A Westminster Hall debate for MPs on letting agent fees will take place this morning in the House of Commons.
The debate has been called by Kevin Hollinrake, the co-founder of Hunters Estate Agency and MP for Thirsk and Malton.
After initially being announced in last year's Autumn Statement, an outright ban on letting agent fees charged to tenants is expected to be implemented at some point over the next year.
The draft Tenants' Fees Bill - outlined in June's Queen's Speech - also revealed plans to cap holding deposits at no more than one week's rent and security deposits at no more than one month's rent.
The official consultation period for a ban on fees closed on June 2 and housing minister Alok Sharma has since revealed it received over 4,700 responses.
Parliament has invited the public to provide their thoughts on letting agent fees for the debate, specifically requesting respondents for their views on:
- Their experiences of letting agent fees;
- Which fees they consider fair or unfair;
- How they feel about the prospect of fees being transferred from tenants to landlords when a ban is introduced;
- Whether they take varying tenant fees into account when looking for a rental property;
- Whether they would welcome the licensing of agents and landlords;
Responses have been collected via a forum on the Money Saving Expert website and users' comments will be summarised and shared with MPs to use in the debate.
The Residential Landlords Association has also submitted evidence ahead of the debate.
Agents and members of the public are welcome to attend the debate and watch on from the public gallery.
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Well those comments are interesting. I don't really see the point in a debate, it's clear what needs to be done!
Complete ban will have fees transferred to landlords and rents will increase. If increased rents aren't achieved and with mortgage interest tax relief disappearing, B2L will be forced to sell, which will create a shortage of rental stock and... rent prices go up further. It's insane in my opinion. Imagine a public consultation "How do you feel about paying a bank nothing, or £1,000, or £2,000, or £3,000 to set up a mortgage"...
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