3^rd Jun 2018

A high-profile landlord says the incoming ban on letting agent fees 'can't come soon enough'.

Victoria Whitlock wrote a column in the London's Evening Standard's Homes & Property supplement and in it said she does not 'think the ban itself will harm landlords'.

The journalist is also a landlord, who rents out four South London properties in South London, and quoted the government's latest impact assessment which has predicted that the letting agents' tenants fees ban will lose agents more than £157 million in its first twelve months.

She writes:"According to [the impact assessment], most [landlords] don’t charge tenants fees and those who do typically charge £25-£107."

She then tackles the subject that lettings agents may try to increase higher management fees for landlords, to compensate the loss in revenues when the ban starts.

Whitlock writes:"I think it’s unlikely agents will increase their fees significantly as landlords can easily take their business elsewhere."

"In fact, I think one of the reasons letting agents have been charging tenants so much is to compensate for a fall in commissions over the past few years.

"Some landlords might be happy to pay their letting agents more if they think they’re doing a good job, but those of us who aren’t can always shop around. Unlike our tenants."

Whitlock witheringly says agents are 'beyond cheeky' as they 'charge tenants hundreds of pounds for services for which they're also charging me'.

She also writes about how much her daughter was charged by a letting agent."I’m appalled that she and six of her friends had to hand over £1,400 to a letting agent to secure a house for next term."

"All the agent had to do was spend 15 minutes showing the girls round the house, so she earned the equivalent of £5,600 an hour."

"I’m also annoyed that the charge wasn’t properly explained to my daughter and her friends, who thought they were handing over a holding deposit, not a fee."

She was furious after she had spoken to the agent in question when told that the fee was non-refundable.

She writes:“Agents have been able to get away with such sky-high fees because tenants have no real choice over which ones they use.”

Whitlock then issues a direct challenge to the chief executive of an agents' association and writes: "[He] claims tenants will end up worse off. I’m not sure how he’s worked that out. My daughter and her mates would’ve been £1,400 better off with the ban."

Even if landlords have to increase rents because of higher management fees, Whitlock wrote that at least tenants will be fully aware from the start what they will have to pay and therefore can 'compare property prices more easily'.


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