Citizens Advice received 4,600 complaints about letting agents last year – 4% up on the previous year.
The charity has also hit out at what it calls “inexplicable fees” charged by agents.
The complaints included disputes about fees, quality of service and the handling of customer money.
Citizens Advice also said that some agents and landlords are flouting the law on tenancy deposits, and that “enforcement and redress when things go wrong are patchy”.
The charity expressed considerable concern about the private rented sector as a whole, saying that its advisers dealt with over 300 problems every day last year.
Altogether, it said its bureaux dealt with 444,000 housing-related inquiries last year, but the most common problems when it came to tenure related to private rented accommodation.
Repairs and maintenance, rents and other charges, and problems with tenancy deposit protection were routinely reported.
The report says: “We also see many problems relating to eviction, including landlords taking action for reasons other than rent arrears.”
The report, called Consumer Challenges 2015, insists that retaliatory evictions are “a common story”.
The report’s section on housing concludes: “Britain’s private rental sector bears all the hallmarks of rapid growth.
“Nearly twice as many people rent privately as ten years ago and many now rely on the sector for a long-term family home.
“A patchwork of protections is being slowly extended in some areas, but most renters remain uncovered, lacking rights we take for granted elsewhere.
“At Citizens Advice we see the consequences of this in the more than 300 problems reported to us every day with privately rented accommodation: renters evicted because they asked for a repair, renters charged high and inexplicable fees by their letting agent, and renters struggling to secure redress after something has gone wrong.
“In 2015 we will be continuing our research into the problems renters face and the lessons that could be learned from wider consumer policy to ensure private renting can provide a safe and settled home.”
Comments (6)
4600 divide by 3,800,00 multiply 100 equals 0.12% of tenancies complained!
4600 is a big number but how does it compare with the complaints for Housing Associations and social tenancies? How does it compare once the costs and revenues are considered.
The PRS generates about 8.55 billion tax income for government from 3.8 million tenancies. What income is generated by the 3.7 million social tenancies?
I respectfully suggest before Citizens Advice get too involved in a lefty struggle they will not win on statistics, they take the trouble to understand and quantify the problem they are bleating on about and work out which is the most cost effective provision for homing the nation.
“Altogether, it said its bureaux dealt with 444,000 housing-related inquiries last year, but the most common problems when it came to tenure related to private rented accommodation.”
Surely the PRS is the most likely source of complaint related to tenure due to the numbers involved?
“The report says: “We also see many problems relating to eviction, including landlords taking action for reasons other than rent arrears.”
I do accept it is quite likely there are some Landlords or Agents who act unscrupulously in this area, the majority I am sure do things by the book. Last time I checked the Landlord does not need to give a reason when serving a Section 21?
Listening to LBC radio last night, another Labour MP jumped on the band wagon and described letting agent fees charged to tenants as outrageous and ‘hated’. He did not qualify his comments and did not state what he considers to be reasonable. Citizens Advice invite complaints and help tenants to stay in private rental properties for as long as possible when they are fully aware that they are not paying the rent. If the current culture of attacking the PRS continues then landlords will invest in alternative assets. Successive governments have failed to provide the homes that our country needs, the private sector has filled some of the void and the vast majority of landlords and agents operate professionally. Rather than attack the whole of the market pace, Politicians, Shelter etc. would do much better to openly support the professional operators and advise people to work with professional letting agents.
Perhaps the “charity” would like to explain what their definition of “inexplicable” is.
Clarity is lacking. Why call for transparency from behind a lead sheet?
It must be worrying for letting agents as this theme does seem to be gathering some pace.
I would ask CAB, Shelter, Labour – What is reasonable fees?
They do understand a letting agent is a business to make money not a charity to home people?
If the government are that concerned why is there not more social housing?
If the Citizen Advice was not there they would not receive any complaints from tenants – where would they go then to complain ? oh yes the compulsory redress scheme that Letting agents have to belong to.
So tenants do have plenty of protection. Fees – if a tenant does not like the fee an agent charges dont rent with them. Supply and demand. Its not cheep to run a letting agency – we have a redress scheme to pay for as well as all the other overheads plus immigration checks….