Foxtons has been accused of attempting to charge a tenant a check-out fee nearly six years after such charges were prohibited under the Tenant Fees Act 2019.
Tenant Rob Crossan reported receiving an automated email and text message demanding £200 as he prepared to vacate his rented flat in Stockwell, south London. The messages described the sum as a check-out charge, according to This is Money.
Regulatory background
The Tenant Fees Act, which came into force in 2019, prohibits landlords and letting agents from requiring tenants to pay for inventories, check-in or check-out fees, referencing charges and most other administrative costs. Only a defined list of permitted payments remains lawful.
Crossan stated he refused to pay and informed the agent that the demand was unlawful. The charge was subsequently removed within hours.
In response, Foxtons said the payment link had been generated in error and related to a check-out service requested by the landlord, which should have been billed to the landlord rather than the tenant. The estate agency said the link was cancelled once the error was identified and reissued correctly.
Industry concerns
Dan Wilson Craw, Deputy Chief Executive of Generation Rent, commented: “It is very concerning that an apparently automated system could have generated a request for an illegal fee for Rob, and we hope Trading Standards will look into this.”
This is not the first time Foxtons has faced issues over tenant fees. In 2021, a First-tier Tribunal ordered the company to repay £750 to three tenants of another south London property after it charged them for arranging and administering a short-term tenancy, which the tribunal ruled was a prohibited payment under the Tenant Fees Act.
Market implications
The incident raises questions about compliance systems within letting agencies and the potential for automated processes to generate unlawful charges. With the Tenant Fees Act now approaching its sixth anniversary, industry observers suggest such errors could indicate gaps in operational procedures at some agencies.
