyone ” at school had that something; in reality it would turn out that 1 or 2 kids had that something – massaged stats!
Well my local Citizens Advice Bureau will be much busier as I refer tenant enquiries to them. If their advice is plain wrong or misleading, as it has been in the past, then once again it’s the tenant who will lose out.