What Fees Can You Be Charged as a Tenant? | London Stays

If you’re looking for a new rental home, you’ve probably asked yourself, what fees can you be charged as a tenant?

Rental costs do have an aura of confusion surrounding them, considering that agents and landlords in the past charged huge fees for nearly every service under the sun. Luckily, things changed for the better in 2019. 

So let’s begin.

The Fees You Can Still Be Charged as a Tenant

First and most of all, every tenant has to pay rent; that amount that is mentioned in your tenancy agreement. That has not changed.

Apart from rent, landlords and agents can still charge you an additional legal fee for:

• A refundable tenancy deposit (security deposit). This is capped at five weeks’ rent if your yearly rent is under £50,000.
  (Learn more about how your deposit is protected.) through the government tenancy deposit schemes.)
• A refundable holding deposit — usually one week’s rent — to reserve a property while references are checked. It can only be held for up to 14 days unless agreed otherwise
• Bills and utilities connected to running the home, such as Council Tax, gas and electricity, broadband, and water.
  ( Compare utility deals easily at Uswitch.)
• Modification of your tenancy agreement as you have requested-for example, changing a tenant’s name-under this charge is not more than 50 for contractual changes.
• Late payment of rent: A landlord can apply interest if he/she has delayed you in paying rent after 14 days but shall not exceed 3 percent of the Bank of England base rate when overdue.
• Restoration or replacement with damage beyond fair wear and tear: Charges should be reasonable, and the burden of proof will rest on landlords producing such things as receipts and invoices.

For example: If you lose your keys and need to have the landlord change the locks, you could be charged by the landlord for replacing those locks – provided they can prove how much it cost to replace them.

The Fees That Are Now Completely Banned

Before the Tenant Fees Act 2019, renting could feel like death by a thousand cuts. You could be charged for everything from printing a contract to checking your references. Thankfully, those days are over.

Now, landlords and agents cannot legally charge you for:

• Administration fees for drawing up contracts and paperwork (which used to cost tenants £300–£350).
• Reference checks to verify your employment, income, and rental history (previously charged at £75–£100 per tenant).
• Credit checks through agencies like Experian or Equifax (once costing £50–£100).
• Tenancy renewals if you choose to stay in your home at the end of a fixed term. Some agencies used to charge between £150 and–£180 just to extend your contract.
• Move-out inspections at the end of your tenancy, which used to cost tenants between £100 and £300 to confirm the property was clean and undamaged.

All of these charges are now banned — permanently.

What Happens If You are Charged a Fee That is Not Allowed? 

Banned fees charged by either a landlord or letting agent must be refunded to the tenant within a period of not greater than 28 days. Otherwise, it will be liable to a fine of £5,000 for a first offence. Most importantly, this refers to the fact that if a landlord has charged you an illegal fee, then they may not evict you by giving you a Section 21 notice until that money is refunded.

 If you believe that you were unfairly charged by any company, report it to Trading Standards via your local council. Councils can prosecute repeat offenders and even ban them from letting properties altogether.

You can know your rights from the say-so of the official government renting guide. Do the new rules apply to existing tenancies? Definitely! It applies across the board. Not even a tenancy started before June 2019, when the law changed, is subject to the banning fees. So, if a home is re-let under an old tenancy today, the landlord cannot charge any fee for renewal. 

 Conclusion: What Fees Can You Be Charged as a Tenant

Are You Being Charged as a Tenant? Renting should be simple and light and not involve hidden costs. The understanding of what fees may be charged to you as a tenant should empower you and help in budget-making while protecting you from any unfair treatment.