The Tenant Fees Act 2019 brought a legal ban on agents and landlords charging fees in England. No fees are allowable for the following – drawing up contracts, inventory checks, tenancy renewals, reference, right to rent or credit checks and any other administrative charges.
What does it mean for students? What do you need to know? The first thing to understand is what you will be charged for, so you can plan and budget accordingly.
Landlords and agents can only charge for the following:
- Rent.
- A refundable holding deposit (no more than the equivalent of 1 week’s rent).
- Utilities (if they are included in the rent).
- Contractual changes at the tenant’s request up to a maximum of £50 (or more if they can prove additional reasonable costs have been incurred).
- A refundable deposit (no more than 5 weeks equivalent rent where the total annual rent is less than £50,000 or no more than 6 weeks equivalent rent where the total annual rent is £50,000 or above).
- Payments associated with early termination when the tenant requests to end the contract.
- Charges for loss of keys at a reasonable level
- A late payment fee (no higher than 3% above the Bank of England rate)
If the rules are broken what will happen? Will there be consequences for landlords or agents?
If landlords or agents do charge unpermitted fees, the new legislation allows civil fines of £5000 for a first offence. If landlord or agent is found to have charged banned fees again after being fined within 5 years, there is provision for up to a £30,000 fine.
A further consequence of charging tenants unlawful fees, is the inability to evict tenants under the Section 21 ground until the landlord or agent has repaid the unlawful charges.
If you think you have been charged a non-permitted fee, your first stop should be your University or SU advice centre to explore your options.
Should agents or landlords be found to have breached the Act, tenants can get help from two possible sources. Trading Standards and your Local Authority can help enforce the law and help them get their money back, if appropriate. The return of the fees should be repaid through First-Tier tribunal. The Local Authority may help with the application to the First-Tier tribunal.
Tenants can also bring any case of unpermitted charges by an agent through the Property Redress Scheme www.theprs.co.uk.
Reviewed October 2023