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Make Letting agent fees illegal in Britain and Wales
James H.
started this petition to
Louise Ellman Labour MP Liverpool, UK, Letting agents themselves
Letting agents charge landlords and tenants what they like for their services under the guise of a set of ambiguous "Administration fees". This malpractice has gone unregulated for far too long.
This needs to be regulated with governmental legislation, and made illegal like it is in Scotland.
When Land Lords decide they would rather rent out their property via a private company (a letting agent) they pay fees to the letting agent to make this happen. The letting agent then does the work for getting a tenant for the property, and takes a percentage of the rent that the occupant of the property pays, for their services.
After a number of years this practice has changed, with the addition of letting agents charging "Administration fees" to landlords and to prospective occupants for varying things. An example of this is when you enter into the original letting contract, they usually charge an administration fee for that and also a fee for doing background checks on you, as well as a credit checks. The amounts people pay can vary between £50-£450 on top of a deposit and a months rent up front (depending on the letting agent and region you live, it being higher in London) for this, as the figure is either arbitrarily plucked out of the air, or in line with what other companies unethically charge. If you choose not to pay fees like this then you simply do not get to rent the property, even if you offer to do all the administration for organizing references and getting a credit check done yourself (a statutory credit check costs around £3.00, nowhere near the amount they charge. Also the information on a credit check does not always give an accurate and informed opinion of it someone can pay rent, as paying rent is not a loan or credit that gets paid back.
This petition proposes that these fees are not only a drain on individuals disposable income during a time of recession, but also a drain on the economy itself, sucking money out of local economies to make the letting agent owners rich, at the cost of people needing somewhere to live. This petition also proposes that this malpractice should be properly regulated with governmental legislation, and made illegal in Britain and Wales, like it already is in Scotland.
This needs to be regulated with governmental legislation, and made illegal like it is in Scotland.
When Land Lords decide they would rather rent out their property via a private company (a letting agent) they pay fees to the letting agent to make this happen. The letting agent then does the work for getting a tenant for the property, and takes a percentage of the rent that the occupant of the property pays, for their services.
After a number of years this practice has changed, with the addition of letting agents charging "Administration fees" to landlords and to prospective occupants for varying things. An example of this is when you enter into the original letting contract, they usually charge an administration fee for that and also a fee for doing background checks on you, as well as a credit checks. The amounts people pay can vary between £50-£450 on top of a deposit and a months rent up front (depending on the letting agent and region you live, it being higher in London) for this, as the figure is either arbitrarily plucked out of the air, or in line with what other companies unethically charge. If you choose not to pay fees like this then you simply do not get to rent the property, even if you offer to do all the administration for organizing references and getting a credit check done yourself (a statutory credit check costs around £3.00, nowhere near the amount they charge. Also the information on a credit check does not always give an accurate and informed opinion of it someone can pay rent, as paying rent is not a loan or credit that gets paid back.
This petition proposes that these fees are not only a drain on individuals disposable income during a time of recession, but also a drain on the economy itself, sucking money out of local economies to make the letting agent owners rich, at the cost of people needing somewhere to live. This petition also proposes that this malpractice should be properly regulated with governmental legislation, and made illegal in Britain and Wales, like it already is in Scotland.
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