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An agent being targeted by a group of campaigners opposed to tenants' fees claims that a rally being held later this month is part of a nasty witch hunt.

The agent - who contacted LAT yesterday but did not want to be identified - said that he and rival agents in the city of Bristol, where the event is to be held, would not be intimidated by the calling of the public rally on July 26 to oppose tenancy fees.

There's a fundamental lack of understanding by the campaigners. I think more agents would talk with them, explaining why the fees exist, if there was a feeling that their minds were not already made up he says.

Having effective scared us off, it's up to them to stage a more welcoming event - not a shouting match where agents are the target of abuse he continues.

A campaign group called Acorn has already staged visits to agencies in part of the city to ask why fees are imposed on tenants, instead of purely on landlords.

Last week the group held a public meeting where agents were expected to explain themselves according to the group's advance publicity.

Two agencies - Piper Property and Besley Hill - did attend. Peter Stephenson from Piper Property said he did not charge tenancy fees while Gareth Hunt from Besley Hill said he would give more information on his firm's fee policy in the near future.

The campaign has also gained political support from a Labour city councillor, Bristol East's Labour MP Kerry McCarthy and the Labour parliamentary candidate for Bristol West Thangam Debonnaire.

Now Acorn says it is contacting other groups elsewhere in the country to step up its campaign against tenancy fees and short term tenancies, and to build the July 26 event.

Comments

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    Agree with both posts below entirely and, may I say, well said both!

    Unfortunately "fee-bashing" is now a fashion and fashioned into place at an incredibly coincidental point in time - i.e. a few months away from the next general election. Nine million renting in the PRS = lots of votes! :)

    Whilst all us agents seem to be being tarred with the same brush by MPs calling for reform - let's repay the compliment and tar them with the same brush for a moment and make a quick mention of MP's expense claims. Our (agents) fees are for work done in referencing, creating the tenancy, enabling us to recruit good quality staff to provide a good quality service (as previously posted) - ludicrous expenses claimed by MPs were nothing short of the "old boy's club" ripping off the system. AND they have the brass ******* neck to call us cheats. ;)

    • 09 July 2014 09:14 AM
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    Couldn't agree more, (Sceptical as always). Telling agents to scrap fees is not only telling them to work for free but to dip into their own pockets to adveritise vendors' and landlords' properties on Zoopla and Rightmove, who we all know have extortionate fees themselves. There are many costs you must take into consideration when charging fees and labour is just one!

    • 08 July 2014 10:47 AM
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    I'm looking forward to the day when people march the street for car mechanics to do their job for free. Or that Tesco must give away free food. Why are agents being targeted what have we done Simply provide a service on an open market place. If you don't like the price of the agency's fee, use another agent. The fee goes towards money to attract a higher calibre staff, which in turn yield better conversion from landlords, so more choice. Also the money goes towards education and experience, which again is passed on the landlords. Resulting in better quality property. All to better the renting experience. Want to pay nothing Plenty of DIY landlords out there and they are very easy to deal with, you just have to wire the deposit money via Western Union and away you go...

    • 08 July 2014 10:10 AM
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