Here is a question to the blog clinic from Becky
I work for Home Start Colchester., supporting a mum who has a landlord who:
- Charges her £20 if she is late (even by a day) with her top up rent
- Charges her £30 to call at the house
- On inspection, if not up to his high standard, charges £40
Can he do this? It is not on the tenancy agreement
Answer
No! The landlord is not entitled to make these charges. Whether they are on the tenancy agreement or not.
- A landlord can only charge penalties if these are authorised by the tenancy agreement and even then
- Only if they are ‘fair’ (see here for more about the law relating to unfair tenancy agreement clauses and here for a post on penalty clauses).
I cannot see how these charges can possibly be fair – and in any event, they will be illegal after 1 June when the Tenant Fee ban is due to come into force.
The question is though
What can the tenant do about it?
Unfortunately, unlike letting agents, private landlords are not required to be a member of a redress scheme.
She can though complain to the local Trading Standards Office who are supposed to deal with unfair trading and unfair terms issues. And maybe speak to her Local Councillor.
And of course – refuse to pay them!
The Tenant Fees Bill only applies to letting agents Tessa – not to landlords.
Tenant must refuse to pay but if she’s out of fixed term there’s every chance that the landlord just evicts her with a section 21 no-fault eviction. It shouldn’t be allowed but, this being England, of course it still is. Landlord is just behaving like a gangster.
No, it is landlords too. See the summary at the bottom here https://services.parliament.uk/bills/2017-19/tenantfees.html
I’ll be doing an analysis of the bill here in due course but I prefer to wait before doing this until it has received the Royal Assent and nothing can change.
Thanks for the correction Tessa. I read somewhere (reputable) that landlords were excluded, but need to try and find that again now!
I think they were excluded in the original proposals but then someone must have realised that allowing landlords to charge fees would create a massive hole in the legislation.
Although I don’t think (this landlord excepted) that most landlords do charge big fees – not the sort of fees that agents do anyway. Generally, landlords just charge for the cost of referencing – at least that is what I have heard.
Although the rogues are always with us.
I think it’s unfair to judge all Landlords with the same brush.
I am a landlord and I have never charged any fees.
Not even the ones stated in the agreement
Thanks again. Now I remember where I saw it and why I trusted it so much.
(It was in the Painsmith blog titled “Charges under the Tenant Fees Bill” on 27 Dec 2018)
Has the tenancy already become irredeemable?
If not, Becky should be following Home-start’s policy of early intervention by trying to save the tenancy.
Why is the rent persistently late?
Why is the landlord being repeatedly called to the property?
Why does the landlord feel they need to inspect (often?) and to a high standard?
Negotiation, not confrontation should be the starting point.
“I cannot see how these charges can possibly be fair – and in any event, they will be illegal after 1 June when the Tenant Fee ban is due to come into force.”
Apologies for being pedantic but it seems relevant here;
https://www.lettingagenttoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2019/1/beware-tenant-fees-ban-may-impact-section-21-notices
“the ban will initially apply only to renewals of tenancies and new tenancies and will exclude statutory and contractual periodic tenancies that arise after June 1 it appears the fee ban will be applicable to pre-existing tenancies from June 2020.”
hb shines for his stupid comments once again.
Why is the rent persistently late?
Why is the landlord being repeatedly called to the property?
Why does the landlord feel they need to inspect (often?) and to a high standard?
Nothing in the post intimates any of the above.
And pointing out the bit on existing tenancies still does not make these charges fair or legal.
@ Ali Good for you. I am sure there are many other landlords who don’t charge any fees. The problem of fees is mostly with the letting agents. Landlords make their money from the rent (as they should).