News

In today’s Queen’s Speech, there was confirmation that Government would legislate to ban tenants letting fees, in order ‘to improve transparency, affordability and competition in the private rental market.’ However, there was also the announcement of new measures to enforce the ban with provision for tenants to be able to recover unlawfully charged fees.

The full speech can be read here

Commenting on the announcement, Isobel Thomson, CEO of NALS, said:

“It wasn’t unexpected to see the Queen’s speech mention the fee ban legislation, particularly given that all three main political parties had included it in their manifestos.

“While the announcement of provision for tenants to be able to recover unlawfully charged fees is new, it is in line with existing legislation on tenancy deposit protection.

“We don’t want to speculate on the detail of these measures at this stage, instead it is much more important for NALS that we continue to work with Government on the fee ban and how it will be implemented sensibly so it is fair to all parties – tenant, landlord and agent.

“The next meeting of the Fair Fees Forum will be held on July 13 and we look forward to engaging further then with Government on the issue.”