Today, the Government introduced the Tenant Fees Bill and issued their official response to the HCLG Select Committee report on the draft Tenant Fees Bill. All proposals relate to England only.
The Government have confirmed that following provisions will be included in the Tenant Fees Bill:
- Security deposits must not exceed the equivalent of six weeks’ rent
- Holding deposits will be capped at no more than one week’s rent
- Change of sharer charges will be capped at £50 unless the landlord demonstrates that greater costs were incurred
- Fines of £5,000 for an initial breach of the ban with a criminal offence where a person has been fined or convicted of the same offence within the last 5 years. Financial penalties of up to £30,000 can be issued as an alternative to prosecution.
- Trading Standards will enforce the ban and tenants will be able to recover unlawfully charged fees via the First-tier Tribunal
- Landlords will not be able to issue a Section 21 notice until they have repaid any unlawfully charged fees
- A lead enforcement authority in the lettings sector will be appointed
- The Consumer Rights Act 2015 will be amended to specify that the letting agent transparency requirements should apply to property portals such as Rightmove and Zoopla
- Local authorities will be able to ring-fence any money raised for future local housing enforcement
Other than the rent itself or deposits, the only other things agents and landlords will be able to charge tenants for are:
- a change or early termination of a tenancy when requested by the tenant
- utilities, communication services and Council Tax
- payments arising from a default by the tenant such as replacing lost key
The new measures are subject to Parliamentary timetables and will be introduced in law next year.
