Housing Rights believes there is a need to strengthen the legislation governing the charging of these fees and to ensure adequate penalties and enforcement arrangements are in place to deter those who continue to seek to break the law in this regard.
Housing Rights has produced extensive policy briefings on letting fees. In 2013, we conducted a mystery shopping exercise across the 40 letting agents in Northern Ireland. Our exercise confirmed that tenants across Northern Ireland were being charged upfront fees by letting agents and landlords.
In Northern Ireland the law on letting fees was clarified in 2017 following the judgment of the County Court in Loughran. The case confirmed that letting fees charged at the start or renewal of a tenancy, where the tenant is being charged for services that they have carried out on behalf of the landlord, are illegal and can be claimed back by the tenant.
On the 5th March 2020, a joint statement on letting fees was issued by the Department of Finance and the Department for Communities. Both Departments stated that illegal fees were still being charged by estate agents despite the Loughran judgment. The Departments stated, ‘that the court rulings reaffirm the guidance to all those involved with the granting of a lease or letting of land, and that a landlord, or an agent of the landlord, cannot oblige a tenant to pay for the professional services provided by their agent.’
Housing Rights believes that the continued practice of charging unlawful letting fees illustrates that the case law and communiqué have not been sufficient to curb this practice. It is imperative, in our view, that legislation is brought forward to remove any ambiguity and to ensure that this unlawful practice is brought to an end.