Tenant Fees bill will save renters millions every month

Citizens Advice says it has called for a ban on fees for the past decade and worked with Parliamentarians across the political spectrum to make sure the Bill was as watertight as possible. This included closing a “default fees” loophole that could have led to landlords and agents charging fees through the backdoor by adding unfair terms to tenancy agreements.

Citizens Advice also urged legislators to reduce the amount of money required for a deposit from 6 weeks’ rent to 4 weeks. The final Bill compromised on a deposit worth 5 weeks’ rent. The Bill is expected to become law from 1st June. From then the only money renters should have to pay when they move into a new home will be their deposits and advance rent.

There are now 4.7 million households in the private-rented sector, the second largest tenure in England behind home ownership.

In the past 12 months, Citizens Advice helped 59,000 private renters. It dealt with 2,100 letting fee problems and 3,400 issues about the cost of a deposit or advance rent.

Gillian Guy, Chief Executive of Citizens Advice, said: “This is a landmark moment for the millions of people who rent privately. For too long families and other renters have had to hand over hundreds of pounds on unfair and uncompetitive letting fees every time they moved home.

“We look forward to working with the government to do even more to strengthen the hand of the growing number of renters in a market where they have little bargaining power.”