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Any MP who opposes reform should find themselves on a not to be reselected list at the next election, and their constituents should be made fully aware of their position on the issue.
First time posting here.
I think what a lot of people fail to understand is that it's the tenants who take up 90% of the letting agents' time (and therefore, money).
Removing the ability for agents to charge tenants fees according to how much work those tenants will be, means that agents will have to be more selective in which tenants they work with. This will further the gap between the affluent and the disadvantaged.
At least at the moment if an agent has 3 tenants from a low-income background vs 1 tenant from a high-income background applying for the same property the agent has no preference because they will either have less work to do or they will be paid for their work, so it equals out at the end of the day right now. In the future, if fees are banned completely, the agent will always have to choose the affluent person who will comply with all requests quickly and will not waste any agency time.
Another point, tenants contact agents A LOT during their tenancy with all sorts of questions and needing all sort of support. If it was a private landlord the tenant would not be asking as much. If agency fees are banned and agents then only work for the landlord (because right now we see ourselves as working for both tenants and landlords) then agents will have to refuse to answer a lot of these questions and explain that they no longer work for the tenants and that they should instead contact their local council or citizen's advice centre.
We prefer helping our tenants when they need us, however, we are not a charity and if we are not allowed to charge our tenants in the future then we will have to change our business model.
I believe the economy does best when government gets out of the way and lets the market forces determine how things work. If an agent charges too much or unfairly, they will lose business and people will stop using them (just look at Foxton's share price for example - down 3/4th since a little while ago).
I hope government thinks about this carefully before muddling it up too much, but we'll wait and see. Our small family business will survive, either way, it's just what the business will be like on the other side of this that is the question.
I paid around £100 admin fees to receive a terrible disorganised service. We almost were not allowed to move in as they took up until the day before our moving date to sort out references, not informing the LL. They then provided us with the wrong bank details to pay the LL.
And these are one of the 'better' agents in the area.
I was told by an agent it was "against the law" for me to contact my LL direct, after I'd done so to confirm that we were both happy to go on a periodic contract and not pay the unnecessary fee. It is outrageous that people who have such power over people's lives are so unqualified and can lie so shamelessly.
Laughable. Best bet is to always contact the landlord direct when the agent is not performing, tends to keep them on their toes.
You saw, you said "yes", you gave your deposit and rent up front, you moved in. Nonsense-free.
It's also easier to find a home with fewer agents who each have more properties.
It used to be, say, 5 agents in an area, each with 100 properties on their books; that would now be 25 agents in an area, each with 20 properties on their books.
If they can't make a living from the business, then it's just unfair to start charging the public for work they should be doing anyway to run their business.
It's better to have 1-2 agents in a small area with all the properties ...than 10-20 agents who you can't get hold of, or "you missed that one" and all the other silliness you get when trying to contact them about the one property you see advertised.
For example, even with 100 properties in an area, the 10% fee would be £50/60 a month on avg, so £5-6,000 per month income. When you take into account business costs and wages, there is very little there.
Now that said, most agencies have well in excess of 100 properties on their books.
Partly they make money on interest on deposits (though not huge amounts)
Partly they make money from referrals (energy/insurance/etc)
The most lucrative ofcourse is the fees
http://www.propertyindustryeye.com/hunters-founder-mp-kevin-hollinrake-case-for-capping-letting-agent-fees/
But, speaking as a Scottish & English landlord, ban fees as in Scotland: Fairer, clearer pricing for tenants. And while you are at it, bring in mandatory landlord registration for landlords. (One minor advantage, it helps - a little - to weed out the rogue landlords that nobody wants...)