Tenant Fees Act: One month to go until extension
The Tenant Fees Act came into force in England last year, and on 1st June 2020, it will be extended to cover all existing tenancies.
The law means that landlords and letting agents cannot charge fees other than rent, deposits, holding deposits and charges for defaulting on the contract – with additional restrictions on how much tenants must pay.
Landlords can not charge tenants fees for ‘extras’ including cleaning, pets, referencing, inventories and admin -which are all off limits.
Tenants Fees Act and security deposits-what do I need to know?
Deposits are already limited to a maximum of five weeks’ rent where the annual rent is below £50,000 for any new or replacement tenancy. If the annual rent is above this, the maximum is six weeks, with holding deposits limited to a week.
Have a read of a recent call of the week, in which a member gave our advice team a call with a question about whether they needed to return the excess deposit amount on the date of 1st June.
More information on the Tenant Fees Act for landlords can read in the NRLA’s online guidance here or why not sign up to our eLearning course on the fees ban, deposits and inventories.
Wales’ tenant fees ban
A similar ban on tenant fees was introduced in Wales on 1st September last year. This legislation was introduced in gradually, with regulations on limits relating to default fees coming into force last week.
