In last week's vote, MP's gave the "thumbs down" to a proposed amendment to the Consumer Rights Bill that would have stopped lettings agents from levying charges on tenants.

In the evening session at 7.30pm on Tuesday 13th May,  the amendment was defeated by a margin of 53 votes, with 281 voting against it and 228 for. Interestingly enough only three Conservative and Lib Dems who attended the session voted against it.

Stella Creasey,  the Labour MP for Walthamstow, was the member responsible for tabling the motion attempting to stop the lettings agents' practise of charging fees to tenants and landlords for the same transaction, calling it  “a fundamentally anti-competitive corporate practice”.

The Government had already offered an earlier amendment that would fine lettings agents if they had failed to make their fees "transparent" and openly available for tenants to consider.

Ian Potter, managing director of an association for lettings agents, said: “Labour’s amendment was ill thought through and its failure to pass illustrates this. I'm glad that the majority of MPs recognise that a ban on letting agent fees will only lead to an increase in rents, as landlords and agents seek to achieve returns. Fees are not arbitrary or unnecessary; they represent a business cost that those tabling the amendment failed to recognise. ARLA’s call, as ever, is for wholesale regulation of the market to ensure fair and transparent practices for all consumers, landlords and agents alike.”

An estate agents managing director Charles Hesse said: “This ridiculous proposal was at base profoundly anti-tenant, and I’m relieved that the House of Commons has seen sense and voted against it. It’s a victory not only for the industry, but also for tenants themselves, who would have been lumbered with higher rents, less transparency, and a diminished rental supply as a result.”

Paul Weller, managing director of a lettings specialist, felt the result was right however he did feel that the vote should have been on a separate issue within the industry.

Weller said, “The vote should have been on banning all unregulated agents from practising. This would have enabled Parliament to tackle all the problems at the heart of our industry in one motion. 40% of letting agents are not members of a professional body so it is clear that self-regulation is not enough. What is needed is legislation that ensures that – as a minimum requirement – all letting agents are qualified, have client money protection and operate to an agreed code of conduct for the whole industry.”