Legal News

Chancellor Philip Hammond has announced a ban on letting agent fees to tenants in his first Autumn Statement on 23 November 2016.

The ban of letting agency fee’s will come as good news to tenants who may already be struggling to afford to pay rent, in London in particular. On average tenants pay more than £200 in letting agency fee’s, on top of rent in advance and deposits which can be very costly.

The ban will also prevent letting agents charging high fee’s to renters and double charging tenants and landlords.

Chief Executive officer at the National Landlords’ Association, Richard Lambert, stated that Chancellor Philip Hammond’s ban on letting agency fees will backfire on tenants “It will boomerang back on them,” he claimed. “Agents will have no other option than to shift the fees on to landlords... [which] will only push more towards increasing rents.”

At the outset tenants may avoid receiving a bill at the start of the tenancy due to the ban but in the long run this may mean that Landlords may have to pay for the letting agency fees resulting in an increase in rent for tenants. Therefore, although tenants may believe a ban on agent fees will benefit them; this may only be for the short term.

Author Saniya Taqi is a caseworker in the Housing Law Department at Duncan Lewis Solicitors; she assists on a variety of landlord and tenant housing related matters such as disrepair matters, homelessness and possession proceedings.

The Housing team at Duncan Lewis are ranked by the independent legal directory, Legal 500 2016 for its legal services to social tenants across London and nationwide. Duncan Lewis provides advice and assistance to landlords and tenants on all housing issues. We are highly experienced at finding solutions to your housing issues and aim to address cases quickly and effectively. If you have any issues relating to housing please do not hesitate to contact our specialist team on 0333 772 0409.