Controls on letting fees in Northern Irelands must take the financial effects on landlords and letting agents into consideration rather than opting for one-size-fits-all solution, property professional body Propertymark warned.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ciara Fergurson, member of the legislative assembly (MLA) for Foyle, has consulted ahead of plans to introduce a Private Member\u2019s Bill on stopping excessive fees letting agents charge tenants in Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n
A consultation ran from March until May to seek clarity on the fees tenants were most subject to and what both agents and tenants assumed were fair.<\/p>\n
Propertymark representatives met with Fergurson, telling her that if letting agents cannot charge for services that incur a cost on their business, they will find alternative means of recouping those losses.<\/p>\n
This could then result in letting agents increasing their fees to landlords, who are likely to pass the costs on to tenants in the form of higher rents.<\/p>\n
As a result, Propertymark called for \u2018evidenced costs\u2019 to letting agents to be recoverable. For example, to replace missing keys or amend contracts.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The rules should also be properly enforced, to make sure tenants who complain about excessive fees aren\u2019t in fear of losing their home, or having to go through an expensive and lengthy legal battle.<\/p>\n
Henry Griffith, policy and campaigns officer at Propertymark, said: \u201cThere is currently considerable inconsistency with how letting fees are charged in Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile the outcome of Paul Loughran vs Piney Rentals Limited confirmed that a tenant cannot be charged letting fees at the start or renewal of a tenancy where the tenant is being charged for services that were carried out on behalf of the landlord, we are aware that many agents continue to charge these fees.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe therefore welcome the opportunity to legislate further, to provide the additional clarity.<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, the Northern Ireland Assembly must be careful not to introduce a broad ban on fees that would lead to an increase in rents. Failing to take this into account would risk the legislation being unable to achieve its aims.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Controls on letting fees in Northern Irelands must take the financial effects on landlords and letting agents into consideration rather than opting for one-size-fits-all solution, property professional body Propertymark warned.\u00a0 Ciara Fergurson, member of the legislative assembly (MLA) for Foyle, has consulted ahead of plans to introduce a Private Member\u2019s Bill on stopping excessive fees […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":565,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-564","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-second-home"],"yoast_head":"\n