News
Letting fees ban will NOT become law until at least Spring 2019, MHCLG confirms
Saturday 13th January 2018
The recently-renamed Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG ) does not expect the letting fees ban to come into force until Spring 2019, it has confirmed.
In written evidence made this week to both the Select Committee hearings that scrutinised the draft legislation, and to the National Approved Letting Scheme (NALS), MHCLG has revealed that it will be at least 15 months before letting agents and landlords will no longer be able to charge fees to tenants.
Introduced by Sajid Javid in November last year, the draft legislation was given a thorough savaging by experts during the hearing on Monday and will now go to a third reading in the House of Commons before moving to the Lords.
MPs were told at the hearing by experts from Shelter and the University of York's Centre for Housing Policy that a letting fees ban could easily lead to higher rents as banned fees were added by landlords to the rent over the length of each tenancy, and also reduce the quality of rented accommodation as landlords tightened their purse strings.
"We're pleased to see more clarity on the timetable for implementation of the ban - it's much needed for our industry and something NALS has long called for," says Isobel Thomson, CEO of NALS (pictured, left).
"While the Bill aims to create a fairer and safer PRS for all, NALS doesn't believe this will deliver what the government aspires to and risks doing real damage to the PRS.
"NALS urges [the] government to use this time to fully assess the impact of the Bill. It is crucial that government look again at the proposals and consider tenant fees in a broader, coherent framework of regulation for the PRS.