Tenants Face Excessive Charges by Letting Agents

Recent report by Citizens Advice suggests that some Welsh and English tenants face unjustified and excessive charges by letting agents. The findings were based on the survey of letting agents’ clients that sought help on the Citizens Advice web-site. The results demonstrated that sometimes extra costs, which include administration fees and reference checks, add an average of £600 to the renting cost. According to the Citizens Advice, these heavy charges sometimes have absolutely no relation to the services provided. It is interesting to note that the report of the charity organization came out a week after the UK government announced its plans to introduce a register for English landlords and a regulatory body for letting agents. In the light of the new rules, which are about to be introduced shortly, Citizens Advice claimed that it wants to see a ban placed on the extra charges faced by tenants. The organization said that in many cases the charges were imposed on tenants for the services that are part of the routine business of letting and managing agents, which means they are to be performed free of charge. David Harker, Citizens Advice chief executive claimed that heavy charges, which are sometimes made up by letting agents on the go, represent a barrier for people on average and low incomes. The charity experts added that some charges, such as a non-returnable holding deposit, an administration fee, a deposit administration charge, as well as check-in and check-out inventory charges are simply illegal. Moreover, the Citizens Advice survey suggests that such charges as references check and tenancy renewal ranged greatly from £10 to £275 and from £12 to £200 accordingly. The report also showed that some agents were prone to double-charging with both, the landlord and the tenant being charged for the same service. The results of the Citizens Advice report were based on a survey of 1,300 tenants, who visited the charity’s website between August and November 2008 as well as on the review of 424 letting agents.