Some 20 per cent of letting agents are still not in a redress system despite membership being mandatory since last October, claims Citizen Advice.
The charity wants industry bodies to identify those agencies not signed up to one of the three authorised redress schemes and 'name and shame' them.
The call comes in the latest report on the lettings sector, which focuses chiefly on a call to ban lettings agency fees on tenants in England.
The charity uses the term 'ripped-off' to describe how tenants are treated by what it calls hidden charges levied by agents, which apparently average £337.
Those charges come on top of the advertised rents and deposits and, according to the charity, the agents' fees tip some tenants into debt.
The charity's latest report, called Still Let Down, says letting agents have refused to adopt measures that were supposed to bring transparency and competition to the market.
CA claims that most agents charge for checking references and most levy fees ranging from £15 to £300 for renewing tenancies. The charity also claims that credit checks widely available for £25 sometimes incur agents' charges of £300.
Citizens Advice also says that despite an Advertising Standards Authority requirement introduced in 2013 to get agents to give clear information about fees, only a third surveyed in the report actually provided full written details.
The charity says that it does not 'lightly' call for a fees ban in England but says alternatives have not worked.
It adds that if charges are to be made, they should fall on landlords as they are in a better position to shop around and choose the most cost-effective agent.
Perhaps surprisingly, the charity says the fees ban on tenants introduced in Scotland in 2012 has produced "no clear evidence" that it has led to an increase in rental prices.
"Letting agents hold all the cards meaning tenants are open to abuse. Renters are regularly stung by arbitrary fees which can range from modest amounts to hundreds of pounds" says the charity's chief executive, Gillian Guy.
She claims that landlords can hold agents to account - so therefore it's only fair they pay the fees.
%20(002).png)
Comments
Hi!
I've found the Property Redress Scheme and the Property Ombudsman but not the third approved scheme. Can you let me know please We have a substantial firm in Bournemouth who have refused for weeks to disclose the name of the scheme to which they belong so I am checking members lists.
Many thanks.
Gordon Clifton
Unfair or Excessive Agent fees are one of the most common consumer complaints raised with the Property Redress Scheme. Our "Unfair Lettings Fees" Guides are designed for both Agents and their Consumers to explain what may be deemed as an obscure, unfair or unjustifiable fee.
If you would like to get clued-up on Letting Fees, you can read our guidance here:
https://www.theprs.co.uk/Resource/AgentResource/10