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New ban on letting agents charging rip-off fees to renters in the borough will come into force this summer

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Renters across Gedling borough will be saving hundreds of pounds when a ban on rip-off fees charged by letting agents comes into force this summer.

The government has announced that the long-awaited Tenant Fee Bill will finally come into force on June 1, 2019, almost three years after it was first announced.

Some renters are currently having to fork out for fees of around £432 when they take on a new tenancy in the borough.

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This is because letting agents can currently charge renters for things like referencing, viewing a property and processing fees.

Under the new rules, agents will only be allowed to charge for tenant damages, if the tenant loses their keys and for late payment.

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To Let, Home rentals, Landlords

The new Bill will now also limit the size of a holding deposit to no more than five-weeks worth of rent when the annual income is below £50,000.

Once the new Bill comes into force in June, any landlords caught charging illegal fees will be fined £5,000 for the first offence, and up to £30,000 if they do it again. That money gets collected by the local council, who are allowed to keep the money and use it for local housing enforcement.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth, the Government’s housing spokesperson in the House of Lords, announced when the Bill would come into force when it was read out in the House of Lords yesterday.

He said: “We need to enable agents and landlords following Royal Assent to become compliant but we intend for the provisions to come into force on June 1 2019.

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“This would mean the ban on lettings fees would apply to all tenancies signed after this date.”

The Bill still needs to be debated in the House of Commons, which is subject to parliamentary timetables, and could impact the start date.

But one industry experts fears the new bill could force landlords to increase rents to make up the shortfall.

Alexandra Morris, managing director of online letting agent MakeUrMove said : “Our fear is that, while the government’s intention was to make the private rental sector more affordable and fairer for tenants, they will likely end up worse of

“Many landlords, particularly the smaller landlords who make up the biggest proportion of the private rental sector and often operate on very tight margins, will be forced to raise rents to cover the increased costs they will incur as a result of the bill.

“Landlords will face additional upfront costs including referencing, and because of their already tight margins they will need to recoup these during the initial tenancy period to ensure renting their property remains financially viable.”

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