Queen’s Speech – Letting fees to be banned with the possibility of recovery of unlawfully charged fees June 17

The Queen’s speech outlined a Draft Tenants’ Fees Bill Ban which has been introduced to ban tenant fees and will be published later this year. The legislation is to stop lettings agents charging tenants by “banning landlords and agents from requiring tenants to pay letting fees as a condition of their tenancy.”

The Bill will also allow tenants to recover unlawfully charged fees for taking references, getting credit checks or investigating immigration status, although it is not yet clear if this will be for charges after the legislation is introduced or will include retrospective claims.

The government said it will make the process more transparent, as renters are currently charged varying amounts. Fees are already banned in Scotland and landlords in England and Wales are already legally required to publicise their rates. When the bill becomes law, landlords will have to find the money to pay for the fees themselves.

ARLA said that as a result landlords would lose £300m, and would be likely to increase rents. They indicated that as a result 4,000 jobs in the sector could be lost,  buy to rent will become less attractive as an investment and rents may have to increase.