Today I want to talk to you about tenant fees.
I hear you say;

‘Tenants should be charged for everything.’

Unfortunately since the tenant fee ban that came into force on the 1st of June 2019, tenant fees are banned.
Banned.

So it does leave you with not a lot of scope in what you can charge your tenants.

Now unfortunately tenant referencing is something that used to be passed to the tenants, it is now charged at the landlord’s cost in some agencies, everyone’s different on how they want to do it.

You can no longer charge them for referencing.
You cannot charge them for a new first time tenancy agreement.
You cannot charge them for a renewal of a tenancy agreement.

But, should two tenants move into the property and one wants to move out and say, for example another person wants to move in with the other applicant, as long as you’re not doing any new referencing and you just want a new contract drawn up, you can charge a tenant a fee for this.

Now fees are capped at certain values.
So for example, if you wanted to charge them for a new tenancy agreement it’s normally 50 pounds including VAT, you cannot go above that charge as it can be deemed as unfair and it won’t be allowed should anything go to court.

I know I go on about court, but this is the worst case scenario if anything ever was to go there, you know, if the tenant wishes to pursue you as a landlord.
So that’s something to really take into consideration.

Deposits are also capped at five weeks, unless you were interested in taking out an insurance policy with the tenants, that is something that you can discuss directly with them, so you can no longer hold a deposit for more than five weeks worth of the rent.

With regards to other charges it is very unlikely for you to be able to charge the tenants for anything else.

Now should a contractor go out to the property and it is down to the tenants misuse, then yes, they will be liable for that call out charge.

You cannot charge them for late rent.
You cannot charge them for renewal fees.
You cannot charge them for contract fees and so forth.

If you would like to know more, please contact me,
Danielle Withers-Brown,
Lettings director at Inspired Sales and Lettings,
Where we’re with you every step of the way on your lettings journey to make it as smooth as possible to avoid any nasty surprises that can necessarily catch you off guard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-LEV26F3PA&feature=youtu.be
Today I want to talk to you about tenant fees.
I hear you say;

‘Tenants should be charged for everything.’

Unfortunately since the tenant fee ban that came into force on the 1st of June 2019, tenant fees are banned.
Banned.

So it does leave you with not a lot of scope in what you can charge your tenants.

Now unfortunately tenant referencing is something that used to be passed to the tenants, it is now charged at the landlord’s cost in some agencies, everyone’s different on how they want to do it.

You can no longer charge them for referencing.
You cannot charge them for a new first time tenancy agreement.
You cannot charge them for a renewal of a tenancy agreement.

But, should two tenants move into the property and one wants to move out and say, for example another person wants to move in with the other applicant, as long as you’re not doing any new referencing and you just want a new contract drawn up, you can charge a tenant a fee for this.

Now fees are capped at certain values.
So for example, if you wanted to charge them for a new tenancy agreement it’s normally 50 pounds including VAT, you cannot go above that charge as it can be deemed as unfair and it won’t be allowed should anything go to court.

I know I go on about court, but this is the worst case scenario if anything ever was to go there, you know, if the tenant wishes to pursue you as a landlord.
So that’s something to really take into consideration.

Deposits are also capped at five weeks, unless you were interested in taking out an insurance policy with the tenants, that is something that you can discuss directly with them, so you can no longer hold a deposit for more than five weeks worth of the rent.

With regards to other charges it is very unlikely for you to be able to charge the tenants for anything else.

Now should a contractor go out to the property and it is down to the tenants misuse, then yes, they will be liable for that call out charge.

You cannot charge them for late rent.
You cannot charge them for renewal fees.
You cannot charge them for contract fees and so forth.

If you would like to know more, please contact me,
Danielle Withers-Brown,
Lettings director at Inspired Sales and Lettings,
Where we’re with you every step of the way on your lettings journey to make it as smooth as possible to avoid any nasty surprises that can necessarily catch you off guard.