Ban on tenant fees in England will come into force on 1st of June

Tenant fees in the private rented sector in England are set to be banned in under five months time with the new law coming into effect on 01 June this year.

The Tenant Fees Bill has completed its passage through the House of Lords and will become law subject to one more phase of scrutiny by the House of Commons.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth, the Government’s housing spokesperson in the House of Lords, confirmed it will come into force on 01 June.

From then agents and landlords will only be allowed to take payments for rent and deposits from tenants with rules around the size of the deposits and how they are dealt with significantly tightened.

Also, deposits will be limited to five weeks, where annual rent is below £50,000 with new, stricter rules on holding deposits. And the new rules will apply to all tenancies signed after 01 June.

The Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) says that agents and landlords should now start preparing for the change in law.

“This now gives agents the legal certainty they need to prepare for a post tenant fees ban world,’ said ARLA chief executive David Cox. He added that the new legislation is intricate and agents need to plan and prepare for the change.

James Davis, chief executive officer of Upad, and a portfolio landlord, said that the industry needs to act quickly as the ban is now under five months away.

‘Ever since the ban was first announced in November 2016, headlines have focused on the threat that rents will rise, putting additional pressure on tenants and continuing to paint the landlord as the bad guy,’ he pointed out.

‘This doesn’t need to be the case. Most private landlords don’t, in fact, charge excessive upfront costs and whilst it would have been advisable to plan ahead before now, there’s still time to consider how else they can manage their costs,’ he added.