A Welling Landlords view on the banning of Tenant Fees

Welling resident and local landlord Nathan Hewish, and customer of ours at Danson Property Services, gives his opinion on the banning of fees to tenants.

"Unless you are a Letting Agent, you're probably wondering what all the fuss is about. Less Letting Agent fees means less money needed to rent a property, it's obvious, isn't it?

Here's my take on the situation. From a private Landlord's perspective the BTL (Buy To Let) sector of the residential housing market has taken an unprecedented battering over the past two years. Lending criteria are stricter than they have ever been in the form of the Mortgage Market Review and this will worsen in 2017. Also, the amount of legislation has increased ten fold with things like Deposit Protection Schemes for tenants, legionella safety checks, carbon monoxide checks, right to rent checks, just to name a few. But the most memorable for myself is a strange, almost illegal, tax system that was introduced by the now defunct Chancellor George Osborne. 

So, what do the changes I've mentioned mean to the average private landlord? More money and more time will be needed to service their existing rental properties. If you're not a private landlord and you or someone you know is affected by housing issues such as high prices or lack of housing stock, you probably think that hammering landlords and letting agents is a good thing. However, all it will do is reduce housing stock in the PRS (private rented sector) pushing up demand for housing, and prices will rise further. How do I know this? I've either sold or am in the process of selling half of my BTL portfolio to date. Good riddance I hear you say? Well not really because the reality is 80% of the properties have gone to first time buyers and the other 20% to BTL landlords, therefore leaving only a fraction of the property sold available for the PRS. Tenants locally now have less potential property to rent because of my exit from the industry, and if other landlords do as I do, tenants will have even less choice. 

Who ultimately suffers now? The prospective tenants looking for somewhere to rent will suffer the most. So, in hindsight George Osborne et al's reforms will end up affecting the people they were trying to protect.

So, in conclusion the introduction of banning tenant fees will indirectly fall back onto the tenants over time, as landlords are forced to increase rents to pay the potential increased fees of some Letting Agents, because I doubt Letting Agents will work six days a week for less money. So there you go, less Letting Agent fees to the tenant will not necessarily result in less money needed to rent a property."

If you are looking for an agent that is well established, professional and communicative, then contact us to find out how we can get the best out of your investment property.

Email me on kevin@dansonpropertyservices.com or call on 020 3397 4499. If you are in the area, feel free to pop into the office – we are based on 116 High Street, Welling, Kent, DA16 1TJ. There is plenty of parking and the kettle is always on.

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