The Third Reading in the House of Lords has recently taken place and it is likely that the Tenant Fees Bill will be receiving Royal Assent within the next few weeks. The new legislation will be coming into force at the start of June this year and lead to a tenant fee ban.

Brexit is still a prominent subject nationwide, however Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth revealed some different news to the UK citizens with his latest announcement. Last week, on behalf of the government, Lord Bourne announced that the Tenant Fees Bill will be coming into force with an official date of 1st June 2019.

At the House of Lords, he said “We need to enable agents and landlords following Royal Assent to become compliant, but we intend for the provisions to come into force on June 1st 2019.”

He explained that the ban on lettings fees would apply to all tenancies in England after this date.

The housing sector has been waiting for this Bill to be passed and it is now down to agents to ensure that they are up to speed with the latest legislation. Now is the time for agents to begin taking steps that will help to implement these new changes.

Tenant fee ban – Advice and Support for Agents

Chief Executive David Cox from ARLA Propertymark has spoken out to encourage agents to seek the right support and advice they may need in order to prepare for the introduction of this new Bill.

He said “With the Tenant Fees Bill completing its passage through the House of Lords this afternoon, it appears the Tenant Fee ban will come into force on 1st June 2019; subject to parliamentary scrutiny in the House of Commons.”

“This now gives agents the legal certainty they need to prepare for a post tenant fees ban world. To learn about the intricacies of the legislation, we encourage agents to come to our Regional Meetings over the next few weeks and of course our annual Conference, where ARLA Propertymark will be doing everything it can to help agents plan and prepare for the introduction of the Bill.”

A final summary of the legalisation is still yet to be confirmed but the ARLA and the Residential Landlords Association have both been sharing information with their members to make sure everyone is aware of the facts so far.

At G Herbert Banks we have never been an agent to overcharge tenants and indeed we have never been an agent whose business model depended on it. There are many letting agents that are going to find trading very hard after the tenant fee ban but we are prepared for it and will be able to continue to serve our clients unaffected.

We will absorb the vast majority of the fees that we have been charging tenants. Usually we charge a single tenant applicant just £45 for the application and then if successful, and only if successful, we then charge a further £120 set up fee. This is very good value when compared to most of the market.

We wish to reassure our existing landlords and those that are considering using us that at the moment we do not plan on introducing additional charges for them to cover.

For further information on this please contact Richard Banks on 01299 896 968 or via email at rb@gherbertbanks.co.uk