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Barry James

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I'd agree, landlords whether they self-manage or let properties through an agent should be held to the same standard. I'm less inclined to agree with your other comments though. Agents are employed by landlords, not tenants though it would seem the latter bear the brunt of the charges, at least initially. The average tenancy start up fees are reportedly £404, and renewal fees £117. I simply can't understand how setting up a tenancy, referencing and other checks can amount to £404, apparently £813 in some areas. Renewals seem even more of a scam considering a tenancy doesn't actually have to be renewed and can be left rolling after the initially agreed tenancy duration. I'm not sure why you should treat tenants any worse after a ban or cap on fees is introduced, my understanding is that in the majority of cases, agents are paid a percentage of the rent by the landlord, rather than wholly be fees at the start of a tenancy.

From: Barry James 27 February 2018 11:24 AM

If I were in the position of a tenant, I wouldn't want to commit to a 3 year contract, as mentioned above a lot can happen in 3 years and you could essentially become trapped in the contract. I'd far rather have an initial 6 month agreement then let it roll on afterwards. What I would suggest though is the end of "no fault evictions" and instead replace them with a set properly justifiable criteria for eviction as is the case in Germany i.e. culpable and non-trivial violations of contract or the landlord needing the premises for himself or family.

From: Barry James 13 February 2018 09:48 AM

By the time you put all the essential furniture into a 6.5m sq room you really have very little usable floor space so I think on the whole an absolute minimum room size is a good idea. Though if you consider having all your worldly possessions in a room of that size and not having any other rooms to go to eat or socialise, it still seems desperately small. I think having a minimum room size is helpful in some respects such as consistency but not all houses are the same and in those without shared living spaces, a higher minimum room size would have made sense in my opinion, otherwise 6.5m sq is just going to be a race to the bottom.

From: Barry James 02 January 2018 15:06 PM

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