ARLA says it can help agents understand the intricacies of the Tenants Fees Ban, which completed its third reading in the House of Lords yesterday.

With the implementation date now likely to be June 1 – subject to it clearing the final legislative hurdle in the House of Commons – the measure will become law some 30 months after being first announced.

The chief executive of ARLA Propertymark, David Cox, says: “This now gives agents the legal certainty they need to prepare for a post tenant fees ban world. To learn about the intricacies of the legislation, we encourage agents to come to our regional meetings over the next few weeks and of course our annual Conference, where ARLA Propertymark will be doing everything it can to help agents plan and prepare for the introduction of the Bill.”

Online lettings agents have been quick to jump on the bandwagon with Upad’s James Davis saying: “Ever since the ban was first announced in November 2016, headlines have focused on the threat that rents will rise, putting additional pressure on tenants and continuing to paint the landlord as the ‘bad guy’.  This doesn’t need to be the case though.  

“Most private landlords don’t, in fact, charge excessive upfront costs and whilst it would have been advisable to plan ahead before now, there’s still time to consider how else they can manage their costs.  Needless to say, by switching to an online agent, such as Upad, significant savings can be enjoyed whilst maintain the reassurance of a quality service.”

The confirmation of the implementation date came yesterday in Parliament.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth said: “We need to enable agents and landlords following Royal Assent to become compliant, but we intend for the provisions to come into force on June 1st 2019. This would mean the ban on lettings fees would apply to all tenancies signed after this date.”