This year, Renters’ Voice participated in Housing Rights annual Private Rented Sector 2025 conference. The conference brings together tenants, landlords, estate agents, politicians, government officials and the advice sector to discuss pressing issues within the private rented market. Renters’ Voice member Jenni Millar spoke on behalf of the group regarding our concerns about illegal letting fees.
Illegal letting fees occur when an estate agent charges an applicant for work, they have already been paid by a landlord to complete. Illegal letting fees were very prevalent in Northern Ireland until 2017 when a tenant, Paul Loughran successfully challenged the legality of letting agents charging administrative fees in Loughran v. Piney Rentals Limited & F5 Property Limited. This case clarified that it is illegal for letting agents to charge tenants for the work a landlord would do if they did not use an agent. These may include credit searches, contacting guarantors and referees, and printing documentation.
Despite the clarification, private renters still call in Renters’ Voice and Housing Rights’ advice helpline with concerns of being charged with illegal letting fees. While calls regarding private rented applications, deposits, fixed-term contracts and repair obligations are common, this year the Housing Rights advice helpline has faced growing concerns from applicants about whether an extra payment requested during the application process could be considered an illegal eviction.
The situation aligns with an investigation led by Renters’ Voice in 2024. Renters’ Voice was commissioned by the Housing Executive to conduct a mystery shopper exercise to help determine how common the practice of charging illegal letting fees was. The exercise gathered responses from 120 letting agents across Northern Ireland. Out of the 120 agents, 33 agents told us that they were charging letting fees and of these 33:
- Nearly all (94%) told us they were charging letting fees which we know to be illegal. The two agents who are not included in this figure charged either “a holding fee” or “a change of tenancy fee”.
- Most agents (64%) advertised on their website that they charged letting fees.
- Less than one-fifth of agents (18%) told us that their fees were refundable if the applicant was unsuccessful in their rental application.
The exercise found a split between Belfast and the rest of Northern Ireland. In Belfast, 33.3% of agents admitted to charging these fees compared to 19% agents outside of Belfast. Renters’ Voice found that on average, letting agents were charging £54 for illegal letting fees. This meant that if someone is trying to access private rented accommodation and is charged letting fees on several applications, they could be facing costs of hundreds of pounds.
Renters’ Voice is deeply concerned with the number of bad actors in the sector who continue to openly charge tenants for work the landlord pays them for. During this investigation, Renters’ Voice members were repeatedly told that the fees being charged were to cover administrative costs involved in checking references or documents. One agent even justified the fee, saying, “We can’t work for free”. As the Loughran verdict determines, however, such letting agents are not “working for free” because the landlord has already paid for the work being undertaken. Renters’ Voice believes there is no grey area here, and we are unequivocal in calling these fees illegal.
Renters’ Voice opposes the charging of all letting fees, and we find the practice to be unfair and a barrier for tenants securing new private rented accommodation. We believe illegal letting fees create a bias that prices low-income households out of properties, reducing their options for housing in a market that is already struggling to meet demand and risking potential homelessness. In today's market, where demand is high and supply is short, applicants run the risk of paying multiple illegal letting fees in an attempt to secure a property, only to fail each time and weaken their financial ability to secure other private rentals.
Renters’ Voice is not the only group concerned with the prevalence of illegal letting fees despite the ruling in 2017. In July 2025, Croí for Change was launched, an anti-poverty campaign group whose first campaign focuses on illegal letting fees. In November, Belfast Live also reported on the “wild west” of unlawful rental application fees. In their piece, Belfast Live approached five different letting agents in Belfast who had listed various fees online, with many either not responding or later changing the fees listed on their websites after enquiries. Another scenario reported in the article was one agency offering applicants a “premium” credit check service as opposed to a regular credit check provided by the agency. Housing Rights’ advice helpline received similar reports over the summer, and our advisers have been concerned about the legality of such fees being presented as an applicant’s “choice”.
The ongoing practice of illegal letting fees highlights that, despite the 2017 Loughran ruling, the law surrounding letting fees remains unclear, and the enforcement of this law is more robust. Renters’ Voice remains concerned that letting fees have been advertised, sometimes blatantly, because the market is facing low supply and high demand with private renters having little option but to tolerate fees in order to secure an offer of housing.
Renters’ Voice strongly welcomed Ciara Ferguson’s Private Members' Bill on Unfair Letting Fees, and in April 2025, we provided our views to help shape the bill, including calling for the law to be clarified and an absolute ban on letting fees to be legislated for as soon as possible. While the Loughran case confirms that tenants can claim back a letting fee from their estate agent via the Small Claims Court, the process of applying to court, filling out forms and appearing in front of a judge can be a daunting prospect for renters.
Renters’ Voice recognises, however, that for any future piece of legislation to be effective in practice, it is key that enforcement and monitoring are enshrined in such legislation and properly resourced. In addition to increased monitoring of landlords by the local Councils, Renters’ Voice believes there should be an independent letting agent regulator who issues letting agent licenses, monitors their practices and encourages professional training. Without these monitoring efforts, Renters’ Voice believes any new legislation on letting fees may become law on paper but may not be enforced in practice.
