Autumn Statement 2016: Letting agent fees banned

 
 
Within our content we talk about the tenant fees you can expect to pay when renting a property.

This will be changing in the near future! In the recent Autumn Statement, the chancellor Philip Hammond made the announcement that letting agent fees will be banned.

Frustratingly, there is a lack of detail at the moment in terms of when this will come into play. Although, Hammond has stated that it will happen ‘as soon as possible’ and it is no longer a proposal and ‘will be happening’.

So… How will this affect you?

Lower costs for tenants?

Well this would be great! But, we should still consider that in the long term these costs will probably need to be absorbed somewhere else.

Will the ban lead to higher rent charges?

This is a hard one to call, but it is important to remember that broadly, rent prices are not set by landlords, they are set by what the market dictates i.e. what tenants are prepared to pay.

So, although no one can predict what will happen in the rental market once this proposal becomes a reality, it is best to be aware of changes and be mindful of the effects (good or bad) this could potentially have on you and your rental process.

We will be keeping an eye on this topic at Hello Grads HQ and we will post updates when we know more.

Find out more about the changes at BBC News

If you would like to find out more about the current agency fees look at Tenancy Costs