Tags Archives: abolishment

The abolition of letting agent fees.

Liberal Democrats peer Baroness Rosalind Grender is trying to get the government to ban letting agent fees in
England and Wales, these fees are already illegal in Scotland.

Her ‘Private members’ bill, which had a second reading in the House of Lords on June 10th, also calls for landlords to be forced to carry
out electrical safety checks. Also for tenants to be given access to a register of rogue landlords.

No one can argue that renting should be safe and fair for all. You can see why tenants feel aggrieved at some of the fees charged by high
street letting agents. They can amount to several hundred pounds and some of them are hard to justify. For example, it is common for
more established letting agents to charge both landlords and tenants for the same service. Preparation of tenancy agreements and
checking in and out fees are examples of double billing.

The reality of letting agent fees.

In her speech to the House of Lords; Baroness Grender said that on average, tenants are paying letting agents almost £400 per move.

Letting agents’ fees are one of the biggest causes of complaints by tenants. With large costs levied, tenants could rightly expect a level of
service commensurate with these fees. Still many tenants feel the help provided by some agents leaves a lot to be desired.

 

Tenants’ rights.

The government introduced legislation requiring letting agents to be more transparent about their fees. This doesn’t seem to have helped much. To comply with the legislation, agents simply state “fees apply” on their online ads and in their offices, but they don’t always say
how much they charge. This gives unsuspecting tenants a nasty shock when they’re presented with the final bill.

This isn’t just bad for tenants, it’s annoying for landlords too as it gets the tenancy off to a bad start. If a tenant feels ripped off, they aren’t going to feel well disposed towards their landlord, even if it isn’t their fault.

Hearthstone sets its self apart on these points. We do not charge tenants any fees, apart from £75 for credit checks which
goes towards the costs charged by the service provider. We are confident that the service afforded to tenants from the first point of
contact right through to saying goodbye at the end of a tenancy is first class. Furthermore our service is designed to be as honest and
helpful as possible.

Hearthstone ltd was set up three years ago simply because we felt that the issues which are being highlighted today have been present
for many years and it needn’t be that way. We are growing a great reputation because we offer a viable business model which is attractive for both tenants and landlords alike.