Letting Agents will be banned from charging fees ‘as soon as possible’ – What does this mean?

We get asked this question quite often from both tenants and landlords alike. Since the budget in Autumn 2016 when it was stated that letting agents in Sheffield and around the country fees were to be scraped there has been multiple stories and misconceptions around this.

Letting agent fees are due to be scraped/banned however no set time-frame has been set by government yet. Since last year letting agents have legally obliged to state there fees publicly. Fees can vary from town/city and letting agents.

Here at iLet4You we have clearly made our fees available for the public to see either on our website or in our branch in Page Hall, Sheffield.  You can view our fees by clicking here. Our fees are competitive in the local area and to tenants there is only a cost of £125.00 for the lead tenant. Additional tenants name on the tenancy have a charge of £75.00 if they are over 18. Our fees cover the background checks, administration etc. That is the only cost of moving in with us.

Will rent prices increase in Sheffield?

In my own view I would think renting in Sheffield will become more expensive. The reason behind this would be landlords would need to recoup their losses. For each tenancy on average currently it costs the average landlord and letting agent roughly £400.00 together. That includes everything from a gas cert/EPC to registering the deposit and doing the relevant checks.

More than likely if letting agents are unable to charge tenants directly this will ultimately lead to landlords being billed. As landlords are free to set there own rental amount, in the short/medium term from this coming into place I would not be surprised if rents are increased from around 5%.

If you would like further information in regards to how this could affect you as both a landlord, letting agent or tenant feel free to either email us on [email protected] or call 0114 327 2020.