Tenant Fee Ban

18th January 2019

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On Tuesday 2nd May 2018 the Government introduced the Tenant Fees Bill to Parliament.

On 15th January 2019 it was confirmed that the Tenant Fees Ban will come into force on 1 June 2019 banning all tenant fees which are not considered to be ‘permitted’ fees. Permitted fees include rent, security deposits, holding deposits, early termination and some default fees.

The key measures are:

• Tenancy Deposits must not exceed the equivalent of five weeks’ rent (unless the annual rent exceeds £50,000 in which case deposits are capped at six weeks’ rent)
• Holding Deposits will be capped at no more than one week’s rent
• The amount that can be charged for a change to a tenancy will be capped at £50, unless the landlord demonstrates that greater costs were incurred
• Consumer Rights Act 2015 specifies that letting agent transparency requirements should apply to third-party websites
• A breach of the ban will incur a civil offence with a financial penalty of up to £5,000

Charters Lettings has made the decision to scrap Tenant Fees one month prior to this date as a further gesture of goodwill. So, from 1 May 2019 the Tenant Fees Ban comes into force at Charters. 

Our dedicated team can help you with any questions you may have surrounding this.