The government’s proposal to introduce fees for accessing rent tribunals has prompted concerns from housing organisations that the charges could discourage tenants from challenging rent increases and create an alternative route to eviction.
The Renters’ Reform Coalition (RRC), representing 18 housing and renters’ organisations, has written to Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook regarding the planned fees.
Clara Collingwood, Director at the coalition, stated: “This Government promised that they would protect renters from no-fault evictions, and ’empower renters’ to challenge unfair rent increases.”
“Introducing a fee that tenants will have to pay to access rent tribunals would make it easier for rogue landlords to threaten tenants with steep rent hikes, or evict them by raising rents beyond what is affordable,” Collingwood added.
Impact on tenant behaviour
Research conducted by Generation Rent examined how fees would affect tenants’ willingness to dispute rent increases. The survey found that 90% of renters would challenge a £200 monthly rent increase if tribunals were free to access, but this figure dropped to 50% if a £200 fee was required.
The coalition argues that lower-income renters would be disproportionately affected by tribunal fees, as they would be least able to afford challenging an increase despite potentially facing the greatest financial pressure from rent rises.
A government spokesperson told The Mirror: “We always keep courts and tribunal fees under review and are currently assessing the introduction of fees in line with practice across the courts and tribunals.”
Market implications
The proposed fees come as the Renters’ Rights Act aims to provide greater security for tenants. However, housing groups contend that tribunal charges could undermine these protections by making it financially prohibitive for tenants to exercise their rights to challenge rent increases deemed excessive.
The government has not yet confirmed the fee structure or implementation timeline for rent tribunal charges, stating that the matter remains under assessment.
