Tenant Fees Act passes in to law

Following a long and enduring process, legislation banning most tenant fees in England received Royal Assent today.

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Announced in the Autumn Statement on 23 November 2016, the ban on tenant fees was introduced to Parliament in May last year as the Tenant Fees Bill. Today the Bill completed its journey through Parliament and has now passed in to law as the Tenant Fees Act 2019.

In January, the Housing Minister in the House of Lords, Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth made a statement revealing that from 1 June 2019, all new and renewed tenancies will come under the scope of the new ban. All existing tenancies will be brought under the new rules from 1 June 2020.

Letting agents should continue with their preparations before the legislation comes in to force this June.

We’ve known the tenant fees ban has been coming for a long time, but with only 109 days to go until it comes into force, the industry must start taking time to prepare. The Government will soon publish its guidance now that we have legislative certainty, which will give agents a better understanding as to how the ban should practically be implemented.

We will also be launching a Tenant Fees Toolkit at the ARLA Propertymark Conference on 2 April to help members overcome the legal challenges of the Act. Tickets for the Conference are available here.

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David Cox Chief Executive | ARLA Propertymark

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